Hey hey Jess here!

I had a couple of great learning opportunities this month, so in the interest of flattening learning curves, I took notes for all of you!

First up, I took a call from a company interested in working with me to boost my platform, and I was curious about what they do and how they do it. While I won’t reveal what company I talked to, I will tell you about all the things I learned on that call. Companies that promise to boost platform are proliferating, and I was curious about how it all works.

Second, I was on a panel about monetizing platform at the Institute for Independent Journalists conference on freelancing and learned SO much from my co-presenters. I have subscribed to all of their newsletters because they are very cool writers, all.

Frankie de la Cretaz, Out of Your League: Dispatches from the intersection of queer sports and pop culture.

Tim Herrera, Freelancing With Tim: Demystifying the world of freelance journalism.

Morgan Sung, Rat.House: an exploration of social platforms and how they shape our real world culture, from dissecting the creator economy to unpacking chronically online discourse.

Sa’iyda Shabazz at Autostraddle.com

Jaeah Lee: independent journalist and a contributing writer at The New York Times MagazineAmReading

James, Percival Everett

The Other Bennet Sister, Janice Hadlow

I hope this week’s episode provides some useful information, and at the very least, leads to some of your new favorite writers!

During the pandemic, there was an explosion of people who wanted to write memoir, and many of those writers are now struggling to make sense of their drafts and figure out how to approach the marketplace. It's a great time to be a book coach who specializes in memoir, and in March 2024, Author Accelerator is launching a certification course to give memoir coaches the skills, tools, and experience to meet writers where they are.Our year-long program is robust and intense. I'm inviting any listeners of this show who are interested in our coaching program to sign up for a one-on-one session with me to strategize about whether or not this course is right for you. Just go to bookcoaches.com/amwriting to sign up for a time that works for you.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe