'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 Bookseller | 2017-10-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Trade treats readers for Halloween

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[ The Bookseller | 2017-10-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jane Juska, who wrote about late-in-life sex, dies at 84

Jane Juska, whose chronicle of searching for sex as a woman in her 60s became a best-selling memoir and later a stage show, has died. She was 84. Juska died Tuesday at a Chico care facility after a long illness, her son, Andy Juska, told the San Francisco Chronicle on Saturday. She was a retired... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-10-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Dolly Parton's bedtime story could be CBeebies' greatest hit

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[ The Guardian | 2017-10-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fourth Estate signs O'Neill's contemporary political stories

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[ The Bookseller | 2017-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Silvertail to publish 'heartwarming' story of love and loss

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[ The Bookseller | 2017-10-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bringing the magic of Harry Potter to life

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[ The Bookseller | 2017-10-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Italian Publishers’ Report at Frankfurt Book Fair: Focus on Readers

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Trapeze to publish 'heartbreaking' love story Bonnie & Stan

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[ The Bookseller | 2017-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin Life to publish guide to 'guilt-free' pregnancy and birth

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[ The Bookseller | 2017-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Daniel A. Olivas on his short story collection 'The King of Lighting Fixtures' and more

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[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Winnie M Li's sexual assault story wins Not the Booker prize

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[ The Bookseller | 2017-10-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Vineyard owners share stories of loss and salvation amid wine country wildfires

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[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-10-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HC to tell story of 'bolshie' shepherd cat

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[ The Bookseller | 2017-10-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ahern's Roar talent wins a brace of deals for feminist short stories

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[ The Bookseller | 2017-10-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Betanews | 2017-10-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2017-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2017-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Memorial to celebrate life of Penny Hoare

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[ The Bookseller | 2017-10-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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