The Writers Bridge | Social Media Simplified with Jane Friedman
December 30 @ 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm EST
What online behavior actually moves the needle? What’s a waste of time?
Discover what’s new in social media for writers in 2026.
Should you be on social media? Which platforms? Do you need video? What about a newsletter or a Substack?
Jane Friedman has been writing and reporting on publishing since MySpace. She’s seen the rise and fall of Medium, Twitter, and many more. And she’s done the research and knows the numbers: does #BookTok actually sell books, and which ones? Does it matter if you post video or stick to text? Is LinkedIn actually a social site? And what should be driving the choices you make about your writer platform?
Cohost Allison K Williams co-founded The Writers Bridge and built platforms on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (RIP) and is currently refusing to be sucked into BlueSky. She swears by an email list, but needs to use it more effectively. And cohost Sharla Yates doesn’t do much social media at all–should she?
We’ll talk about our own social media and platform-building dilemmas and YOURS on the next episode of The Writers Bridge.
Join us TUESDAY December 30th at 1PM EASTERN – live and FREE on Zoom, all welcome!
Our special guest
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the book publishing industry, with a focus on author education and trend reporting. She is the editor of The Bottom Line, the essential publishing industry newsletter for authors, and was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World in 2023. Her latest book is The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (University of Chicago Press), which received a starred review from Library Journal. In addition to serving on grant panels for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Creative Work Fund, she works with organizations such as The Authors Guild to bring transparency to the business of publishing.
Join your hosts Allison K Williams (SEVEN DRAFTS), Sharla Yates (CRAFT TALKS) and our special guest for this lively, funny hour of frank talk about writing comedy, writing for TV, and the wonderful chaos of the writers’ room.
FREE, all welcome! Sign up to receive the Zoom link the day before.
Enjoy past recorded sessions here
Closed captioning is available. ✔
All registrants receive the recording. ✔
ABOUT YOUR PRESENTERS
Allison K Williams has edited and coached authors to publishing deals with Penguin Random House, Knopf, Mantle, St. Martin’s Press, and numerous small presses. An expert in author marketing and community building, her platform includes the Brevity Blog (80k+ followers), Instagram (10k+), a mailing list (12k+), and Facebook (5k+), with publications in the New York Times and appearances on NPR and CBC. Her book, Seven Drafts: Self-Edit Like a Pro from Blank Page to Book, sold on proposal. She leads the Rebirth Your Book writing retreats and co-hosts The Writers Bridge.
Sharla Yates is the author of the poetry chapbook What I Would Say if We Were to Drown Tonight, published by Stranded Oak Press (2017). She hosts a webinar series, CRAFT TALKS for writers on writing, and co-hosts The Writers Bridge with Allison K Williams. Her nonfiction essay, “Address” was a finalist for the 2015 Columbia Journal writing contest and the 2016 Penelope Niven Creative Nonfiction Award. She is the former Director of Education at the Creative Nonfiction Foundation and teaches creative writing at the University of Pittsburgh.
Questions? Please email Info@craft-talks.com
