The first-person essays boom: top editors on why confessional writing matters

A Slate piece on first-person writing has prompted debate in the digital media community. We asked editors at BuzzFeed, Jezebel and other leading sites to weigh in on the importance of such pieces – and why there is a gender divideOn Monday, Laura Bennett’s Slate piece on the boom of first-person essay writing sparked a fierce online debate between editors and writers: how can one best work between the vulnerability of a writer and the traffic goal of an editor? What’s the line between publishing someone’s personal experience and exploitation?In response to Bennett’s piece, we asked senior editors at several publications known for publishing first-person stories about what they value in them, how they look after their writers, and why it is that so many confessional stories seem to be written by women, and not men.This route to publication and a book/movie deal simply is not open for non-white womenAnd now Pollitt’s up at bat. Her three previous essay collections gathered brilliant commentary on welfare, abortion, surrogate motherhood, Iraq, gay marriage and health care, mostly from the pages of The Nation. But with “Learning to Drive,” she gets personal, and shameless. She has decided to wave her dirty laundry (among which she found unidentified striped panties) and confesses to “Webstalking” her longtime, live-in, womanizing former boyfriend. (Take that, you rat!) It’s hard to tell if she’s coming into her own, trying to sell more books or has lost it entirely. Or... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2015-09-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #gay marriage #health care #dirty laundry #ve heard

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How Lad Bible’s fans fuel its Facebook video boom

65twenty, the publisher behind bro-culture sites The Lad Bible and The Sport Bible, is generating more than 750 million views each month on Facebook. But unlike most publishers, a lot of those views are happening on content not created by 65twenty but shot and submitted by its highly engaged... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2015-07-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #lad bible #community management #video strategy


Boom! to Collect ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’

Tony Parker's serilalized comics adaptation of the Philip K. Dick classic novel will be collected into a complete trade paperback edition and released in December by Boom! Studios. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-07-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Colouring-in books boom continues with volume of mathematical patterns

Alex Bellos and Edmund Harriss’s Snowflake, Seashell, Star promises to be ‘both a field guide and a therapeutic exercise book’Adults who are running out of cats and gardens to colour in as part of the new craze for “mindful” colouring books will soon have a more educational option for their... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-07-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #field guide #forthcoming release


July 2015: Top Reviews of Self-Published Books from BlueInk Review

Our July 2015 selection from BlueInk Review, a service which reviews self-published books, focuses on a variety of nonfiction titles. The post July 2015: Top Reviews of Self-Published Books from BlueInk Review appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-07-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #top reviews #self-published books #blueink review #nonfiction titles


Learn from Nicholas Sparks: how to write a tear-jerker

Nicholas Sparks is more than just a bestselling author of sappy romantic fiction; he's a pop culture phenomenon. A former pharmaceutical salesman from Omaha, Nebraska, Sparks has sold a reported 97 million books worldwide, and the films based on them have, so far, have grossed a total not far... Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2015-07-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #nicholas sparks #bestselling author #films based


‘Girl on the Train’ Tops in Print, Digital

Paula Hawkins’s debut psychological thriller "The Girl on the Train" was the top-selling title on the print and Kindle bestseller lists for the year to date. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-07-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #paula hawkins #top-selling title


When Reporters Write Books, Does The Times Win, Too?

WRITING books must be in the DNA of Times journalists. Even the paper’s founding editor, Henry J. Raymond, cranked them out, including his “History of the Administration of President Lincoln” in 1864. The next year, he r ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #writing books #founding editor


Global Publishing Leaders 2015: De Agostini Editore

Italy’s De Agostini S.p.A. is a family-owned international group, founded in 1901 and controlled by B&D Holding. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-06-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #de agostini #bd holding


Chinese publishers crack the top 10 as STM remains staunch

The changing nature of the worldwide book industry is sharply demonstrated in the upper echelons of the 2015 edition of the Global Ranking of the Publishing Industry: for the first time, publishing houses from outside Europe and North America have cracked the top 10. Both the groups—Phoenix... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publishing industry #publishing houses #changing nature #upper echelons #global ranking


Children's authors say curriculum hurts creative writing

A group of children’s authors, including this year’s Carnegie winner Tanya Landman, is preparing a letter to the education secretary protesting against the way writing is taught in schools. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sean Smith to write on Kim Kardashian

Kim Kardashian West is to be the subject of the next of Sean Smith's celebrity biographies, contracted to Harper NonFiction last year in a deal with agent Gordon Wise. Kim will be published in hardback on 24th September (£14.99) and is described as "the ultimate insight into the reality behind... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #sean smith #kim kardashian #celebrity biographies #harper nonfiction #modern culture


Children's sector booms but review space falters

Authors and book reviewers have hit out at national newspapers for shrinking the amount of editorial space given over to children’s books, despite huge growth in the market. In the UK, the children’s sector (including teen and YA titles) is the fastest-growing area of the market: sales grew... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #huge growth #book reviewers #national newspapers #ya titles #nielsen bookscan


Sick of P&L Statements, Literary Editor Quits, Gets Web Kudos

Sarah Knight was sick of commuting, P&L statements and eating salad at her desk at Simon & Schuster, so she quit to freelance and seek happiness. The post Sick of P&L Statements, Literary Editor Quits, Gets Web Kudos appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-06-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #post sick #sarah knight #simon schuster


An Erotic Evolution: How the Fifty Shades Boom Has Travelled

With the huge launch last week of E.L. James's new novel, 'Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey As Told By Christian,' the erotica category shows no signs of slowing down. Here's how publishers from India to Italy are making the most of the lucrative category. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-06-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #fifty shades


iBooks Bestsellers: ‘Grey’ Stays on Top

Though not yet on sale, 'Grey,' the next installment in E.L. James’s Fifty Shades of Grey series, took the #1 spot on Apple’s iBooks bestseller list for the second week in a row. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-06-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #grey series #ibooks bestsellers #fifty shades ##1 spot


Argentine Publishers Chase YA Book Sales Boom

Seeing a boom in YA book sales, Argentine publishers are now chasing global trends and marketing to a younger demographic to help boost prospects. The post Argentine Publishers Chase YA Book Sales Boom appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-06-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Here Are the 10 Instagram Food Personalities With the Best Engagement

It wasn't terribly long ago when credible food photographers and chefs really only wanted to be found in magazines like Bon Appétit and Food & Wine. But thanks to the explosion of mobile photography over the past few years, more and more culinary pros are showing off their best pics every... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2015-06-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #tv shows #brand partnerships


What 50 Years of Writing Have Taught Me

Anne Roiphe, a major voice in feminist lit, reflects on her 50-year writing career as her 10th novel is published. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-06-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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June 2015: Top Reviews of Self-Published Books from BlueInk Review

Our June 2015 selection from BlueInk Review, a service which reviews self-published books. All titles are deemed worth of further consideration. The post June 2015: Top Reviews of Self-Published Books from BlueInk Review appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-06-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #top reviews #self-published books #blueink review


Fragment of Gutenberg Bible expected to top $500,000 at auction

Eight-page section containing the Book of Esther was part of 15th-century edition cut up and sold in pieces by New York book dealer in 1920sAn eight-page fragment from the Gutenberg Bible, the first major book to be printed using Johann Gutenberg’s printing press in 15th-century Germany, will go... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-06-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #major book #printing press #million dollars