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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BEA 2015: 'Fault in Our Stars' Top 2014 E-book Seller

John Green's The Fault in Our Stars was the top-selling ebook in 2014, according to data just released by PubTrack Digital, a unit of Nielsen BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #john green #top-selling ebook #pubtrack digital #nielsen bookscan


BEA 2015: Does Diversity Matter in Book Reviewing?

Yesterday afternoon at the Center for Fiction in midtown, NBCC board member Walton Muyumba led a conversation about racial and gender representation in book reviewing. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BEA 2015: Franzen says 'It gets harder to write novels, not easier.'

A capacity crowd of approximately 1,000 people turned out to watch BEA's curtain-raising event, a highly anticipated conversation between bestselling novelist Jonathan Franzen and Laura Miller of Salon.com. The discussion centered on 'Purity,' Franzen's fifth novel and his first since 2010's... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #write novels #laura miller


Folio: Top Women in Media – Mentors

Folio:'s annual Top Women in Media Awards were created to celebrate, inspire and bring together the women who make magazine media such a dynamic industry. The post Folio: Top Women in Media – Mentors appeared first on Folio:. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2015-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #post folio #top women #dynamic industry


Folio: Top Women in Media – Industry Leadership

Folio:'s annual Top Women in Media Awards were created to celebrate, inspire and bring together the women who make magazine media such a dynamic industry. The post Folio: Top Women in Media – Industry Leadership appeared first on Folio:. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2015-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #post folio #top women #dynamic industry


Folio: Top Women in Media – Rising Stars

Folio:'s annual Top Women in Media Awards were created to celebrate, inspire and bring together the women who make magazine media such a dynamic industry. The post Folio: Top Women in Media – Rising Stars appeared first on Folio:. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2015-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #post folio #top women #rising stars #dynamic industry


Folio: Top Women in Media – Entrepreneurs

Folio:'s annual Top Women in Media Awards were created to celebrate, inspire and bring together the women who make magazine media such a dynamic industry. The post Folio: Top Women in Media – Entrepreneurs appeared first on Folio:. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2015-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #post folio #top women #dynamic industry


Top Women in Media: Director-Level Doers

Folio:'s annual Top Women in Media Awards were created to celebrate, inspire and bring together the women who make magazine media such a dynamic industry. The post Top Women in Media: Director-Level Doers appeared first on Folio:. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2015-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #top women #director-level doers #dynamic industry


Coleman appointed as Pan Mac commissioning editor

Pan Macmillan has appointed Jamie Coleman as commissioning editor on its non-fiction team, as well as making a number of other appointments and promotions. Coleman, who will publish humour and gift titles for the Boxtree list, joins from Greene & Heaton literary agency, where he started in... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #pan macmillan #non-fiction team #gift titles #client list


Author Annie Stone on Marketing: Just Be a Nice Person

German self-published author Annie Stone advises writers to focus on fan engagement and being a nice, approachable person, than straight forward marketing. The post Author Annie Stone on Marketing: Just Be a Nice Person appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-05-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The 52-Storey Treehouse comes out on top at Australian book industry awards

Bestselling children’s fantasy series recognised, David Walsh beats Julia Gillard to biography prize, while fiction winner Brooke Davis also picks up new writer award, established in honour of publisher Matt RichellA children’s book has taken home the top prize for the first time in Australia’s... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-05-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #top prize #bestselling children #biography prize #writer award #matt richell


Puffin editor Lewis-Oakes wins KSW Prize

Children’s book editor Rebecca Lewis-Oakes has been named as the winner of the 10th Kim Scott Walwyn Prize.  Lewis-Oakes, an editor at Puffin, was one of the first people to commission a YouTube star, before vloggers became the rage, prize organisers said.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #youtube star #prize organisers


USA Today Could End Daily Print Edition in 'Five or Six Years,' Editor-in-Chief Says

USA Today could stop publishing a daily print newspaper as soon as in the next "five or six years," the paper's editor-in-chief, David Callaway, said in response to a question during an Internet Week New York panel Wednesday.To be sure, a print product of some kind will likely continue for "the... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2015-05-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #usa today #stop publishing #internet week #print product #top editor #business insider #trade desk


iBooks Bestsellers: Hawkins, Knoll Top the List

'The Girl on the Train' by Paula Hawkins was, once again, the #1 title on Apple’s bestseller list. 'Luckiest Girl Alive' by Jessica Knoll, released May 12, debuted on the chart at #2, for the week ended May 18. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #paula hawkins #bestseller list #ibooks bestsellers ##1 title #jessica knoll #week ended


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

Our May 2015 selection from BlueInk Review, a service which reviews self-published books. This selection includes guides to finance and fighting cancer. The post May 2015: Top Reviews of Self-Published Books from BlueInk Review appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-05-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #top reviews #self-published books #blueink review #fighting cancer


Wainwright to write Bronte drama

“Happy Valley” creator Sally Wainwright is to write and direct a drama about the Brontes for BBC1. “To Walk Invisible: The Bronte Sisters” will explore the relationships between Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte and their brother Branwell, who was an alcoholic and drug addict. It will be filmed... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #drug addict #rural ireland


Does writing a memoir help an author to heal?

Three writers share their thoughts and concerns about sharing deeply personal secrets in a memoir. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #writers share


Freelance With A Family: Advice On Making It Work From One Of America's Top Rock Critics

Jessica Hopper on how she kept her creative dream job—and her family—thriving.In the early '90s, then-ninth-grader Jessica Hopper started putting out a fanzine to write about her favorite bands in Minneapolis. She turned that into assignments for local publications like City Pages, and then... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2015-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Virgin acquires Drew Barrymore essays

Virgin Books has acquired the UK and Commonwealth rights to Wildflower, a collection of autobiographical essays by actress and producer Drew Barrymore. In the essays Barrymore, who shot to fame as a child actress when she played Gertie in Steven Spielberg’s "E.T.", writes about incidents from... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #virgin books #autobiographical essays #steven spielberg


Child scores Personal best with third Number One

Lee Child achieves a personal best this week as his latest thriller tops the Official UK Top 50 for a third consecutive week. The paperback edition of Personal (Bantam) sold 22,680 copies in the seven days ending 9th May and marks the first time a Jack Reacher thriller has spent more than a... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #consecutive week #paperback edition #david nicholls