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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Huntingdon tops Amazon's 'most well-read' list

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Mon, 05/09/2011 - 08:10 People in Huntingdon and Cambridge buy the most books of any town or city in the UK, according to a list compiled by Amazon from its print and Kindle sales since the start of the year. Towns in Kent, Wiltshire and West Sussex... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Quercus plots to become top five UK trade publisher

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 02/09/2011 - 15:24 Quercus plans to increase its staff by 40% within the next three years, as it aims to become one of the UK’s top five trade publishers. The indie outfit is currently ranked as the 14th largest UK operation in terms of sales... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Dawn Porter to write for Hodder Children's Books

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Thu, 01/09/2011 - 14:45 Hodder Children's Books has bought two teen titles from journalist and presenter Dawn Porter. Publisher Emily Thomas did the deal directly with Porter for a "sizeable" sum. The books are described as "epic stories of an... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Slaughter writes digital-only story to benefit libraries

Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Mon, 22/08/2011 - 09:21 American crime writer Karin Slaughter has written a digital-only short story exclusive to Amazon, with all the proceeds going to benefit libraries. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Top That gets celeb help for The Froobles

Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Mon, 22/08/2011 - 11:52 Top That is turning to celebrities to help launch its newest brand, The Froobles, with Johnny Vaughan, Denise van Outen, Edith Bowman and Reggie Yates providing the voice-overs for its Froobles apps. The Froobles are a range... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Greig to write Freud memoir

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 18/08/2011 - 12:00 Jonathan Cape has acquired a memoir about the British painter Lucian Freud, who died last month, written by his friend, Evening Standard editor Geordie Greig. Publishing director Dan Franklin acquired UK and Commonwealth... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Digital rates could dissuade authors from writing - Swift

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 18/08/2011 - 12:10 Man Booker-winning author Graham Swift has said there is a danger aspiring writers may be put off from writing if the rates they are paid decrease in the digital age. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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AUDIO: 'Ebooks could threaten writing'

Booker Prize winning author Graham Swift believes digital publishing could threaten the livelihood of authors in the future because they are being paid too little. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2011-08-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Top Pay Grade

Executives in different parts of the publishing business did fairly well in 2010, according to PW's annual look at salaries. With the exception of those at Books-A-Million and Scholastic, compensation for the top managers went up in the past year as their companies saw generally improved results... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-08-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How to write faster.

Hunched over my keyboard, I'm haunted by anecdotes of faster writers. Christopher Hitchens composing a Slate column in 20 minutes—after a chemo session, after a "full" dinner party, late on a Sunday night. The infamously productive Trollope, who used customized paper! "He had a note pad that had... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2011-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Child's play for Lee as he tops charts

Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Wed, 10/08/2011 - 09:08 Lee Child's 15th Jack Reacher thriller, Worth Dying For (Bantam), was the bestselling book in the UK last week, scoring impressive sales of 32,275 copies in just three days upon its release on Thursday. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Xcite appoints author Coldwell as editor

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 09/08/2011 - 08:57 Erotic fiction publisher Xcite Books has appointed Elizabeth Coldwell to the role of editor. Coldwell is a former editor of Forum magazine and is also one of Xcite's bestselling authors. Managing director Hazel Cushion... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bonnier Tops, Up 12 Percent In Ad Pages for First Half 2011

January to June 2011 saw mixed results for major publishers’ ad page results. Bonnier’s 29 titles experienced the highest growth out of six major publishers included in a set of data from MagazineRadar; Conde Nast, Hearst, Hearst-owned Hachette, Time Inc. and Meredith Corporation ad pages were... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-08-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Macmillan New Writing to continue after Atkins departure

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 05/08/2011 - 08:30 Pan Macmillan's Macmillan New Writing scheme will continue despite the head of the imprint leaving the company. Will Atkins, who worked at Pan Macmillan for five years and was its editorial director for fiction, has left... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Decemberists' singer writes kids book for Canongate

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Fri, 05/08/2011 - 11:01 Canongate has bought a children’s book written by the lead singer of American indie rock band The Decemberists. Senior editor Francis Bickmore bought UK and Commonwealth rights (excl Canada, Australia and New Zealand) to... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Digital sales double at S&S, international "booming"

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 03/08/2011 - 09:20 Digital sales more than doubled at Simon & Schuster in its second-quarter but did not offset the decline in print. However, the publisher reported an increase in profits of 12% off the back of the shift to digital and... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sage buys Learning Matters

Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Tue, 02/08/2011 - 15:11 Academic and professional publisher Sage has bought Learning Matters, the independent education publisher founded in 1999. The sale, for an undisclosed sum, was announced jointly by Learning Matters founder and managing... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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AOL Delivering Personalized News to the iPad

In an early teaser video for AOL’s new digital magazine, the project's lead director puckishly called it “the app for when you crap.” But make no doubt about it, AOL's iPad app Editions which launches this week, wants to be your personalized, daily reader for the bathroom, bedroom, and anywhere... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2011-08-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mini-Shopaholic grabs top slot

Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Tue, 02/08/2011 - 15:53 Sophie Kinsella’s sixth Shopaholic instalment, Mini Shopaholic (Black Swan), was comfortably the bestselling book in the UK last week, earning the novelist her ninth Official UK Top 50 number one. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harper Lee tops World Book Night pick

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 27/07/2011 - 15:15 Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird is the most popular title among the public to be given away as part of World Book Night 2012. The organisation launched a public vote last month asking people to vote for the titles they... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #public vote #popular title #organisation launched #jane austen #markus zusak