'Reader's Digest' Wants Your Life Story in 150 Words or Less

Oh boy, do I have a contest for you long-winded Facebookers and personal bloggers. It's called, "Your Life: The Reader's Digest Version." The venerable magazine is willing to shell out $25,000 if you can keep The Story of You to a crisp and compelling 150 words (words, not characters—this isn't Twitter). Hell, I'd fork over that much if certain "friends" would stop sending me six-page family missives disguised as Christmas cards. Short and sweet, people! You are not that interesting. Jane Lynch, star of Glee and host of next month's Emmy Awards, gets the ball rolling with her own abbreviated life story on the magazine's Facebook page (see it after the jump). Shame, it sounds nothing like her caustic Sue Sylvester character from the Fox musical. Rather, it's an earnest promo-within-a-promo for Lynch's memoir, Happy Accidents, dropping in September. More celebrities with books to hawk will follow. But if Lynch, a sought-after, award-winning actress (Best in Show, Role Models, Party Down), can give a snapshot into her psyche within just a few sentences, so can you. I'd be even happier with a haiku. Jane Lynch's entry: "At the tender age of 50, I realized that I had the family, friends and the acting career I had always wanted. I had suffered on the way, feeling out of place, overcontrolling and drinking too much, but all that suffering had not fueled anything useful. The good things were a result of happy accidents that I had been willing, and let's hope smart enough, to... Continue reading at 'AdWeek'

[ AdWeek | 2011-08-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #award-winning actress #role models #tender age #acting career #good things #stay open

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Portobello Books acquires 'chilling' gothic story collection

Portobello Books has acquired The Things We Lost in the Fire - a “chilling, compulsive” collection of gothic short stories - at auction. UK and Commonwealth rights to the collection, by Argentine writer Mariana Enriquez, were acquired by editor Anne Meadows from Sandra Pareja at Casanovas &... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-09-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Author Combines Mobile Gaming, Fantasy Fiction to Lure Readers

Alane Adams worked for years as an accountant at her family’s business, but she always believed that one day she’d get back to her first two loves: reading and writing. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-09-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Decluttering Your Life Is Not Just A Trend—It's Big Business

In a world obsessed with tidying, professional organizers like Marie Kondo are a rising commercial force.In a restaurant where the ceiling is a work of art and the books on the shelf are arranged by color, eBay is holding a promotional event for its new service, eBay Valet. On the tables—around... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2015-09-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Life After Content Blocking

Ad blocking started as an initiative by independent developers who wanted to improve our browsing experience. Now that at least one company, Apple, has made Content Blocking “official”, ad-supported publishing business models are ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-08-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Call for Stories: Frankfurt Book Fair Show Dailies

We're looking for great stories for Publishing Perspectives' Frankfurt Book Fair Show Dailies, The deadline to pitch stories or editorial is September 10. The post Call for Stories: Frankfurt Book Fair Show Dailies appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-08-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bear story to be Walliams’ next picture book

The Bear Who Went Boo!, about a cheeky polar bear cub, will be David Walliams’ next picture book, published by HarperCollins later this year.   Children’s publisher Ann-Janine Murtagh said the book, which will be released 5th November in time for Christmas, is a “deliciously funny new tale”... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jellybooks: Tracking Reader Engagement for Better Marketing

Andrew Rhomberg explains how Jellybooks smart software embedded in ebook ARCs allows publishers to unobtrusively glean crucial pre-pub data from readers. The post Jellybooks: Tracking Reader Engagement for Better Marketing appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Story Behind (and Tips From) the Most Successful Crowdfunding Campaign in the History of Journalism

A simple WordPress blog named #NoHaceFaltaPapel didn’t exist a year ago. Well now it’s a publishing company whose El Español is responsible for the largest crowdfunding campaign for journalism to date. ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Seven Stories to publish book on history of illustration

Seven Stories has delved into its own archive to put together a book about children’s illustration, which it will publish with Walker Books in October. Drawn from the Archive: Hidden Histories of Illustration is edited by Sarah Lawrence, Seven Stories’ collection director, who looks at the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How to Survive the Cruel Times: Life Lessons from Bestselling Rabbi Harold Kushner

In Kushner's 12th book, 'Nine Essential Things I've Learned About Life,' he offers reasons to come back to religion for those who have walked away. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-08-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mario Vargas Llosa hits back at claim he sold story to Hola!

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[ The Guardian | 2015-08-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mobile Readers Abound; the Ads, Not So Much

Traditional and online publishers are struggling to cash in on their surging mobile traffic, raising questions about their future growth as consumers increasingly turn to smartphones and tablets for media. Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-08-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sample New Writing from Indonesia at Words Without Borders

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-08-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The girl who came back to life: Lisbeth Salander resurrected for a new novel

Early in 2004, a pair of green folders labelled "Men Who Hate Women 1 and 2" landed on the desk of Eva Gedin, an editor at the Swedish publishing house Norstedts. Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2015-08-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Story of de Beauvoir love affair to Myriad

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[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hitting bookstores soon: J.R.R. Tolkien's first fantasy story

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[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-08-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gillian Flynn short story to be published

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[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Reading Rainbow: Hoping to Engage Lifelong Readers Through Licensing

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-08-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Galley Beggar launches short story comp

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[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HarperCollins to publish Tolkien 'legend' story

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[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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