'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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Hosein scoops Commonwealth Short Story Prize for 'uncanny' tale of midlife crisis

Kevin Jared Hosein has won the 2018 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for his “uncanny bar story” combining “ideas of civility and ferality”. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-07-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fountain Valley man sentenced to life in prison in kidnapping and torture of marijuana dispensary owner

One person suggested Amazon bookstores should replace public libraries. Readers disagreed. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-07-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Story of the Winklevoss twins' Bitcoin journey to Little, Brown

Little, Brown is to publish Bitcoin Billionaires about twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss who invested heavily in the cryptocurrency. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-07-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PEN America Announces Refocused Short Story Debut Award, the Bingham Prize

The coming together of the United States' two PEN chapters has given the organization a chance to refocus its Bingham Prize for debut short stories, and it will be awarded in February. The post PEN America Announces Refocused Short Story Debut Award, the Bingham Prize appeared first on... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-07-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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YouTube star Bright's guide to freelance life to HQ

"Lifestyle influencer" Patricia Bright is writing a book about career flexibility, freelancing and financial freedom for HQ. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-07-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Faber signs Laurence Ferlinghetti's 'last word'

Faber is to publish Little Boy by publisher, poet and author of A Coney Island of the Mind, Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-07-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Story of Gareth Southgate' coming next month

G2 Entertainment and St. James's House Publishing are to jointly publish the story of England manager Gareth Southgate next month. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-07-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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East Bay Express Publisher Resigns Over N-Word

Stephen Buel will step down as publisher of the Oakland-based alt-weekly East Bay Express and sell its parent company following a "brief transition period," he announced this week after apologizing for using a racial slur in a June staff meeting. After reading associate editor Azucena... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2018-07-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Industry Notes: Princeton Press Opens Audio Division; PRH Ireland Supports Fighting Words

Princeton University Press announces its PUP Audio division with four frontlist titles for the fall. And Penguin Random House Ireland partners with the charity Fighting Words on a student anthology. The post Industry Notes: Princeton Press Opens Audio Division; PRH Ireland Supports Fighting... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-07-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Books: A teen reviews '#Neveragain,' a World War II tragedy comes to life and more book news

Welcome to the Books newsletter! I’m books editor Carolyn Kellogg, writing my last newsletter from our Spring Street address — next Friday we’ll be packing up for our new digs in El Segundo. THE BIG STORY When I saw that Parkland, Fla., shooting survivors David Hogg and his sister Lauren Hogg had... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-07-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Lost Words becomes first children's book shortlisted for Wainwright Prize

The Lost Words (Hamish Hamilton) has become the first children’s book to be shortlisted for the £5,000 Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize for nature writing. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-07-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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4 audiobooks that tell personal stories

This month we are listening to three memoirs and one novel that sounds like a memoir.   Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2018-07-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The story behind the ALCS author earnings survey numbers

Richard Combes examines the findings of the Authors Licensing and Collecting Society's author earnings survey. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-06-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Promiscuous' readers meaningless to bottom line, says Monocle editor

Andrew Tuck, editor of global affairs and lifestyle magazine Monocle, has said that “promiscuous" readers are irrelevant to the company's bottom line, which is bolstered by pursuing meaningful relationships with readers. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Graphic novelist sentenced to life in prison for 2016 torture and murder of his fiancee

A graphic novelist who once had a fledgling Hollywood career was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison for the brutal torture killing of his fiancee — a murder prosecutors say took cues from a gory book he worked on years earlier. Blake Leibel, 37, was convicted last week of the 2016 slaying of... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-06-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Decentralised, reader-centric, diverse; Markus Dohle on five years of PRH

Penguin Random House is marking its fifth anniversary since the merger that formed the publisher in 2013. Its global c.e.o. Markus Dohle discusses its achievements, and its plans for the future. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How Gannett Is Putting Its Advertisers Closer to Its Readers

CANNES, France--Being able to effectively target an audience is the ultimate quest of any digital media company. That's why Gannett, publisher of USA Today, more than 100 local newspapers and a dozen national digital sites, is looking to a new product to connect brands and users. We caught up... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2018-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Inside stories: Turkey’s grim tradition of publishing behind bars

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[ The Guardian | 2018-06-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Oxford English Dictionary hunts for regional words

Oxford University Press is asking members of the public to submit local words, phrases and expressions from around the world for inclusion in the Oxford English Dictionary. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-06-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Osiander success story defies tough market

Increasing pressure on sales and costs together with fewer customers on the shopfloor has created a challenging bookselling environment in Germany. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-06-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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