‘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'


EBSCO Helps Librarians Build Spanish Collections

The academic database platform's NoveList's Core Collection offers librarians a database of 7,000 Spanish-language titles. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-09-01 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Growing Up in a Chinese Restaurant in Atlantic City

Jane Wong’s memoir Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City is a feast of a book. It’s about hunger—the hungers of the body, of addiction, of history. Brilliant, gutting, and funny, she writes with such range about growing up in her family’s Chinese restaurant in Atlantic City as their reach for the... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-08-31 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #post growing #atlantic city #electric literature #memoir


‘Jesus Calling’ Author Sarah Young’s Health is ‘Rapidly Failing’

Sarah Young, author of ‘Jesus Calling—’one of the most successful devotionals of all time—is experiencing a health crisis, as confirmed by her publisher, Thomas Nelson. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-08-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #jesus calling #sarah young #successful devotionals #thomas nelson


Adelaide Books Continues to Ignore Author Complaints

Earlier this year, Adelaide Books owner Stevan Nikolic promised the Authors Guild he would act to fix numerous complaints lodged against his company. That promise has mostly gone unfulfilled. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-08-30 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #authors guild


The First App to “Help” Libraries and Schools with Book Bans Has Arrived–It’s Not What It Seems

BookmarkED claims to help schools and parents navigate book bans. But where and how the app gets is information is a secret. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-08-28 14:02:30 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book bans #libraries


Lit Hub Weekly: August 21-25, 2023

“Whatever has been invented, Le Guin teaches us, can be reinvented.” John Plotz revisits Earthsea. | Lit Hub Criticism Moeen Farrokhi on writing and humiliation under Iranian censorship: “I began to question the very act of writing itself.” | Lit Hub Memoir “No one needs my opinion about books.”... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-08-26 10:30:54 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bookseller


Lit Hub Daily: August 23, 2023

“No one needs my opinion about books.” Longtime indie bookseller Josh Cook against the cultural authoritarianism of “good taste.” | Lit Hub Criticism When folk went mainstream: On Harry Everett Smith and the cultural paradigm shift that his Anthology of American Folk Music. | Lit Hub Music... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-08-23 10:30:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #anthology #bookseller


Author Strikes Back Against Spreading Science Denial

In her new book, author Janet Kellogg Ray addresses her concerns about what she sees as a revival of the battle lines being drawn between science and faith in a similar fashion to what led to the Scopes Monkey trial in 1925. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-08-23 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #battle lines


'Friday Night Lights' Author Torches ChatGPT-Assisted Iowa Book Ban

H.G. "Buzz" Bissinger said whoever decided to use the software to pull his book from the Mason City school district is a "complete idiot." Continue reading at The Huffington Post

[ The Huffington Post | 2023-08-18 15:13:40 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #complete idiot


Crafting Madness: Stephanie Heit on Joining a Lineage of Authors with Mental Health Difference

Stephanie Heit’s new book, Psych Murders, is a hybrid memoir poem that documents her experience of shock treatment. She traces her queer mad bodymind through breathlessness, damage, refusal, and memory loss as it shifts in and out of locked psychiatric wards and extreme bipolar states. Stephanie... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-08-18 09:25:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #memoir


#BookTok Helped Book Sales Soar. How Long Will That Last?

In July, for the first month ever, sales from the roughly 180 BookTok authors BookScan follows fell from the prior year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-08-18 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #prior year #bookscan


Author Michelle Tea Launches Dopamine Books

Michelle Tea always wanted to become a publisher. And after a decade of helming imprints at established presses, she’s finally in the driver’s seat of her own nonprofit press, Dopamine Books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-08-18 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #michelle tea


Publisher Salon Grows Revenue After Cutting Resellers

Showing that publishers are better off controlling their own programmatic destiny, news publisher Salon has grown revenue after cutting off access to its inventory for the vast majority of resellers earlier this year. That increase comes that's from being able to charge more for its inventory... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2023-08-16 11:53:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #vast majority #news publisher


‘Times change’: what authors think about rewriting older books

Jacqueline Wilson is latest writer to wade into debate over changing dated and offensive languageThe publishing industry has been mired in debate in recent years about editing older books to remove content that could be deemed offensive.Even the prime minister became involved in February after... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-08-14 13:30:39 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #jacqueline wilson #latest writer #deemed offensive #prime minister #roald dahl #puffin #publishing industry


Authors threaten boycott of Edinburgh book festival over sponsors’ fossil fuel links

An open letter signed by more than 50 authors including Zadie Smith, Ali Smith and Katherine Rundell calls for investment firm Baillie Gifford to be dropped as main sponsor for 2024Authors including Zadie Smith, Ali Smith and Katherine Rundell have called on the Edinburgh International book... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-08-11 12:45:25 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #lead sponsor #ali smith #katherine rundell #fossil fuels #literary festival #book festival


Lit Hub Daily: August 11, 2023

Jess deCourcy Hinds hopefully predicts a new trend in book publishing: the librarian memoir. | Lit Hub Libraries “It’s like someone hitting you on the side of the head. It’s marvelous.” Former Velvet Underground frontman Lou Reed talks to Allan Jones about making an unlistenable album. | Lit Hub... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-08-11 10:30:06 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book publishing #libraries


Amazon removes books ‘generated by AI’ for sale under author’s name

Jane Friedman claims she had to fight against Amazon’s refusal to remove the misattributed titles because she had not trademarked her nameFive books for sale on Amazon were removed after author Jane Friedman complained that the titles were falsely listed as being written by her. The books, which... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-08-09 14:28:36 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publishing industry #real work #make money #step-by-step guide #books include


Author says the Apple TV+ 'Tetris' movie ripped off his book

The Apple TV+ film Tetris was copied from a book written years ago, according to a lawsuit filed against the tech giant and the Tetris Company. Dan Ackerman, the editor-in-chief of Gizmodo, has accused the plaintiffs of ripping off his book The Tetris Effect, which tells the history of the game... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-08-09 06:17:44 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #apple tv+ #tech giant #desist letter #major source #point home #lengthy list #real life #book written


Prince Harry and Meghan buy film rights to Canadian author Carley Fortune's romantic novel

A Canadian author says a production company belonging to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex has bought the screen rights for her romantic novel. Continue reading at CBC

[ CBC | 2023-08-08 18:39:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #prince harry #screen rights #canadian author


What the sale of a major American book publisher means for authors, the industry — and you

Book publisher Simon & Schuster's sale to investment firm KKR is novel in many ways, but also part of a long-term trend. History tells us to expect the unexpected. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-08-08 17:35:35 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book publisher