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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Quercus makes £1m from digital in three months

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 05/04/2011 - 15:22 Quercus has nearly matched the £1m digital revenue it made from ebooks last year in the first three months of 2011. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Room top pick in spring TV Book Club

Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Mon, 04/04/2011 - 08:51 Emma Donoghue's Room (Picador) has added another accolade to its Man Booker shortlisting and Orange-longlisting after receiving the vote of "TV Book Club" viewers as their favourite spring read of the 10 titles. The second most... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pullman, Kelman make Booker list, le Carré withdraws

Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Wed, 30/03/2011 - 09:15 Three authors from the UK have made it onto the list of finalists for the Man Booker International Prize 2011. James Kelman, Philip Pullman and John le Carré have joined the list of 13 for the biennial £60,000 award, which... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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America bouncing back for LBF 2011

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Mon, 28/03/2011 - 09:37 The book trade is anticipating a buzzing London Book Fair after the washout of the 2010 event, with a stronger US presence than there has been in recent years. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Auel's latest tops Amazon preorders for 2011

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 24/03/2011 - 15:50 Jean M Auel's new Earth's Children title is Amazon.co.uk's most pre-ordered book of 2011. The Land of Painted Caves: Earth's Children 6 (Hodder & Stoughton), is the last in the Earth's Children series. It will be published... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In Paperbacks, Big Names on Top: Facts & Figures 2011

It's the Stieg Larsson show in 2010 paperback bestsellers. The first two books of his enormously successful trilogy racked up sales of more than 10,942,000 in their mass market and paperback editions. That's more than the combined sales of two other stellar sellers—James Patterson and Nora... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-03-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Luke Johnson to write business advice for Portfolio

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 17/03/2011 - 15:57 Luke Johnson, best known in the book trade for his spell owning Borders, and fellow Financial Times journalist Mrs Moneypenny are writing business titles for Penguin's business imprint Portfolio. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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World Book Day books top charts but sales are down on last year

Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Tue, 15/03/2011 - 15:56 Sales of the six £1 World Book Day books fell 36% week-on-week, to 159,000 copies sold—a figure down 9% on the comparative week last year—but they nonetheless continue to dominate the sharp end of this week’s Official UK Top... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Two pre-LBF deals top £1m in rights frenzy

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 11/03/2011 - 10:11 Agents have claimed two big-money deals worth £500,000 each, which could mark a return to confidence in the rights market in the crucial weeks ahead of next month's London Book Fair. Simon & Schuster publishing... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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STL distribution makes 30 redundant

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 10/03/2011 - 15:22 Christian book wholesaler STL Distribution is cutting a quarter of its 124-strong workforce following poor sales. The Carlisle-based company said 30 positions will be affected, with only around 5% of employees opting for... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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£1 World Book Day books storm to the top of the charts

Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Tue, 08/03/2011 - 16:01 The latest crop of £1 World Book Day books, led by Cope & Davies' Spy Dog/The Great Pet Shop Panic (Puffin/S&S) take positions one-through-six in this week's Official UK Top 50, with sales totalling 247,235 copies—a... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HMV Group makes Waterstone's pledge

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 07/03/2011 - 09:14 HMV Group has moved to reassure publishers of Waterstone's future, revealing the bookseller is on track to achieve its predicted 2%–3% operating margin by the end of its financial year. Tuesday's [1st March] trading statement... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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World Book Night books defy the critics as sales grow

Written By: Philip Stone and Felicity Wood Publication Date: Fri, 04/03/2011 - 09:43 The majority of the books to be handed out tomorrow (5th March) as part of World Book Night have already received a sales boost in 2011. The figures will be a welcome fillip for the organisers, with founder... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Atkinson takes top, kids books climb and the Beeb boosts sales

Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Tue, 01/03/2011 - 16:09 Kate Atkinson has knocked Jamie Oliver off the top of the charts, thanks largely to a spot in W H Smith's "£2.99 if you buy the Times" link-save promotion, with Started Early, Took My Dog (Black Swan) the new Official UK Top 50... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jamie top, while Faulks boosts fiction

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cookbooks Surge to Top Category at Libraries

Though cookbook publishers are usually quick to seek out special sales channels from Williams-Sonoma to the Culinary Institute of America, one venue may not be at the forefront of their minds: libraries. And while health and medicine titles used to be the most popular nonfiction titles checked... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Daily Is A Top News App But Download Complaints Soar

While it’s probably not surprising given the buzz around the launch of News Corp.’s tablet-only publication, but The Daily is currently #1 in “Top Apps” and #1 in “News Apps,” according to topappcharts.com. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-02-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sphere makes Wicked acquisition

Written By: Katie Allen Little, Brown imprint Sphere has acquired a "shocking" debut novel about the murder of a little girl. Editorial director Catherine Burke acquired UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) including audio and ebook in The Wicked Girls by Alex Marwood from Laetitia... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jamie back on top as Costa winner shows mutability

Written By: Philip stone Jamie Oliver's Jamie's 30-minute Meals (Michael Joseph) has returned to the summit of the Official UK Top 50 after a three-week hiatus. The bestselling hardback non-fiction book since records began sold 37,407 copies in the seven days to 29th January, up 77%... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media Decoder: Hearst Makes Offer For Elle, Other Lagardère Titles

After a month of negotiations, Hearst has made an offer to buy 102 magazine titles from the French publisher. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-01-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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