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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Top Five Mags First Half: Sneakers, Yachts and Hiking Boots

Some new magazine faces have shown up in min's top 5 ad-page charts (see below) for June and for the first half (January-June 2011 vs. 2010). They are sun-bleached, health-minded, sports and outdoor enthusiast in Competitor Group's Competitor, Source Interlink's Power & Motoryacht, Mariah... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-05-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #competitor group #hiking boots #magazine faces #source interlink


Second week at the top for Madeleine memoir

Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Tue, 24/05/2011 - 15:55 Kate McCann's Madeleine (Bantam Press) was comfortably the bestselling book at UK booksellers for the second week running, selling 63,909 copies in its first full week on sale. It brings total sales of the hardback edition of... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bestselling book #week running #full week #uk booksellers #hardback edition #non-fiction titles #records began #delia smith #david beckham #tony blair


Kindle E-books Top Print Books Sales on Amazon

It happened. Amazon says ebook sales have surpassed physical book sales on Amazon.com. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-05-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Madeleine surges to top spot

Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Tue, 17/05/2011 - 16:04 Kate McCann's Madeleine (Bantam Press), the story of the abduction and continued search for her daughter, has become one of the fastest-selling non-fiction books since records began. Helped by better-than-half price deals at W... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #records began #hardback edition


Notting Hill Editions to revive essay publishing

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Thu, 05/05/2011 - 15:22 New imprint Notting Hill Editions launches today (5th May), with the aim of revitalising essay publishing. Essays by George Perec, Roland Barthes, Lavinia Greenlaw and Jonathan Keates, accompanied by introductions by the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #margaret drabble #james fenton


E-Book Boom Boosts Simon & Schuster [MediaMemo]

All of those Amazon Kindle sales -- and, presumably, sales of competitive ebook readers from Barnes & Noble and Apple -- have made an impact at publisher Simon & Schuster. The CBS unit says Q1 digital sales doubled over the previous year, and now represent 18 percent of the company's the... Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2011-05-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #barnes noble #apple -- #higher margin #$7 million


E-books among Amazon.co.uk's top sellers as its parent's profits tumble

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Wed, 27/04/2011 - 09:39 Amazon.com has reported a steep drop in profit despite boosting sales by over a third. Amazon.co.uk also revealed that one print book and four ebooks were among its top 10 bestselling items in the quarter, with the Kindle... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #top sellers #steep drop #boosting sales #print book


BEA 2011: It's Personal: A Show Overview

"The value of personal interaction still trumps all" is a firm belief of Steve Rosato, BEA show manager, who is all fired up for BEA 2011, the second under his command. And while the event's main focus is books and authors, technology and the digital revolution is also at the epicenter of this... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Helen Dunmore to write for Hammer

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 21/04/2011 - 10:29 Random House imprint Hammer has acquired the latest title by Orange-prize winner Helen Dunmore, in a special project for the Penguin author. Century and Arrow publisher Kate Elton bought UK and Commonwealth rights to The... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Spielberg to write for Palazzo retrospective

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Wed, 20/04/2011 - 15:13 Palazzo Editions will publish a "major" retrospective of the work of Steven Spielberg in August 2012, written in co-operation with the director. Steven Spielberg: A Retrospective will be written by film critic and documentary... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Former Radar Online Editor David Perel Named Star EIC

American Media Inc. has announced Candance Trunzo will leave Star Magazine after four years with the publication. She will be replaced by David Parel, who comes to Star from Radar Online. Radar Online will now be run by Jose Lambiet. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #american media #radar online


Smithsonian Editor Carey Winfrey to Step Down From Role

Carey Winfrey, the editor of Smithsonian magazine for since 2001, has announced his resignation from the publication, effective September 30th. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Room top pick in spring TV Book Club

Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Mon, 04/04/2011 - 08:51 Emma Donoghue's Room (Picador) has added another accolade to its Man Booker shortlisting and Orange-longlisting after receiving the vote of "TV Book Club" viewers as their favourite spring read of the 10 titles. The second most... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #popular title #16th january #28th march


Auel's latest tops Amazon preorders for 2011

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 24/03/2011 - 15:50 Jean M Auel's new Earth's Children title is Amazon.co.uk's most pre-ordered book of 2011. The Land of Painted Caves: Earth's Children 6 (Hodder & Stoughton), is the last in the Earth's Children series. It will be published... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #children series #pre-ordered title #pre-ordered book


Forbes wins £50k Warwick Prize for Writing

Publication Date: Wed, 23/03/2011 - 07:50 Writer, journalist and editor Peter Forbes' exploration of mimicry and camouflage in nature, art and warfare has been awarded the £50,000 Warwick Prize for Writing. His Dazzled and Deceived (Yale University Press) was described by chair of judges... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In Paperbacks, Big Names on Top: Facts & Figures 2011

It's the Stieg Larsson show in 2010 paperback bestsellers. The first two books of his enormously successful trilogy racked up sales of more than 10,942,000 in their mass market and paperback editions. That's more than the combined sales of two other stellar sellers—James Patterson and Nora... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-03-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #mass market #combined sales #big names #paperback editions #nora roberts


Luke Johnson to write business advice for Portfolio

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 17/03/2011 - 15:57 Luke Johnson, best known in the book trade for his spell owning Borders, and fellow Financial Times journalist Mrs Moneypenny are writing business titles for Penguin's business imprint Portfolio. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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World Book Day books top charts but sales are down on last year

Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Tue, 15/03/2011 - 15:56 Sales of the six £1 World Book Day books fell 36% week-on-week, to 159,000 copies sold—a figure down 9% on the comparative week last year—but they nonetheless continue to dominate the sharp end of this week’s Official UK Top... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Two pre-LBF deals top £1m in rights frenzy

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 11/03/2011 - 10:11 Agents have claimed two big-money deals worth £500,000 each, which could mark a return to confidence in the rights market in the crucial weeks ahead of next month's London Book Fair. Simon & Schuster publishing... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #rights market #pretty close


£1 World Book Day books storm to the top of the charts

Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Tue, 08/03/2011 - 16:01 The latest crop of £1 World Book Day books, led by Cope & Davies' Spy Dog/The Great Pet Shop Panic (Puffin/S&S) take positions one-through-six in this week's Official UK Top 50, with sales totalling 247,235 copies—a... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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