'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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This Is Not A Startup Story

When you start a small business, it's hard to know what success--or failure--looks like.In 2011, I started a book business with my best friend called Emily Books. We were qualified to start a business in some ways, not so much in others. We had some expertise in our field: We'd both worked at... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2014-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Frankfurt Book Fair 2014: Apple, Amazon in Race for Mobile Readers

The rise of reading on mobile phones is a hot topic at the Frankfurt Book Fair, but perhaps the most surprising finding of a new survey is that Apple is giving Amazon a run for its money among younger readers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Stories Keep Coming: PW Talks with Lauraine Snelling

Novelist Lauraine Snelling has authored 80 books since she began her writing career in 1982, has more than two million books in print, and has just published the first in her fifth historical series set among Norwegian immigrants to North Dakota, where her mother was born and raised: “Strong... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Life and Death at Frankfurt

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-10-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Shriver wins BBC National Short Story Award

Lionel Shriver has won the BBC National Short Story Award 2014 for her story “Kilifi Creek... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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John Murray pre-empts McLaughlin stories

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[ The Bookseller | 2014-09-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Children's apps: 'Technology interferes with the story in most apps'

Author and critic Nicolette Jones says shes never seen a picture-book app doing something a book cant do betterLots of developers and publishers are exploring the potential of interactive picture book-apps for children, but can they ever hope to deliver a reading experience comparable to books?... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-09-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Indie Publishers: Connecting Books to Readers with IngramSpark

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-09-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Comic David Mitchell rails at Amazons cynical life-crushing business style

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[ The Guardian | 2014-09-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mantel defends Thatcher story

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[ The Bookseller | 2014-09-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Rolls Out New and Upgraded Tablets, E-readers

Amazon is rolling out an upgraded suite of tablets that includes an enhanced 8.9-inch Kindle HDX ($379), a new tablet designed for children ($149), and a new Kindle HD tablet ($100). Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Smith, Shriver, Tremain up for BBC short story award

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[ The Bookseller | 2014-09-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Digital Printing for Every Stage in a Book’s Life

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Margaret Atwood's Next Book Will Be A "Message In A Bottle" For Readers In 2114

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[ Fast Company | 2014-09-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Italy’s Claudio Magris Wins 2014 $150,000 FIL Prize

Italian writer Claudio Magris (b. 1939) has been awarded the 2014 Prize in Romance Languages by the Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL). Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-09-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Real Thugs Eat Their Greens: The Story Behind ‘Thug Kitchen’

With blunt, expletive-drenched writing, the voice of 'Thug Kitchen' stands out in the world of healthy living and cooking websites. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon's war on ebooks, LG's G Watch R and other stories you might've missed

This week, we reviewed the HTC One for Windows, investigated Amazon's controversial ebook-pricing model, played around with Hyperlapse, learned about LG's G Watch R and more! Read on for Engadget's news highlights from the last seven days. Oh, and... Continue reading at Engadget

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Roald Dahl's The Witches comes to life

Roald Dahl's beloved children's book The Witches gets a timely work-out in this one-man show. Continue reading at The Sydney Morning Herald

[ The Sydney Morning Herald | 2014-08-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Holt, Seven Stories Sign Comics Works on Snowden, NSA

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-08-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kobo Debuts Waterproof E-reader

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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