Laurie Abkemeier
I'm a Literary Agent with DeFiore and Company—blogging about authors (mostly my own) and publishing.
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Just a reminder that Maurice Sendak was incredible. He’s also today’s google doodle.
Yum!
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You may have seen my Learning Opposites piece floating around the web but before I upload the full image I wanted to focus on the parts that make up...
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Ribbit.
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“Picking five favorite books is like picking the five body parts you’d most like not to lose.”— Neil Gaiman
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NYT Obtains Jonah Lehrer's 65-Page Book Proposal "A Book About Love"
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The Philadelphia Orchestra commissioned David Ludwig to compose a concerto for principal bassoonist Daniel Matsukawa. Ludwig was enamored of...
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It’s been a while since I’ve posted it here but I’ve been updating the Spacey Space Life blog weekly!
Wanna see some random alien-like creatures?...
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Been thinking about frogs.
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Currently
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Story of my life.
New books go behind the scenes of two eponymous TV ventures: “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “The Flip Wilson Show.”
“…a wealth of insider advice. [Joie Jager-Hyman] emphasizes that even in the highly competitive (and, according to the media, often “gloomy”) admissions environment, there is hope for kids who don’t have straight A’s and perfect SAT scores…. In clear, friendly prose, she helps students focus on their strengths as they calmly and confidently face this stressful process. Though there is plenty of information on the Internet about the college-application process, this insider perspective is a welcome addition to the toolkit.”
Publishers Weekly’s review of B+ GRADES, A+ COLLEGE APPLICATION
NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday talks about “The Women Who Inspired Other Women with ‘Mary Tyler Moore’” with Jennifer Keishin Armstrong, author of MARY AND LOU AND RHODA AND TED (Simon & Schuster, May 2013)
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“Jennifer Keishin Armstrong’s book, Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted: And All the Brilliant Minds Who Made ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’ a Classic, [is] a rich chronicle of women making history.”
—Hope Reese, The Atlantic
”[DEERLAND] should be required reading for future wildlife managers who will be entering a field where answers aren’t always black or white.”
“I’ve learned that people don’t love to be told things. But they don’t mind being shown things. When you demonstrate an idea for a reader or viewer, you let him participate in the process. I try to teach this to the copywriters who work for me. Find the story. Make it matter. No one wants to be lectured to. And that’s true if you’re creating a mobile app, a TV spot or even a PowerPoint.”
Jim Sollisch, “The Art of Repetition,” NYT’s Opinionator
Deal Announcement
Action bowling historian Gianmarc Manzione’s PIN ACTION: Small-time Gangsters, High-Stakes Gambling, and the Teenage Hustler who Became a Bowling Champion, set in gritty 1960s and ’70s New York when young men faced off for thousands of dollars a night and would do anything to win, and focusing on one young talented con artist and the sport that would be his ticket onto the Professional Bowlers Association Tour, pitched as The Color of Money meets The Big Lebowski.
Sold to Pegasus Books.
Visit Gianmarc at gianmarcmanzione.com and at Twitter @GianmarcManzion.
Read Gianmarc’s piece for the New York Times here: “When Thugs and Hustlers Ruled Dark Alleys.”
Virginia Prescott of New Hampshire Public Radio talks with Jessica Lahey about her Atlantic article and “The Middle-School Dress-Code Blues.”
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INSIDE THE AUTHORS STUDIO with Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
Jennifer Keishin Armstrong spent a decade on staff at Entertainment Weekly, cofounded SexyFeminist.com, and now writes for several publications, including Women’s Health, Runner’s World, Writer’s Digest, Fast Company, and New York‘s Vulture. She has provided pop culture commentary for CNN, VH1, A&E, and ABC. Her latest book, MARY AND LOU AND RHODA AND TED: And All the Brilliant Minds Who Made The Mary Tyler Moore Show a Classic, is now available from Simon & Schuster.
THE 10 QUESTIONS
- What is your favorite word? Flummox
- What makes you laugh? The Mary Tyler Moore Show (Obligatory answer, but true.)
- What makes you cry? Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- What is your favorite guilty pleasure? If I had any guilt, I’d say it’s singing Britney Spears songs at karaoke.
- What city or country would you most like to visit? Paris
- What was your favorite childhood book? Russell Hoban and Lillian Hoban’s A Bargain for Frances
- What is your favorite sitcom, past or present? The Mindy Project
- What is your favorite magazine? New York
- What was your favorite movie of the past year? Pitch Perfect
- If you could have a superpower, what would it be? Writing an instant bestseller
Jennifer’s Stats
- Hometown: Homer Glen, IL
- Birthday: December 29
- Middle name: Complicated question! Given middle name is Marie. The one I use now is my Buddhist Dharma name, Keishin.
- Website: www.jenniferkarmstrong.com
- Jennifer’s Blog
- Twitter: @jmkarmstrong
- Facebook: JMKArmstrong
- How She Found Her Agent: Through my great friend, Kate Garrick, Laurie’s colleague at DeFiore and Company.
Jennifer Keishin Armstrong, author of MARY AND LOU AND RHODA AND TED, on Marketplace with Kai Ryssdal — talking all things The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
This month, as I celebrate ten years as a literary agent, I’m taking a moment to look back at the dozens of books I edited during my four and a half years at Hyperion (January 1994-July 1998).
