‘A smorgasbord of unlikability’: the authors helping ‘sad girl lit’ grow up

In this post-Fleabag world, publishing has become obsessed with the inner turmoils of messy millennials – but isn’t it time they pulled themselves together? Meet the novelists subverting the clichesYou’ve probably come across this woman: she is unfulfilled in her career, has been abandoned by at least one man, she is aimless and lamenting the obstacles in her life (of which, in reality, there don’t appear to be many). She is not just miserable, she’s a mess; self-absorbed and full of self-loathing.If you’ve read a book by a woman, about a woman, that has been published in the last five years, then it’s overwhelmingly likely that this woman was the protagonist. The narrative likely circled around this character’s sadness, her passive struggle to overcome it, and little else. Typically, such stories have notes of darkness but will rarely deliver the actual thing. Usually the main character (like the author) will be middle-class, if not incredibly wealthy. Almost always she will be white. The book’s cover will probably feature a devastated-looking woman with her hair covering her face or her head cradled in her hands. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2023-08-08 15:19:43 UTC ]
News tagged with: #ve read #main character #rarely deliver #novelists

Other Publishing stories related to: '‘A smorgasbord of unlikability’: the authors helping ‘sad girl lit’ grow up'


‘A smorgasbord of unlikability’: the authors helping ‘sad girl lit’ grow up

In this post-Fleabag world, publishing has become obsessed with the inner turmoils of messy millennials – but isn’t it time they pulled themselves together? Meet the novelists subverting the clichesYou’ve probably come across this woman: she is unfulfilled in her career, has been abandoned by at... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-08-08 15:19:43 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ve read #main character #rarely deliver #novelists


Riot, Grrrls: Marisa Crawford on Why Feminist Lit and 1990s Girl Culture Need More Critical Attention

Marisa Crawford is the founder of the feminist blog Weird Sister, which highlights writing at the intersections of feminism, literature, and pop culture. This spring the Feminist Press released The Weird Sister Collection, a vital anthology that collects a decade’s worth of writing published on... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-04-08 08:54:36 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #critical attention #pop culture #anthology


We Need Your Help: Support Lit Hub, Become a Member

Dear Lit Hub Reader, We need your help. For the past decade, Literary Hub has brought you the best of the book world for free—no paywall. Now, as one of the last independent book-focused publications on the internet, we want to cover an even larger part of that world. Because of you, Lit Hub has […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-12-15 08:22:22 UTC ]
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Lit Agent Landscape Diversifies Some as Anxieties over Book Business Grow

The results of this year's Association of American Literary Agents biannual membership survey indicate that the agency sector of the book business is diversifying, but is still predominantly white, and issues including burnout and unequal pay remain. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-09-28 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #predominantly white #literary agents #book business


Bloom Books Is Helping Young Readers Grow

The new imprint from Ulysses Press aims to foster a love of reading in juvenile and young adult readers Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-05-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Want to help stop book bans? The Authors Guild has tools for you.

If you’ve been paying attention to local news in the past year, you’ve likely noticed the concerning wave of book bans sweeping the nation. Books by authors of color; books that acknowledge historical atrocities; books featuring LGBTQ+ characters; sex education books for teens; all are under... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-02-09 19:49:33 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #paying attention #local news #authors guild


How Four Bestselling Authors Connected with Readers, Helped Indie Booksellers, and Beat the Pandemic

What launched as a sort of support group in the early days of Covid-19, Friends & Fiction celebrated its 100th episode on November 24. PW caught up with show's creators and hosts, Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, Kristy Woodson Harvey, and Patti Callahan Henry, to talk about the remarkable... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-11-30 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #support group #early days #pw caught #kristin harmel


‘Three Girls from Bronzeville’ is a story about growing up on Chicago’s South Side — and so much more

Dawn Turner’s memoir gives a tutorial of urban decay, White privilege, poor city planning and the influence of fads and digital advances on Black urban teenagers. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-09-08 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #white privilege #memoir


Lit Hub Asks: 5 Authors, 7 Questions, No Wrong Answers

The Lit Hub Author Questionnaire is a monthly interview featuring seven questions for five authors with new books. This month we talk to: * Danielle Evans (The Office of Historical Corrections)  Éireann Lorsung (The Century) Christa Parravani (Loved and Wanted: A Memoir of Choice, Children, and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-11-10 09:48:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #memoir


Alliance of Independent Authors teams up with agency for rights help

The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) has joined up with New York's Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency to help members with the management and licensing of their rights. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-19 11:38:35 UTC ]
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Trewin partners with Writing.ie to help authors 'accelerate their creativity' in lockdown

Literary agent Simon Trewin has partnered with Writing.ie – a resource site for unpublished authors – to launch a weekly one-hour show on Facebook Live.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-27 16:09:51 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #unpublished authors #facebook live #literary agent


Two Indie Bookstores In Chicago Closed Their Doors Right After They Opened—and These Authors Are Trying to Help

Chicago authors are spotlighting the unique plight of two local indies that both closed to walk-in traffic on March 16: one bookstore that was only officially open for one day, and another that had changed ownership two weeks earlier. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-03-25 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #indie bookstores #officially open #weeks earlier #bookstore


In ‘Short Life in a Strange World,’ paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder help an author make sense of his existence

Toby Ferris traveled across Europe to see all of the Dutch Renaissance painter’s surviving work. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-03-11 18:07:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #short life #strange world


With help from kids, a 90-year-old Sri Lankan author set a new world record for alternate endings.

If you thought the Choose Your Own Adventure books were magical, one Sri Lankan children’s book author might be up your alley. Sybil Wettasinghe, the 90-year-old author of The Umbrella Thief, a classic children’s book in Sri Lanka, set a new Guinness World Record yesterday with the publication... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-03-06 19:45:46 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #world record #classic children #sri lanka #children’s book


Ordinary Girls: Jaquira Díaz on Growing Up in Miami Beach

That winter, the year Boogie turned 14, we got it in our heads that we could run away, leave Miami Beach and never come back. For months, I’d spent every night lost in a book, read whatever the librarian put in my hands, which usually meant books written by white men, about white people, for […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-11-20 09:47:43 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #jaquira daz #miami beach #white men #white people #books written


YA Author Margarita Engle to Speak at Neustadt LIT Fest

News and Events WLT Margarita Engle will deliver the keynote address for the Neustadt Lit Fest at 11 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 17, in the Reynolds Performing Arts Center, 560 Parrington Oval, on the University of Oklahoma Norman campus. The event is free and... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2019-10-01 19:25:31 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #philip metres #lit fest #positive impact #american author


The unlikely operatives who helped thwart Hitler’s nuclear bomb

An ex-high school coach and a former pro ballplayer are among the heroes of Sam Kean’s book. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2019-09-06 11:59:33 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #nuclear bomb


New products help Hawaii tech startup Jam Bios to grow

The addition of new online features and photo book packages, along with advertising on Facebook and Google, have helped Hawaii-based tech startup JamBios grow the number of memberships on its memory-sharing social media site. When PBN last checked in with JamBios in 2018, the company had just... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal

[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2019-06-01 00:43:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #online features #business model


Stormzy to help young authors get published with Penguin

The grime artist teams up with publisher Penguin and asks young authors for their stories. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2018-07-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publisher penguin #young authors


Want to earn more as a book author? A male name will help

In a groundbreaking study of more than two million books published in North America between 2002 and 2012, scholars found that books by women authors are priced 45% less than those of their male counterparts. The researchers, sociologist Dana Beth Weinberg and mathematician Adam Kapelner, both... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2018-04-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #male counterparts #book author #women authors #queens college-cuny #price gap