'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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NEA Says 55% of Americans Are Readers

A new report from the National Endowment for the Arts tracking American reading habits in 2017 revealed that more than half of all U.S. adults, 55%, or 132 million people, did some form of book-reading. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-03-13 04:00:00 UTC ]
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W&N signs 'painstakingly researched' story of Edward VIII's abdication

Weidenfeld & Nicolson has acquired The Crown in Crisis: Countdown to the Abdication by Alexander Larman. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-13 03:06:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #weidenfeld nicolson


NYC public libraries are suspending all programs through March, but will remain open to readers.

This morning, both the Chief Librarian of the Brooklyn Public Library and the President of the New York Public Library released statements announcing that they would be cancelling public library programs for the rest of March, in an effort to limit the spread of COVID-19 and encourage social... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-03-12 16:51:47 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #remain open #chief librarian #libraries #public libraries


New York Times Magazine’s Pages Come to Digital Life Through Google Partnership

The New York Times Magazine will come to life this weekend in a whole new way. In partnership with Google Lens, smartphone users will be able to access additional information online that corresponds to the print version of the magazine. Readers who hover their smartphones over many of the pages... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2020-03-12 13:50:26 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #digital life #google lens #print version


Amid Public Health Crisis, MN Legislature Focuses Instead on Drag Queen Story Hour

Minnesota House Republicans threaten to slash funding to public libraries hosting Drag Queen Story Time. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-03-12 10:43:18 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #public libraries


Breathing New Life into Old Books: PW Talks with 'The Booksellers' Director D.W. Young

We spoke to the director of a new documentary on the world of antiquarian bookselling about how the movie came about, what the future of the rare book world looks like to him, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-03-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book world


In ‘Short Life in a Strange World,’ paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder help an author make sense of his existence

Toby Ferris traveled across Europe to see all of the Dutch Renaissance painter’s surviving work. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-03-11 18:07:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #short life #strange world


World Book Day smashes Share a Million Stories target

World Book Day smashed its Share a Million Stories target within 24 hours of the event, with 1,218,230 stories shared by Friday 9th March. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-11 08:50:21 UTC ]
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Human rights lawyer's Parting Words sweeps through Europe

Sphere has done a string of "major" international rights deals for a memoir by human rights lawer Benjamin Ferencz, Parting Words, including a pre-empt in Germany. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-10 23:17:05 UTC ]
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Life after Facebook: How Brit + Co became profitable after seeing Facebook traffic plummet

After taking a hit with the rest of the digital media industry during the Facebook and Google advertising duopoly, founder Brit Morin is taking a more hands-on and themed approach to creating the site's content to ready the brand for a comeback. The post Life after Facebook: How Brit + Co became... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2020-03-09 04:00:06 UTC ]
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“Books Find Their Way to Readers”: The Barcelona Literacy Agency Casanovas & Lynch

I SIT WITH María Lynch and Sandra Pareja in the sixth-story office of Casanovas & Lynch, a literary agency in the Gràcia neighborhood of Barcelona. Lynch is a partner at the agency, Pareja does foreign rights, and both of them are also literary agents. We talk about the many roles an agent... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-03-06 13:30:42 UTC ]
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Digiday Publishing Summit Europe Event Briefing: Life after the cookie

At this week’s Digiday Publishing Summit Europe in Dubrovnik, Croatia, publishing executives discussed what life might look like after the third-party cookie and how they are diversifying their revenue streams beyond traditional ads. The post Digiday Publishing Summit Europe Event Briefing: Life... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2020-03-06 05:01:14 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #third-party cookie #revenue streams #publishing summit


Penguin Life wins five-way auction for The Modern House

Penguin Life has triumphed in a five-way auction to publish The Modern House by design writers and entrepreneurs Matt Gibberd and Albert Hill.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-05 17:45:16 UTC ]
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Sponsored Content Needs More Than Good Storytelling, It Needs a Good Story

Sponsored content doesn’t have to be an oxymoron. As publishers and marketers double down on their commitment to providing deeper branded experiences, instead of traditional advertising, the rules of the road are becoming clearer on both sides. And more so than just four or five years ago;... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2020-03-05 17:34:24 UTC ]
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Mirror Books to publish refugee's story of 'bravery and endurance'

Mirror Books is to publish The Journey by Abdul Musa Adam, with Ros Wynne-Jones.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-05 16:43:33 UTC ]
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Guinness World Records reveals 2021 cover with reader competition

Guinness World Records has revealed the cover of its next edition and launched a competition for one lucky reader to appear on it. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-05 07:40:22 UTC ]
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Century pre-empts high-concept love story 'for "Fleabag" generation'

Century has pre-empted a high-concept love story "for the 'Fleabag' generation" by debut author Emma Hughes in a two-book deal.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-03 06:09:58 UTC ]
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‘Whistleblower’ and ‘Uncanny Valley’ offer a chilling look at life in Silicon Valley

Two new memoirs reveal harassment, discrimination and intimidation, among other abuses, at large tech companies. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-03-02 17:47:51 UTC ]
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A new site for headline-inspired fiction launches today with stories by Carmen Maria Machado, Colum McCann, and more.

We can’t stop telling stories about pandemics, even as we wait for one to hit us. As coronavirus spreads across the world, so have headlines about the ways that storytellers, from those in Babylonia to contemporary novelists and Hollywood, have used infectious disease for narrative effect. The... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-03-02 16:51:35 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #colum mccann #coronavirus spreads #contemporary novelists #infectious disease #novelists


Cell Phones and Story Times (shelftalker)

A bookseller fights the urge to require parents to check their cell phones at the door during story time. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-03-02 13:00:00 UTC ]
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