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 ]
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Harper Lee tops World Book Night picks

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 27/07/2011 - 15:15 Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird has been voted the most popular title 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 ]
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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 | All news stories tagged with: #markus zusak #jane austen #organisation launched #popular title #public vote


Latest Digital IQ Index Says Top-Ranked TIME is “Genius”

TIME is ranked number one in the latest Digital IQ Index from "digital innovation think tank" L2 that measures the digital aptitude and ad revenue-per-page of 87 magazine brands.The rankings were developed by NYU Stern professor Scott Galloway. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-07-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Little, Brown promotes two senior editors

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 27/07/2011 - 14:57 Little, Brown Book Group has promoted two of its senior editors, with Emma Beswetherick becoming editorial director for Piatkus fiction and Rebecca Saunders moving to the role of editorial director for Sphere commercial... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mail boosts Dukan as French reclaims top spot

Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Tue, 26/07/2011 - 15:10 A resurgent Dawn French narrowly beat Sophie Kinsella to the summit of The Official UK Top 50 this week. The former’s A Tiny Bit Marvellous (Penguin) sold 29,725 copies at UK booksellers last week, just 356 more than Kinsella's... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Forbes Media Makes Minority Investment in Startup of Ex-Fortune Editors

Forbes Media has struck a strategic partnership with Techonomy Media, a new media business founded last year by former Fortune magazine editors and writers David Kirkpatrick, Peter Petre and Brent Schlender. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-07-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Reynolds to write new Doctor Who novel

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Thu, 21/07/2011 - 13:00 British Science Fiction award-winner Alastair Reynolds is the latest author to try his hand writing a Doctor Who novel, after signing a deal with BBC Books. Editorial director Albert DePetrillo bought world rights from Robert... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ziff Davis Promotes Dan Costa to VP of Content and Editor-in-Chief of PC Mag

Dan Costa is now senior VP of content for Ziff Davis and editor-in-chief for PC Mag, harnessing his 17 years in technology journalism. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-07-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media Decoder: Sheila Bair to Write Book on Financial Crisis

Sheila C. Bair, who ended a tumultuous five-year term as chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation this month, has landed a book deal to give her inside account of the financial crisis. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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