Sara Nelson (editor)

Sara Nelson is an American publishing industry figure who is an editor and book reviewer and consultant[1] and columnist,[2] and is the editorial director at Amazon.com.[3] Nelson was previously editor in chief at Publishers Weekly from 2005–2009 during a time of restructuring and industry downsizing. After that, she was book editor at Oprah's O Magazine. Her book So Many Books, So Little Time was published in 2003.[4]

Sara Nelson
NationalityAmerican
EducationAndover
Alma materYale University
Occupation(s)Editor, book reviewer
consultant,
author
Years active1980–present
EmployerAmazon.com
Notable workBook So Many Books,
So Little Time (2003)

Early life and education

Nelson graduated from Yale in 1978 and Phillips Academy in Andover in 1974.[5] She wrote about books and publishing at the New York Post, the New York Observer, Glamour magazine, and held editorial positions at Self, Inside.com, and Book Publishing Report.[2] Nelson married and had a child and is an advocate for respect for working mothers.[6] Nelson wrote:

One morning one of the stay-at-home mothers referred to herself, quite pointedly, as a full-time mom. Those three words made my blood boil. I've been a mother every second of every day for the past ten and a half years. -- Sara Nelson in 2006[6]

Nelson, based on a New Year's plan, embarked on a project to read one book each week and write about it, and the effort morphed into a book entitled So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading which was published by Putnam in 2003.[7] While her initial book–a–week plan fell apart almost immediately, according to New York Times book reviewer Ihsan Taylor, the effort was fruitful since the book was seen as a commentary on the "nature of reading itself."[8] Nelson's future employer, Publishers Weekly, reported that her book revealed her "infectious enthusiasm for literature in general."[9] Writer Augusten Burroughs said Nelson's book was a "smart, witty, utterly original memoir about how every book becomes a part of us."[10]

Career

Nelson became editor–in–chief of the trade magazine Publishers Weekly in January 2005.[11] New York Times reporter Edward Wyatt suggested that the top job at Publishers Weekly in 2005 involved facing "many challenges".[11] In her new position, Nelson added a new assessment for books called a "signature review".[12] She permitted greater variety in the length of reviews (typically 200 to 500 words long), considered bylines to reviews, and changes to the magazine's cover format.[11] Paid circulation dropped by 3,000 to 25,000 in the mid-2000s.[11] Nelson pushed for significant changes towards modernization, greater use of the Web, and more focus on analytical reporting.[11] Nelson speculated that the industry practice of printing too many books to "kind of create a buzz" and then having to ship books back from bookstores was inefficient.[13]

In 2008, Nelson commented on the intersection of political candidates, books, and television celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey and Obama.[14] Nelson was interviewed on National Public Radio on Winfrey's influence,[15] similar to that of radio personality Imus,[16] in the publishing arena.[17]

Nelson wrote about such industry topics as Twitter writers signing book deals,[18] Jonathan Littell's controversial 1,000 page Holocaust novel,[19] and realignments of publishing firms.[20] She commented on trends in changing technology, such as the coming of digital books such as Amazon's Kindle.[1] Nelson commented in 2010 that there were more instances of publishers picking up a self-published book, although such success stories are still rare.[21] "Publishers are taking self-published books more seriously," she said.[21]

In 2009, Nelson was dismissed from Publishers Weekly. She said:

I feel like it was a great run and I am very proud of the changes that my staff and I have made. I am sorry that the magazine and I are parting ways.--Sara Nelson[2]

The action was widely covered in prominent newspapers.[22] There was considerable reaction by readers as well. One reader wrote: "Sara Nelson turned Publishers Weekly around!"[2] Another wrote that "Sara Nelson pulled Publishers Weekly into the 21st century with grace, verve, and panache. And I've never met such a loud cheerleader for books and for the book publishing industry."[2]

In September 2009, Nelson was appointed book editor at Oprah's O Magazine.[23] She continued to comment in the media about new forces in publishing such as the new quarterly literary magazine called Electric Literature.[24] Nelson appeared with Harry Smith of CBS News on The Early Show.[25] She's also served as moderator for events sponsored by the LA Times Festival of Books.[26]

Publications
  • So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading, Putnam, 2003.[7]

References
  1. BRAD STONE (April 4, 2009). "Is This the Future of the Digital Book?". The New York Times: Business. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
  2. MOTOKO RICH (January 26, 2009). "Top Editor at Publishers Weekly Is Laid Off". The New York Times: Arts. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
  3. "Sara Nelson Heading to Amazon". Publishers Weekly. May 9, 2012. Retrieved November 23, 2012.
  4. SARA NELSON (March 4, 2009). "Will Controversial Holocaust Novel Find an Audience?". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
  5. Jack Gray (1999). "Reminiscences from Reunion 1999: year (G+25), courtesy of Jack Gray". Andover's BlueLink. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
  6. Sandra Tsing Loh (May 2006). "Rhymes With Rich". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
  7. Sara Nelson (2003). "So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading". Penguin. ISBN 9780425198193. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
  8. Ihsan Taylor (January 2, 2005). "January 2, 2005". The New York Times: Arts. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
  9. Nelson, Sara (2003). "Review of "So Many Book, So Little Time"". Publishers Weekly. ISBN 0399150838.
  10. "Booksigning - Sara Nelson". eventful. Jun 11, 2005. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
  11. EDWARD WYATT (January 5, 2005). "The Winds of Change Are Felt at Publishers Weekly". The New York Times: Arts. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
  12. DWIGHT GARNER (July 31, 2007). "Signed, Sealed, Delivered". The New York Times: Books. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
  13. Lev Grossman (Jan 21, 2009). "Books Gone Wild: The Digital Age Reshapes Literature". Time. Archived from the original on January 24, 2009. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
  14. Martha T. Moore (2008-08-14). "Presidential race one for the books". USA Today. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
  15. Ulrich, Carmen Wong (October 24, 2006). "The Oprah Effect: THE $1.4 BILLION WOMAN INFLUENCES POP CULTURE, CREATES STARS, AND DRIVES ENTIRE INDUSTRIES. HERE'S HOW SHE DOES IT". Essence. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
  16. Sridhar Pappu (April 11, 2007). "No One to Talk To?". Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
  17. Liane Hansen (host),Lynn Neary (reporter) (December 9, 2007). "What Oprah's Endorsement Means for Obama". National Public Radio. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
  18. SARA NELSON (April 10, 2009). "Twitter's "Garyvee" Vaynerchuk Gets A Book Deal". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
  19. SARA NELSON (March 4, 2009). "Will Controversial Holocaust Novel Find an Audience?". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
  20. SARA NELSON (March 14, 2009). "Reganomics, or How to Publish Like a Porn Star". The Wall Street Journal: Life & Culture. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
  21. Joanna Smith Rakoff (June 6, 2010). "Books & Ideas: An author's adventures in 'Anthropology'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
  22. Staci D. Kramer (January 27, 2009). "paidContent.org - Reed Tightens The Belt Again: Layoffs Hit Variety, Multichannel, PW; Wage Freeze; B&C Shrinking". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
  23. Lynn Neary (September 10, 2010). "How To Sell A Book? Good Old Word Of Mouth". National Public Radio. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
  24. FELICIA R. LEE (October 27, 2009). "Serving Literature by the Tweet". The New York Times: Books. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
  25. "Sara Nelson appears on CBS's The Early Show". CBS News The Early Show. December 9, 2009. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
  26. "Publishing: Editors Speak Out at the LA Times Festival of Books". BookFox: Publishing. April 25, 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
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