Jane Friedman is one of the most well known and well respected professionals in the publishing industry today. She's the author of Chicago Press's "The Business of Being a Writer" as well as "The Authors Guild Guide to E-Publishing." She writes a column for the trade publication "Publishers Weekly" but is probably best known as the co-founder of "The Hot Sheet."

In this episode, she gives us a crash course in publishing today: what to know before writing your book, the prestige of traditional publishers vs. the requirements of self-publishing, what publishers look for in an author, print vs. digital, New York vs. Amazon—and that's just the first half!