020: Publishing Entrepreneur Grace Freedson

Grace Freedson is a leader in the book publishing world who represents authors as a literary agent and works with publishers to shape their offerings. She was Managing Editor and Director of Acquisitions for Barron’s. (The company that publishes SAT and AP prep books.) But she recognized that her future career prospects there were limited and crafted a plan to start her own company by the year 2000. And sure enough, her Y2K plan was fulfilled when she formed Grace Freedson’s Publishing Network. 

 

In our discussion Grace shares her journey through the publishing and entrepreneurial world, and helps to demystify the publishing process. She explains the steps an aspiring author would follow to secure a book contract including writing a proposal and developing a following to market the book. Learn more about the authors that Grace represents through listening to Podcast 011 with Doug Hensch. 

 

Listen to the podcast to hear Grace discuss:  

Finding a job that suits your personal needs. Grace began her publishing career at a job close to home that allowed her to be home with her daughter in the afternoons.

The elements of a book proposal,

The importance of building a following before submitting a book proposal,

Practices for meeting deadlines,

Why she works with non-fiction books,

Bookstores, libraries, and the new places where books are being sold,

Maintaining a balanced life, and 

Her involvement with the Women's Media Group.

 

Contact: [email protected]