Freelance With A Family: Advice On Making It Work From One Of America's Top Rock Critics

Jessica Hopper on how she kept her creative dream job—and her family—thriving.In the early '90s, then-ninth-grader Jessica Hopper started putting out a fanzine to write about her favorite bands in Minneapolis. She turned that into assignments for local publications like City Pages, and then national magazines including Spin, getting her first paycheck as a music writer in 10th grade. Hundreds of reviews, features, and essays later, Hopper has one of the most well-known voices in music journalism, both in the local music scene where she lives in Chicago and nationally. This month, she releases The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic, an intentionally provocatively titled anthology of her years of work (she confesses in the book's preface that the title isn't technically accurate, but that it is "about planting a flag; it is for those whose dreams [and manuscripts] languished due to lack of formal precedence, support and permission"). The collection ranges from A-list profiles, to an in-depth feature on the relationship between indie rock and advertising, to a landmark personal essay about emo's inherent sexism.Read Full Story Continue reading at 'Fast Company'

[ Fast Company | 2015-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]

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Freelance With A Family: Advice On Making It Work From One Of America's Top Rock Critics

Jessica Hopper on how she kept her creative dream job—and her family—thriving.In the early '90s, then-ninth-grader Jessica Hopper started putting out a fanzine to write about her favorite bands in Minneapolis. She turned that into assignments for local publications like City Pages, and then... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2015-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Most freelance book critics are making less than minimum wage.

Since September 2023, the book criticism working group of the Freelance Solidarity Project (a union of digital media workers, organizing to raise labor standards across the industry) has been collecting data on freelance rates. Its findings, published earlier this month, are pretty damn bleak.... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-06-20 20:53:12 UTC ]
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8 truly useful AI tools that make your life and work easier

Artificial intelligence is the holy grail of the information age and the hot topic du jour. The hype was triggered by the revolutionary chatbot ChatGPT, which has turned our concept of non-human intelligence on its head. With a few key words, the AI creates seemingly authentic essays... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2024-10-15 10:30:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #libraries #playback speed


8 New Books On the Lives of America's Working Class

With J.D. Vance as the 2024 Republican vice-presidential candidate and 'Hillbilly Elegy' back on the bestseller list, the plight of America's working class is once again the subject of intense media scrutiny. Here are eight recent books worth reading on the subject. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-07-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Terry Robards, 84, Dies; Lifted Fine Wines in America as a Times Critic

In columns and notably “The New York Times Book of Wine,” he introduced Americans to European and premium domestic varieties in the 1970s and ’80s. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2024-06-03 18:35:34 UTC ]
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The Complex Truths That Make Up a Family

This memoir by a gay Appalachian man is about reckoning with a homophobic family but one full of love, forgiveness, and understanding. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2024-05-24 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #memoir


Reddit tops ranking of best digital media owner to work with

Survey asked agencies and digital specialists for their opinions on 28 media owners. Continue reading at Media Week

[ Media Week | 2024-05-22 00:01:00 UTC ]
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They Saw Dallas as a Literary Hub, Then Got to Work Making It One

“We are a literary city”: Will Evans started saying it in 2013, when he started the publisher Deep Vellum. Alongside the bookstore Wild Detectives and others, they’ve put Dallas on the literary map. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2024-04-25 09:05:49 UTC ]
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Amid Mounting Criticism, PEN America Literary Awards In Limbo

Nine of the 10 longlisted authors for this year's PEN/Jean Stein Book Award have withdrawn their books for consideration for the prize, effectively rendering it unawardable, as the controversy surrounding the freedom of expression organization continues to expand in scope. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-18 04:00:00 UTC ]
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PEN Union Cries Foul in Contract Talks as Criticism of PEN America Intensifies

A proposal in ongoing contract negotiations between PEN America management and PEN America United, its staff union, has led to charges by the union that the organization’s leadership is trying to stifle union members’ free speech rights—an assertion PEN management firmly disputes. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-03-28 04:00:00 UTC ]
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U.K. Publishing Spotlight: Advice for Americans Working with Brits

A U.S.-based publishing exec for John Murray Press offers five pieces of advice on working with colleagues in the U.K. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-02-23 05:00:00 UTC ]
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‘Impossible People’ and ‘Roaming’ Top PW’s 2023 Graphic Novel Critics Poll

New York City in the mid-aughts set the backdrop for stylistically unique graphic narratives on a common theme—women at a pivotal moment of early adulthood and the transformative nature of friendships—which tied for the top spot on our annual graphic novel critics poll this year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-12-20 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Dhonielle Clayton Is Working to Make the Book World More Diverse

Her solution? A packaging business that sells ideas for commercial genre fiction featuring characters from broadly diverse backgrounds. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-12-10 10:00:31 UTC ]
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Making Books Come Alive: Close-Up on Hardie Grant North America

Longtime publisher Hardie Grant is kicking off their North American line of food and lifestyle titles in style. (Sponsored) Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-03-31 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Beaton’s ‘Ducks’ Tops PW’s 2022 Graphic Novel Critics Poll

Kate Beaton’s widely acclaimed debut graphic memoir 'Ducks: Two years in the Oil Sands '(Drawn & Quarterly) has won PW’s 2022 Graphic Novel Critics Poll by a significant margin, receiving nine votes from PW’s panel of 16 critics. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-12-21 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #graphic novel #graphic memoir #significant margin #drawn quarterly #oil sands #critics poll #tops pw #kate beaton


Belvoir's Tell Me I'm Here looks at the impact of mental illness on the whole family. It is a wrenching and beautiful work

Based on Anne Deveson’s 1991 memoir about her son’s experience with schizophrenia, this play can be achingly sad. But it also offers hope. Continue reading at The Conversation

[ The Conversation | 2022-08-26 01:01:35 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #memoir #achingly sad #mental illness


Critics Blast James Patterson For Saying White Writers Are Struggling To Get Work

The author, who is white, told British newspaper The Times that job difficulties were "another form of racism." Continue reading at The Huffington Post

[ The Huffington Post | 2022-06-13 08:03:37 UTC ]
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Donaldson reigns supreme as backlist surge sees new authors make top 50

Once again the children’s writer Julia Donaldson tops the year-end ranking of writers through Nielsen, but a rise in sales of backlist titles saw a number of authors with large oeuvres make an appearance. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2022-01-16 10:02:13 UTC ]
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Is Work Replacing Religion in America?

Ethnographer Carolyn Chen draws on research conducted in the Silicon Valley to argue why the workplace is increasingly replacing houses of worship and how some tech giants have appropriated religious language and culture in her new book, ‘Work, Pray, Code.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-12-08 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Books in the Media: Grohl and Strout rock to the top of reviews

Dave Grohl's memoir The Storyteller (S&S) was one of the critics most reviewed this week, picking up mentions in The Bookseller, the Observer, Guardian, Times, Sunday Times and Irish Times.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-17 21:25:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #memoir #irish times #sunday times #dave grohl