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


Growing up Downton: Anthony Russell on living in Leeds Castle

Anthony Russell's vivid stories provide insight into the life of English nobility in the 1950s and '60s -- along with consequences that come with being handed every material good on a silver plate.Imagine if a woman such as the Dowager Countess from “Downton Abbey” was one of your grandmothers.... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-12-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Stop spying on us! Authors' upset

It is the stuff of books and now it has become very real, with Australian authors Anna Funder, Frank Moorhouse and David Malouf joining the fight to demand an end to mass surveillance.     Continue reading at The Sydney Morning Herald

[ The Sydney Morning Herald | 2013-12-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HarperCollins buys gang girl memoir

HarperCollins has acquired Sour, the true story of Tracey Miller, a former Brixton gang girl,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Manil Suri Wins the One Book Prize Most Authors Don’t Want

The Literary Review has awarded its 21st annual Bad Sex in Fiction Award to Manil Suri for a scene in The City of Devi featuring a, err, stellar climax. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers, Book Fair Help Revive Cambodia’s Love of Reading

Under the Khmer Rouge, Cambodia's reading culture was destroyed, but over the past five years it has returned with the help of a revitalized publishing industry. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-12-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Indies First: Authors share their experiences working as booksellers

The Indies First movement garnered more than 1,000 authors working at bookstores across the US and in Canada for Small Business Saturday, including James Patterson and Garth Stein. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-12-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day continues to grow

Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day will be celebrated on Dec. 7 this year and founder Jenny Milchman says she hopes to expand the message of the holiday to year-round initiatives, including field trips to bookstores in at-risk areas. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-12-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Gone Girl' Finally Hits Paperback

With more than 6 million copies sold, and 71 weeks spent on the New York Times's hardcover bestseller list, Gillian Flynn's thriller, Gone Girl, is coming to paperback. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Biteback author bids to overturn Ward conviction

The author of Stephen Ward Was Innocent, OK (Biteback Publishing), has revealed his book has been... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Obama's tech wizard hones his media weapons to help Miliband get to No 10

He was the scourge of Mitt Romney in the 2012 US election, now Obama's 'backroom Brit' is heading Labour's digital response team for its 2015 campaignIn his new book about the 2012 US presidential election campaign, the Time journalist Mark Halperin singles out the role played by a young Briton... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Burial Rites' author Hannah Kent finds mystery in Iceland

Chronicling the Chill of 1820s Iceland in 'Burial Rites,' Australian author Hannah Kent finds deep humanity, for better and worse, in a faraway isle. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-11-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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For Indies First day, authors get behind independent bookstores

Thanks to Sherman Alexie's forgetfulness, writers across the U.S. will volunteer at their local bookstore Saturday for the inaugural Indies First day.Not long ago the writer Sherman Alexie missed one of his readings, standing up fans at the Queen Anne Book Company, a store in Seattle. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-11-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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From Crowdfunding to Author Advances: German Self-Publishing Experimentation

The self-publishing ecosystem in Germany is expanding into more dramatic experimentation, from crowdsourcing to offering author advances. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-11-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Bookstar' talent show for authors

Agents Madeleine Milburn and David Headley [pictured] will help judge an "X Factor"... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-11-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ether for Authors: Can We Stop Short of Overstatement?

Our weekly round-up of web buzz from Porter Anderson looks at how easily exaggerated interpretations of publishing industry commentary can skew the debate. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-11-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google v Authors Guild: a victory for readers' right to choose

A Manhattan court case about digitisation rights has brought books and the web a step closer togetherOn 14 November, after eight years of wrangling, Judge Denny Chin of the Manhattan district court finally ruled in the case of Google versus the Authors Guild. At issue was Google's scanning and... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-11-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Rightster helps brands to cash in on the commercial rewards of online video

Multichannel network distributes, syndicates and matches content creators with online publishersYou may never have heard of Rightster but you have more than likely watched videos it syndicates on YouTube, newspaper websites and specialist live streaming sites like one for the recent... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-11-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kobo, 'PW Select' Partner for Self-Pubbed Authors

Kobo's self-publishing platform, Kobo Writing Life, is launching an affiliate program for self-published authors with PW Select, a monthly digital newsletter and print supplement to Publishers Weekly magazine focusing on independently published books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-11-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Hunger Games' author Suzanne Collins, in rare interview, muses on war and the cycle of violence

Suzanne Collins says she 'sort of completed' a goal of hers this fall by releasing her children's book 'Year of the Jungle,' which examines war from a child's point of view. Collins wants to write a book about war for every child age group, she says. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-11-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Avon Goes Back to School for Next Big Romance Author

Partnering with HarperCollins's academic marketing division, Avon (which is a trade imprint at HC), is opening its editorial doors to submissions from undergraduate and graduate students. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-11-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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