The Business of Being a Writer Episode

div]:bg-bg-000/50 [&_pre>div]:border-0.5 [&_pre>div]:border-border-400 [&_.ignore-pre-bg>div]:bg-transparent [&_.standard-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6)]:pl-2 [&_.standard-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,ul,ol,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6)]:pr-8 [&_.progressive-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6)]:pl-2 [&_.progressive-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,ul,ol,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6)]:pr-8"> _*]:min-w-0 gap-3 standard-markdown"> If you have a book idea, you really have a business idea. That line — from publisher Allison Trowbridge at a Parnassus Books panel — is the jumping-off point for this episode. Amanda Polick gets into what it actually means to treat your writing life like a business: not in a hustle-culture, monetize-everything way, but in a packaging-yourself-correctly, knowing-what-you-bring-to-the-room way. She's been doing her own reckoning with this lately — restarting after a year heads-down on her novel, going back to conferences, cold-emailing people, and asking herself how to pull together all the scattered pieces of a writing career into something coherent. In this episode: Jane Friedman's The Business of Being a Writer and why Amanda tells every single client to get it Why writers being financially sustained by writing alone has always been the exception, not the rule — and what that actually frees you up to do The cold email formula that works almost every time, and why showing up in someone's inbox is more underrated than people think Why literary agents are now paying close attention to Substack — and why putting everything behind a paywall might be costing you more than it earns The Elizabeth Gilbert argument for not being afraid of people stealing your ideas (and Amanda's own version of it) How being a generous champion of other people's work is one of the highest-leverage things you can do for your career Lisa Kron, story consultants, and the reminder that you can just make up a job title and then do it The through line: the best opportunities — the ones that actually move the needle — tend to happen in rooms, not on social media. And you have to be in the rooms first. Perfect for: writers who are great at the craft and resistant to the business side of it, anyone trying to figure out how to package what they already do into something people will pay for, and creatives who know they need to be more visible but aren't quite sure where to start. Find Amanda: @amandapolick | amandapolick.com Here's your Apple Podcasts description: If you have a book idea, you really have a business idea. That line, from publisher Allison Trowbridge at a Paths to Publishing panel, is the jumping-off point for this episode. Amanda Polick gets into what it actually means to treat your writing life like a business: not in a hustle-culture, monetize-everything way, but in a packaging-yourself-correctly, knowing-what-you-bring-to-the-room way. She's been doing her own reckoning with this lately — restarting after a year heads-down on her novel, going back to conferences, cold-emailing people, and asking herself how to pull together all the scattered pieces of a writing career into something coherent. In this episode: Jane Friedman's The Business of Being a Writer and why Amanda tells every single client to get it Why writers being financially sustained by writing alone has always been the exception, not the rule...and what that actually frees you up to do The cold email formula that works almost every time, and why showing up in someone's inbox is more underrated than people think Why publishers are now paying close attention to Substack — and why putting everything behind a paywall might be costing you more than it earns The Elizabeth Gilbert argument for not being afraid of people stealing your ideas (and Amanda's own version of it) How being a generous champion of other people's work is one of the highest-leverage things you can do for your career Lisa Kron, story consultants, and the reminder that you can just make up a job title and then do it The through line: the best opportunities — the ones that actually move the needle — tend to happen in rooms, not on social media. And you have to be in the rooms first. Perfect for: writers who are great at the craft and resistant to the business side of it, anyone trying to figure out how to package what they already do into something people will pay for, and creatives who know they need to be more visible but aren't quite sure where to start. Find Amanda: @amandapolick | amandapolick.com

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The Business of Being a Writer Episode is an episode from Babe Cave by Babe Cave.

This episode is 32:01 long.

This episode was published on Apr 22, 2026.

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