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

Other Publishing stories related to: 'The first-person essays boom: top editors on why confessional writing matters'


Christopher Carduff, 'Wall Street Journal' Books Editor, Dies at 66

Carduff, who was named books editor at the 'Wall Street Journal' in 2017, was also a contributing editor for the Library of America Series and the publishing consultant to John Updike's literary trust. He died on August 14. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-08-17 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #contributing editor #publishing consultant #john updike #books editor


New Voices New Rooms Makes Its In-Person Debut

The joint conference from NAIBA and SIBA leapt off the screen into the real world for the first time from August 7–10 in Arlington, Va., where 278 booksellers gathered to prepare for what will hopefully be a strong fall selling season. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-08-11 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #real world


Nicola Sturgeon’s ‘deeply personal and revealing’ autobiography to be published in 2025

Pan Macmillan will publish the former first minister’s as-yet-untitled memoirNicola Sturgeon’s “deeply personal and revealing” memoir will be published in 2025 by Pan Macmillan, after nine publishers bid for it at auction.After her resignation as Scotland’s first minister in February, Sturgeon... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-08-09 10:49:24 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #revealing memoir #nicola sturgeon #deeply personal #memoir #pan macmillan


When Writing a Novel Bridges a Gap Between Mother and Daughter

I was deep in the throes of a slow-moving depression, feeling frustrated with a job I had held for seven years, and reeling from the disappointment of a first novel that debuted without the critical and commercial acclaim I was afraid to admit I desired. So I called my mother. “I think I need a […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-08-09 09:10:27 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #first novel


Paul Reubens was writing a memoir that his team is 'hoping' to publish posthumously

Paul Reubens 'finished a first draft' of a memoir about his life and career before he died, a representative for the Pee-wee Herman actor has confirmed. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-08-01 18:13:09 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #memoir


An 'alpha vagina' gets top billing in YA star Elizabeth Acevedo's first (very) adult novel

Bestselling YA novelist Elizabeth Acevedo explains why 'Family Lore,' her first novel for adults, features sex, magic and an 'alpha vagina' Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-07-31 13:00:02 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #family lore #first novel


Actor Richard E. Grant processed his grief by writing and name-dropping

Richard E. Grant, star of 'Loki,' 'The Lesson' and much more, on how writing his memoir 'A Pocketful of Happiness' helped him grieve for his wife. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-07-28 19:53:27 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #actor richard #memoir


Google testing AI tool that writes news articles

Tool is said to have been pitched to several US news outlets as an aid for journalists rather than a replacementGoogle is testing an artificial intelligence tool that can write news articles, in the latest evidence that the technology has the potential to transform white-collar professions.The... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-07-20 12:04:29 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #news outlets #current events #news corp


IPG Lays Off Nine, Including Key Editors at Chicago Review Press

IPG CEO Joe Matthews told PW the company remains committed to its 50-year-old publishing programs but that "the current market" required adjustments. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-07-18 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publishing programs #current market


Alight Media takes top digital media outreach spot from Global

The company claims to reach “over half” of adults across 146 UK towns and cities. Continue reading at Media Week

[ Media Week | 2023-07-12 08:53:16 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #company claims #digital media


The Rest is History: Andrew Ridker on Writing About the Recent Past

For years I refused to read historical fiction. It seemed to me that there was something artificial—dishonest, even—in summoning a time and place that hadn’t been experienced firsthand. I couldn’t see past the affected dialogue, the funny hats, and my suspicion that the author was making it all... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-07-12 08:51:46 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #recent past #science fiction


Top 25 Overall Bestsellers: June 25–July 1, 2023

Here’s a peek at the top 25 books of the week. New titles include, at #1, yet another Colleen Hoover book—this one an updated edition of her self-published 2016 novel, 'Too Late.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-07-07 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #titles include #updated edition


Yomi Adegoke: ‘There’s something inherently cringe about writing fiction’

The influencer and Slay in Your Lane co-author talks about her journey via Twitter to become a writer, and channelling her experience of social media into debut novel The List“Honestly, I’m a better painter than I am a writer,” says Yomi Adegoke, cackling, as she takes a sip of prosecco.... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-07-01 08:00:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #yomi adegoke #writing fiction #began writing #debut novel


Writing a Book is an Act of Prayer

Lamya H’s powerful memoir Hijab Butch Blues is an honest grappling with what it means to be queer, to be a devout hijabi Muslim person who resists gender normativity, to love faith and community. Seeking other queer women in Islam as a young person, H wonders if Maryam, whom no man has touched,... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-06-29 11:12:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #queer women #post writing #young person #electric literature #memoir


Adventures in Memory: On Searching for Truth by Writing Fiction

As a fiction writer, I’ve always felt compelled, memoir style, to pore over my life’s timeline. But in a novel, I can erase, revise, smash, crash, reconstruct, and transfigure that squiggly narrative. A novel has no obligation to mirror or represent anything familiar, recognizable, or real. And... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-06-28 08:52:54 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #writing fiction #fiction writer #felt compelled #memoir


Sarah Crichton Steps Down as Editor-in-Chief of Henry Holt

Sarah Crichton will "step back from her duties as editor-in-chief" at Henry Holt & Co., assuming the role of editor-at-large on July 5, Holt president and publisher Amy Einhorn has announced in a letter to staff. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-06-22 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #henry holt #step back


Cormac McCarthy's fearless approach to writing

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author was always willing to experiment with his prose, pacing and narration, crafting an oeuvre that varied wildly in style and structure. Continue reading at The Conversation

[ The Conversation | 2023-06-16 17:42:27 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #cormac mccarthy #prize-winning author


The Young Heroes of the Writing World

Ohio State University professor emeritus Harvey J. Graff praises a new wave of very young authors all trying to change the world. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-06-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #young heroes #young authors


The Study of Reality: On Trauma, Quantum Mechanics, and Writing Science Fiction

Before I dedicated my life to taking pot-shots at the nature of the universe—I mean, before I became a science fiction writer—I was a frightened child. Death scared me, but living was the constant terror. My father told me I had chosen this. I had come to him in a dream before I was born […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-06-14 08:53:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #quantum mechanics #father told #science fiction


Legendary Knopf Editor Robert Gottlieb Dies at 92

Knopf executive v-p and publisher Reagan Arthur said it would be hard to name an editor who had a more lasting and profound impact on American letters than Gottlieb: "He had a vision not just for what worked on the page, but what worked in the marketplace." Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-06-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #american letters