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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Rowling writes story about 30-plus Harry Potter

J K Rowling has written a new piece about a thirty-something Harry Potter and his friends at the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-07-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Five-year-old writes book about fairies for British charity

Five-year-old Lydia Port-Burke has self-published a fairy tale now available in the UK. Proceeds for the book will go to BBC Children in Need. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-07-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bressler Named to Top Post at Plume

Rachel Bressler has been hired as editorial director at Penguin Random House's paperback imprint, Plume. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Meet the Editor: Shannon Welch

While staffing Rodale’s Modern Times imprint, which launched in 2007, editorial director Leigh Haber reached out to Shannon Welch, a young writer she knew through mutual friends. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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YA Tops Nielsen and Kindle Lists for 2014 (So Far)

Young adult novels reigned over the top halves of the print and Kindle bestseller lists for the first six months of the year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Freshman Fifteens, Wattpad Launch Teen Writing, Mentoring Contest

The Freshman Fifteens, a group of 15 authors with debut Young Adult novels in 2015, are teaming with the online writing community Wattpad to organize The Common Room Teen Mentoring Contest, a writing and mentoring contest that opens for entries on June 30. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kobo Writing Life Now Carries 250,000 titles by 30,000 Authors

Two years after its launch, Kobo Writing Life (KWL), ebook retailer Kobo’s self-publishing channel, carries more than 250,000 self-published digital titles by over 30,000 authors who publish regularly through KWL. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Four Questions for...'Euphoria' Editor Elisabeth Schmitz

PW talked to the editor of Lily King's buzzed-about new novel, which bowed on June 3 and received a starred review from PW and may be adapted into a feature film. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Play the literary World Cup: nominate your all-time top team

Which authors would form your literary XI? Penguin have created a literary World Cup and we're joining the fun. Nominate the writers you would pick, and explain which positions you would place them in. We will unveil the Guardian readers' definitive team soonEverything is about football these... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-06-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Richard Ackland parts ways with Fairfax after writing column for rival

Columnist of 20 years given ultimatum by Sydney Morning Herald: its us or the Saturday PaperRichard Ackland says he has ended 20 years as a columnist for Fairfax Media after the Sydney Morning Herald asked him to choose between writing for a rival publication, the Saturday Paper, and the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-06-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Hard Choices' Print Sales Top 85,000 in First Week

Hillary Clinton’s "Hard Choices" sold 85,721 copies in its first week on sale at outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Editor in Chief Craig Marks: Print 'Stands in the Way of Where Spin Needs to Be'

It's time to let go of the idea that music outlet Spin is meant to be a print magazine, according to newly appointed editor in chief Craig Marks. "It's very, very hard to break up with print," he said. "But to hold onto print and to have an even kind of romantic relationship with it probably... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2014-06-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Meet the Editor: Julie Strauss-Gabel

The phrase “orphaned manuscript” strikes dread in the heart of every writer: it refers to a project acquired by an editor who leaves the company before the book is published. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Self-publishing boom lifts sales by 79% in a year

18m titles bought by readers in 2013, to a value of £300m, as print sales' decline continuesSelf-published books' share of the UK market grew by 79% in 2013, with 18m self-published books bought by UK readers last year, according to new statistics.With print sales falling by 10% last year, and... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-06-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Bookshop boom' under way as Winstone's opens second branch

A mini UK bookshop boom appears to be under way as a fifth new store opening is announced in a... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-06-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Medium Relaunches Matter, Devoted To Long-Form Journalism

An experiment in digital publishing continues to evolve.Medium, the publisher-platform hybrid backed by Twitter cofounder Ev Williams, is relaunching Matter today. As you may recall Matter was a successful Kickstarter project for in-depth reporting that Medium acquired last year.Read Full Story Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2014-06-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BEA 2014: The Illustrators' Studio Crawl: A Photo Essay

With booksellers from all over the country and beyond gathering in New York City for BEA, what better time for the ABA and the CBC to organize a tour of the studios of children's book illustrators? Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Libraries can digitize books without consent, says top EU court advisor

European libraries are allowed to digitize books without the consent of the rights holder, the senior advisor to Europe’s top court said Thursday.The European Copyright Directive does not prevent the digitization of books in a library’s collection if those books are made accessible to the public... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2014-06-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Viewing a Web page isn't copyright infringement, top EU court rules

Europeans can continue browsing the Web without fear of breaking copyright law, Europe’s top court has determined in a landmark ruling. The legality of this common practice came into question in Europe as a result of a years-long tussle involving U.K. newspaper publishers, a public relations... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2014-06-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Byliner, an Online Publisher of Long-Form Writing, Seeks Partners

Byliner, a company that publishes long, literary journalism and fiction online and as ebooks, told its contributors Tuesday that it has been struggling and is seeking partners to ensure its future. The company started in 2011 with some fanfare. It ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2014-06-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #company started #online publisher #long-form writing #literary journalism