Preview
Creation Date
3-27-2026
Description
Drawing of Jane Friedman giving a workshop on newsletters. "You must identify the specific readership you wish to attract. Why will strangers care if they don't follow your work already? What's in it for them? What community are you serving, comforting, and/or challenging? What communities will appreciate you?"
Session title: Substance Over Substack: Building an Email Newsletter That Serves You and Readers"
Session description: Despite a decade of social media dominance, email newsletters remain the most powerful tool in a writer’s platform-building arsenal. Yet in the Substack era, many writers approach newsletters with confusion, reluctance or half-hearted commitment — missing their true potential while chasing trends. The writers who succeed approach newsletters as creative acts, not marketing chores. While others chase trends, you’ll develop a strategic foundation for reader connection that will outlast any platform shift.
Artist's Note
I often include Jane Friedman in my drawings because I seldom miss any of her sessions. I had the opportunity to know Jane, and most importantly, Jane is a favorite in the publishing community. In this case, I was drawing another speaker scheduled the same time, and I ran into Jane’s session halfway in. When I sat down, the attendee sitting next to me told me I just missed my Substack being discussed, in a positive way, in her workshop. For this drawing, I wrote down some of the talking points and took a photo of Jane to use as reference—I was way in the back. The drawing was going great when a computer glitch erased the drawing! This is a redraw from memory. I think it’s good. But the original was really something.
Rights
Copyright © 2026, Bob Eckstein. All rights reserved.
Keywords
Erma Bombeck, humor writing, Saturday Night Live, Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop, Comedy, Illustration, Live-drawing
