'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

Other Publishing stories related to: ''Reader's Digest' Wants Your Life Story in 150 Words or Less'


Seeking Engagement, Media Firms Toss Readers the Keys

On April 24, during an all-hands meeting at Gawker Media's SoHo headquarters, founder and publisher Nick Denton was extolling the virtues of Kinja, his proprietary publishing platform that allows readers to participate in the company's editor ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2014-06-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #gawker media


Bookshop memories: your pictures and stories

When we asked you to share anecdotes and photos of your favourite independent bookshops, the stories poured in. From romance surrounded by Shakespeare to an encounter with a falconry-loving policeman, here is a selection of your bookshop memoriesSee all the contributions and add your own on... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-06-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #independent bookstores #latest additions #city block


S&S Children’s acquires YA suicide story

Simon and Schuster Children’s Books has acquired the UK and Commonwealth rights to a YA... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-06-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ss children #schuster children


A digital renaissance for the science fiction short story

Sci-fi and fantasy fiction is entering a golden age of short fiction thanks to social media, crowdfunding and a loyal community of ardent fansA man wakes up from a car crash to find that he is an "electric ant": an android programmed to believe it is human. At home he uses micro-tools to open... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-06-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #online magazines


IQRAni: The Story of a Pioneering Emirati Publishing House

Aisha Al-Kaabi discusses the history and mission of her publishing house IQRAni, which is at the forefront of a publishing boom in the UAE. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-06-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Jon Sweeney: A Life in Books and On the Move

Jon Sweeney's religious evolution has been as peripatetic as his writing and publishing careers. From evangelical to Episcopal to Catholic (and married to a rabbi); from bookseller to publisher to author, his love of religions and thirst for learning have kept him on the move. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #jon sweeney #publishing careers


Book Crowdfunding Platform Pentian Pays Writers and Readers

Spain's Pentian crowdfunding platform for books offers a new business model: paying 50% of profits from book sales to backers of the book and 40% to the author. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-06-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book sales #books offers #business model


Stephen Colbert has some choice words for Amazon (+video)

In a recent episode of his show, Colbert discussed the dispute between Amazon and publisher Hachette which has caused some books, including his own, to be delayed or unavailable to customers. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-06-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #stephen colbert #choice words #recent episode #colbert discussed #publisher hachette


Stephen Colbert has some choice words for Amazon

In a recent episode of his show, Colbert discussed the dispute between Amazon and publisher Hachette which has caused some books, including his own, to be delayed or unavailable to customers. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-06-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #stephen colbert #choice words #recent episode #colbert discussed #publisher hachette


Bookshop memories: share your photos and stories

As Foyles closes the doors of its world famous, 111-year-old London store and opens a new one share words and images that stir your memories of independent bookshopsShare your photos and stories via GuardianWitness With Amazon still throwing its considerable weight into the ongoing dispute... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-06-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #london store #ongoing dispute #ebook market


MIT's robotic limbs pave the way for real-life Doc Ock (video)

Two groups of MIT scientists are working on robotic limbs, which when worn together can make you look like one famous comic book villain: Doctor Octopus. Unlike prosthetic limbs developed to replace real ones, the teams' (from MIT's d'Arbeloff... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2014-06-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


'Glass Closet': The double life of a gay chief executive

"I was not a victim," declares John Browne, the former chief executive of BP, in his new book, "The Glass Closet: Why Coming Out Is Good Business," published by Harper Business. "We must own up to our choices and I had made some bad ones." Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2014-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #glass closet #double life #good business #harper business


BEA 2014: The Search For Identities in Stories: Michael Coffey

After years of trying to write a memoir, Michael Coffey, the outgoing co-editorial director of Publishers Weekly, realized that fiction was the best way to extend ruminations about what it meant for him to be adopted. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #michael coffey


BEA 2014: Alan Cumming: A Life Revealed

Watching the charismatic actor, Alan Cumming, on the CBS television show, The Good Wife, or PBS’s Masterpiece Mystery, seeing him in films or on the stage, where he’s currently getting raves on Broadway as the emcee in Cabaret, you’d be looking at the picture of success. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #alan cumming #good wife


LinkedIn Tells Member Stories in New Campaign

Looking for a new career? LinkedIn thinks you don't need to look any further than the success stories of its members for motivation. The company's latest digital campaign, Picture Yourself, focuses on telling the career tales of select people, including One Kings Lane chief merchandising... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2014-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publishing sites #personal stories #skill set #buying ads


BEA 2014: Celebrating Life’s Adventures

Life is one adventure after another, and at booth 1313, Abbeville Press is celebrating some of the things that make it so: Italian cuisine, the seven seas, and Jane Austen. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #italian cuisine #jane austen


BEA 2014: Her Ideal Reader: PW Talks With Liane Moriarty

Liane Moriarty is the Australian author of five internationally bestselling novels, including The Husband’s Secret. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #liane moriarty #australian author


Jill Herzig Named Editor-in-Chief of Dr. Oz The Good Life

Hearst Corp. president and CEO Steve Swartz and Hearst Magazines president David Carey looked inward in recruiting four-year Redbook editor-in-chief Jill Herzig for the same position at Dr. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2014-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #good life #hearst corp


Quebec's publishing scene taking the written word back to France

The Canadian province has been a stealthy focus for French publishers, but its booksellers are also looking towards ParisThe Canadian province of Quebec has about 6 million French-speaking inhabitants. In comparison there are only 4.2 million French-speakers in Belgium. French publishers have... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #great divide #editorial policy


“I Thought About Skipping the Phineas Gage Story”

On Wednesday, Sam Kean published one of Slate’s most popular stories of 2014, “Phineas Gage, Neuroscience’s Most Famous Patient.” The piece extends from Sam’s work on his latest book, The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons: The History of the Human Brain as Revealed by True Stories of Trauma,... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2014-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #popular stories #human brain #true stories