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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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Nine of the 10 longlisted authors for this year's PEN/Jean Stein Book Award have withdrawn their books for consideration for the prize, effectively rendering it unawardable, as the controversy surrounding the freedom of expression organization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 ]
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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 ]
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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 ]
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“Food is healing.” Learn how to make one of Maya Angelou’s beloved family recipes.

It’s officially October, which marks the start of National Cookbook Month. If you’re searching for some new sweet or savory treats to make, why not look to Maya Angelou? In addition to being a wizard with her literary pen game, Angelou was also a published cookbook author. In a 2011 article... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-10-01 15:37:41 UTC ]
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Emily Oster says you should run your family like a business. Does that work in 2021 — or ever?

In the new book ‘The Family Firm,’ the controversial economics professor shares how to use meetings, rules and data to sort out parenting decisions Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-07-30 12:00:00 UTC ]
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The Thursday Murder Club makes a killing at the top

Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club (Viking) has booked a slot at the top of the UK Official Top 50 chart through Nielsen BookScan's TCM, selling 44,096 copies in its first three days on sale in paperback. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-05-18 10:35:07 UTC ]
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Hachette makes Times' Top 50 Employers for Women for second year

Hachette UK has been selected as one of the Times Top 50 Employers for Women for the second year running. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-04-28 21:32:56 UTC ]
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Review: A family travel memoir makes a timely pitch for personal risk

Charles Wheelan's "We Came, We Saw, We Left" charts the Wheelan family's frantic global "gap year" — infections, iffy street food, tantrums and all. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-01-22 18:26:12 UTC ]
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‘Kent State’ On Top of PW’s 2020 Graphic Novel Critics Poll

Released during the 50th anniversary year of the 1970 tragedy, 'Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio' (Abrams ComicArts) by veteran comics journalist Derf Backderf garnered the most votes in PW’s annual Graphic Novel Critic’s Poll. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-12-16 05:00:00 UTC ]
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