'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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The Issue-Driven Aspen Words Literary Prize: 2023 Shortlist

The Aspen Words Literary Prize shortlist of five fiction titles highlights 'essential books' that each address 'a vital contemporary issue.' The post The Issue-Driven Aspen Words Literary Prize: 2023 Shortlist appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-03-07 03:47:14 UTC ]
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The Best Short Stories by Latin American Writers

If the literary landscape of the early twentieth century, at least when it comes to short stories, is dominated by Anglophone writers like Katherine Mansfield, James Joyce, and Virginia Woolf, then the mid-twentieth century arguably belongs to the Latin American writers who helped to move the... Continue reading at Interesting Literature

[ Interesting Literature | 2023-03-05 18:00:38 UTC ]
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Heroes of the Written Word: Novels Starring Comic Book Characters

Superheroes aren't limited to comic books. Read your way into these novels starring comic book heroes. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-03-03 11:32:00 UTC ]
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Tracey Rose Peyton: Exploring Six Stories of Motherhood for Enslaved Women

Tracey Rose Peyton is the guest. She is the author of the debut novel Night Wherever We Go, available from Ecco Books. Subscribe and download the episode, wherever you get your podcasts!  From the episode: Brad Listi: This book really brought into focus for me the awful risks and costs of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-03-03 09:53:42 UTC ]
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The Kirk Cameron-drag queen story hour cage match is officially on.

Children: choose your fighter. In the red corner: evangelist actor, “loving husband,” and new children’s book author Kirk Cameron, who had a crowd of “hundreds” at his Christian-themed children’s book reading in Hendersonville, Tennessee, over the weekend, after conceiving of the “wholesome”... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-02-27 15:51:22 UTC ]
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Rediscovered Terry Pratchett stories to be published

Twenty stories written under a pseudonym and never before attributed to Pratchett, who died in 2015, will be released this year by TransworldA collection of newly rediscovered short stories by Terry Pratchett, originally written under a pseudonym, are to be published later this year.The 20 tales... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-02-27 14:52:08 UTC ]
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At Bologna: The ‘Taiwan Stories Market’ Program

Taiwan's program at Bologna Children's Book Fair features award-winning illustrators and events including an 'illustration concert.' Sponsored. The post At Bologna: The ‘Taiwan Stories Market’ Program appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-02-27 10:56:29 UTC ]
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Ancient Drama for Modern Readers: Top 5 Greek Plays to Read in Translation

Bestseller lists of recent years have shown that our interest in the tales of the ancient Greeks is still going strong after three millennia, and even experiencing a renaissance. This is a testament, I think, to the timelessness of their content: the deeply human passions and agonies that they... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-02-24 09:52:27 UTC ]
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A science fiction magazine closed submissions after being bombarded with stories written by ChatGPT

In a case of life (or something) imitating art, an award-winning publisher of science fiction says it’s being overrun with AI-generated work. Clarkesworld Magazine is no stranger to tales of artificial intelligence impacting society, but in a sad and wild case of life imitating art, the Hugo... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2023-02-21 09:59:00 UTC ]
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‘Libraries, You Are My Heroes’: Readers Share Memories of a Favorite Haven

A photo essay celebrating the versatility of public libraries prompted an outpouring of enthusiasm from card-carrying book lovers. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-02-19 10:00:09 UTC ]
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Some of the Best Stories from a Century of Weird Tales (That You Can Read Online)

A century ago, on February 18, 1923, the first issue of Weird Tales appeared on American newsstands. Subtitled “The Unique Magazine,” it was, as the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction puts it, “the first pulp magazine to specialize in supernatural and occult fiction,” including horror, fantasy,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-02-17 09:56:46 UTC ]
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New Aussie drama Bad Behaviour gives us a complex portrayal of girlhood and queer stories

Stan’s new series adapted Rebecca Starford’s memoir gives brutal and honest insight into the consequences of bullying. Continue reading at The Conversation

[ The Conversation | 2023-02-17 02:14:58 UTC ]
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'Horse Crazy' Inspires a Series for Young Readers

Starting this spring, Cameron Kids will publish Pulitzer Prize-nominated reporter Sarah Maslin Nir's Once Upon a Horse series for middle grade readers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-02-16 05:00:00 UTC ]
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How a real-life stolen violin inspired Brendan Slocumb's bestselling mystery

Bestselling author Brendan Slocumb joins the L.A. Times Book Club on Feb. 23 to discuss his debut, "The Violin Conspiracy." Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-02-15 15:00:54 UTC ]
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An Elegy to a Pluralistic, Polyglot India Wins Readers and Critics in the West

Geetanjali Shree’s prizewinning novel “Tomb of Sand” pushed the boundaries of experimental writing in Hindi and spotlighted the wealth of Indian literature in languages other than English. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-02-11 10:00:17 UTC ]
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What books hate most in readers.

Yesterday morning, The Washington Post’s Ron Charles published a summary of “what readers hate most in books“—the result, Charles tells us, of asking the readers of the Post’s Book Club newsletter to write in with their pet peeves. “The responses were a tsunami of bile,” Charles writes.... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-02-09 16:26:13 UTC ]
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Bedtime Stories From Toni Morrison: Priscilla Gilman on Her Singular Literary Upbringing

Family memoirs are never about one thing. There’s always a compelling domestic story; in her new memoir, The Critic’s Daughter, Priscilla Gilman tells a fascinating story about her dynamic parents and the literary world that they inhabited. But good memoirs always involve a secondary subplot (or... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-02-06 09:54:35 UTC ]
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Choosing Words Carefully: PW Talks to Bryan A. Garner, Author of 'Garner’s Modern English Usage'

PW caught up with the famous lexicographer to talk about the recently published Fifth Edition of his essential guide—and his lifelong fascination with the English language. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-02-06 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The Sensitive Question of Sensitivity Readers

Agent Jeffrey Hermann argues that changing a book based on a sensitivity read can make it less authentic. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-02-03 05:00:00 UTC ]
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How to add custom screensaver images to your Kobo e-reader

Unlike Kindles, Kobo e-readers don’t have generic screensavers appear on screen when in standby mode. Not by default. Even on more premium models like the Kobo Libra 2 and Kobo Sage, your only options are your current book’s cover or a blank screen that says “Sleeping.”  Fortunately, if... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2023-01-27 17:00:00 UTC ]
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