A note from Jane
What’s brightened my day(s) over the last two weeks:
- Playing Civilization online with a friend using Steam and Discord
- Getting the Settlers of Catan iPad app so that I can continue weekend games with friends
- Using Paprika to share my favorite (fast) recipes that take advantage of pantry staples
- Learning GeneratePress to redesign my main website, which is overdue for an upgrade
- Buying comfy clothes online from US-based clothing manufacturer American Giant. (It helps that I already know my size with them.)
I hope you’re finding the tools and support you need to sustain yourself and your loved ones.
Be well,
Jane
P.S. My most popular blog post right now:
Writing From the Bottom Rung: How to Sustain Your Creativity During a Pandemic
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ISSUE SPONSOR
Ready to Launch Your Breakout Book?
Veteran publicist Dana Kaye cuts through all the noise surrounding book promotion, and focuses on the tactics that make the biggest impact. This means spending less time trying to figure out what works and more time doing what you love: writing. Become a member to gain instant access to the trainings, templates, and checklists you need to finally launch Your Breakout Book.
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Jane’s Electric Speed List
Here are some of the latest things I’ve found and enjoyed. (I have not been paid to mention any of these resources.)
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OneClick.chat: start a video chat effortlessly
There’s a lot of talk these days about using Zoom to connect online, but it’s not the only tool out there. For something even more streamlined and easy to use—especially for older adults—take a look at OneClick.chat. It works with both small and large groups and requires no downloads. The platform is free to use through June 1.
How to find creative focus when you’re drowning in daily life
Writer and artist Jessica Abel—who is a super smart coach for creative people—is offering her book Growing Gills for free, alongside a free book club.
Whatever “most important” looks like to you, the tools in Growing Gills help you put that work and those projects first. Learn to take control of your time and focus—yes, even now. Act quickly: the book offer ends today (April 4), but you can still join the book club if you don’t see this offer in time.
Harry Potter at Home: read or listen to the first book in the series for free
During the month of April only, get access to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone without waitlists—and in all available languages! All you need to do is access your public library’s collection through OverDrive. Learn more. You can also find lots of activities at Harry Potter at Home.
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Next online class: Email Newsletters for Authors
On Wednesday, Apr. 8: Being able to directly reach your readers, or most avid fans, is a powerful capability that rewards your time and investment. In this 90-minute webinar, Jane will teach you best practices of email newsletters, how to avoid the mistakes most prevalent in the writing community, and how you can better reach your goals.
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Your turn: Work from home tools
In the last issue, I asked you to share your favorite work-from-home tools.
- I want to give a huge shout-out to the free app Self-Control, which kicks you off the internet for a certain amount of time. You can block time-sucking sites and still be able to do research online or you can block all sites. It has saved my work ethic. —Ellen Goldstein
- Web annotation per se isn’t new, but there’s one tool, Hypothesis, that allows annotation on a collaborative scale—or not. Your choice. Like notes scribbled in a margin, you highlight and/or annotate web pages, PDFs, etc., and those notes appear if you turn on the Hypothesis tool (for Chrome, an add-on; for others, a phony bookmark in your browser heading). So far, it’s free, open source and aimed at educational audiences, but with the newly invoked isolation hanging over us all, it replaces personal interaction with a collaborative that one can do with one’s self, a predefined affinity group or the whole world. —Jack T. Shaw
- I’ve been keeping myself distracted [from news] with Elevate brain training games and study materials. [Also using] Seafile/SeaDrive for organizing and sharing files, photos, and voice recordings for family health management. —Carrie Tangenberg
Next question: Tell me about your favorite app-based game or online game that you like to play by yourself or with others.
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Where Jane Might Be Speaking Next
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Electric Speed is a free newsletter published by Jane Friedman that’s been sending since 2009. It is read by more than 33,000 subscribers. You can support it by (1) sponsoring an issue or placing a classified or (2) sharing it with friends and colleagues.
“At electric speed, all forms are pushed to the limits of their potential.”
—Marshall McLuhan
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