Sara Nelson (editor)

{{short description|American editor, book reviewer and consultant}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Sara Nelson

| image =

| image_size =

| caption =

| birth_name =

| birth_date =

| birth_place =

| resting_place_coordinates =

| nationality = American

| other_names =

| education = Andover

| alma_mater = Yale University

| occupation = Editor, book reviewer
consultant,
author

| years_active = 1980–present

| employer = Amazon.com

| organization =

| agent =

| known_for =

| notable_works = Book So Many Books,
So Little Time (2003)

| title =

| predecessor =

| successor =

| awards =

| signature =

| signature_alt =

| signature_size =

| website =

}}

Sara Nelson is an American publishing industry figure who is an editor and book reviewer and consultant and columnist, and is the editorial director at Amazon.com.{{cite news

|title= Sara Nelson Heading to Amazon

|newspaper=Publishers Weekly

|date= May 9, 2012

|url= http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/people/article/51875-sara-nelson-heading-to-amazon.html

|access-date= November 23, 2012

}} 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.{{cite news

|author= SARA NELSON

|title= Will Controversial Holocaust Novel Find an Audience?

|newspaper= The Wall Street Journal

|date= March 4, 2009

|url= https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB123617512234329265

|access-date= 2010-10-05

}}

Early life and education

Nelson graduated from Yale in 1978 and Phillips Academy in Andover in 1974.{{cite web

|author=Jack Gray

|title= Reminiscences from Reunion 1999: year (G+25), courtesy of Jack Gray.

|publisher= Andover's BlueLink

|year= 1999

|url= http://andoveralumni.net/classes/1974/chapterpage3.html

|access-date= 2010-10-05

}} 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.{{cite news

|author= MOTOKO RICH

|title= Top Editor at Publishers Weekly Is Laid Off

|publisher= The New York Times: Arts

|date= January 26, 2009

|url= http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/26/top-editor-at-publishers-weekly-is-laid-off/

|access-date= 2010-10-05

}} Nelson married and had a child and is an advocate for respect for working mothers.{{cite magazine

|author= Sandra Tsing Loh

|title= Rhymes With Rich

|magazine= The Atlantic

|date= May 2006

|url= https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2006/05/rhymes-with-rich/4806/

|access-date= 2010-10-05

}}

Nelson 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.{{cite news

|author= Sara Nelson

|title= So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading

|year= 2003

|publisher= Penguin

|isbn= 9780425198193

|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=-9OC07w7qjEC&q=%22sara+nelson%22+SO+MANY+BOOKS+SO+LITTLE+TIME

|access-date= 2010-10-05

}} 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."{{cite news

|author= Ihsan Taylor

|title= January 2, 2005

|publisher= The New York Times: Arts

|date= January 2, 2005

|url= https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9504E4D91F30F931A35752C0A9639C8B63

|access-date= 2010-10-05

}} Nelson's future employer, Publishers Weekly, reported that her book revealed her "infectious enthusiasm for literature in general."{{cite magazine

|title= Review of "So Many Book, So Little Time"

|magazine= Publishers Weekly

|year= 2003

|isbn= 0399150838

|last1= Nelson

|first1= Sara

}} Writer Augusten Burroughs said Nelson's book was a "smart, witty, utterly original memoir about how every book becomes a part of us."{{cite news

|title= Booksigning - Sara Nelson

|publisher= eventful

|date= Jun 11, 2005

|url= http://eventful.com/clinton_nj/events/booksigning-sara-nelson-/E0-001-000219656-8

|access-date= 2010-10-05

}}

Career

Nelson became editor–in–chief of the trade magazine Publishers Weekly in January 2005. New York Times reporter Edward Wyatt suggested that the top job at Publishers Weekly in 2005 involved facing "many challenges".{{cite news

|author= EDWARD WYATT

|title= The Winds of Change Are Felt at Publishers Weekly

|publisher= The New York Times: Arts

|date= January 5, 2005

|url= https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C04EED91339F936A35752C0A9639C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

|access-date= 2010-10-05

}} In her new position, Nelson added a new assessment for books called a "signature review".{{cite news

|author= DWIGHT GARNER

|title= Signed, Sealed, Delivered

|publisher= The New York Times: Books

|date= July 31, 2007

|url= http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/sara-nelson/

|access-date= 2010-10-05

}} Paid circulation dropped by 3,000 to 25,000 in the mid-2000s. Nelson pushed for significant changes towards modernization, greater use of the Web, and more focus on analytical reporting.

In 2008, Nelson commented on the intersection of political candidates, books, and television celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey and Obama.{{cite news

|author= Martha T. Moore

|title= Presidential race one for the books

|newspaper= USA Today

|date= 2008-08-14

|url= https://www.usatoday.com/life/books/2008-08-13-books_N.htm

|access-date= 2010-10-05

}} Nelson was interviewed on National Public Radio on Winfrey's influence,{{cite news

|author= Ulrich, Carmen Wong

|title= The Oprah Effect: THE $1.4 BILLION WOMAN INFLUENCES POP CULTURE, CREATES STARS, AND DRIVES ENTIRE INDUSTRIES. HERE'S HOW SHE DOES IT

|publisher= Essence

|date= October 24, 2006

|url= http://finallyawinner.blogspot.com/2006/10/oprah-effect.html

|access-date= 2010-10-05

}} similar to that of radio personality Imus,{{cite news

|author= Sridhar Pappu

|title= No One to Talk To?

|newspaper= Washington Post

|date= April 11, 2007

|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/10/AR2007041001861.html

|access-date= 2010-10-05

}} in the publishing arena.{{cite news

|author= Liane Hansen (host),Lynn Neary (reporter)

|title= What Oprah's Endorsement Means for Obama

|publisher= National Public Radio

|date= December 9, 2007

|url= https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17055698

|access-date= 2010-10-05

}}

Nelson wrote about Twitter writers signing book deals,{{cite news

|author= SARA NELSON

|title= Twitter's "Garyvee" Vaynerchuk Gets A Book Deal

|newspaper= Wall Street Journal

|date= April 10, 2009

|url= https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB123868606261082747

|access-date= 2010-10-05

}} Jonathan Littell's controversial 1,000 page Holocaust novel,{{cite news

|author= SARA NELSON

|title= Will Controversial Holocaust Novel Find an Audience?

|newspaper= The Wall Street Journal

|date= March 4, 2009

|url= https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB123617512234329265

|access-date= 2010-10-05

}} and realignments of publishing firms.{{cite news

|author= SARA NELSON

|title= Reganomics, or How to Publish Like a Porn Star

|publisher= The Wall Street Journal: Life & Culture

|date= March 14, 2009

|url= https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB123696258979620997

|access-date= 2010-10-05

}} She commented on trends in changing technology, such as the coming of digital books such as Amazon's Kindle.{{cite news

|author= BRAD STONE

|title= Is This the Future of the Digital Book?

|publisher= The New York Times: Business

|date= April 4, 2009

|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/business/05stream.html

|access-date= 2010-10-05

}}

In 2009, Nelson was dismissed from Publishers Weekly. The action was widely covered in newspapers.{{cite news

|author= Staci D. Kramer

|title= paidContent.org - Reed Tightens The Belt Again: Layoffs Hit Variety, Multichannel, PW; Wage Freeze; B&C Shrinking

|newspaper= The Washington Post

|date= January 27, 2009

|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/26/AR2009012602002.html

|access-date= 2010-10-05

}}

In September 2009, Nelson was appointed book editor at Oprah's O Magazine.{{cite news

|author= Lynn Neary

|title= How To Sell A Book? Good Old Word Of Mouth

|publisher= National Public Radio

|date= September 10, 2010

|url= https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129757766

|access-date= 2010-10-05

}} She continued to comment in the media about new forces in publishing such as the new quarterly literary magazine called Electric Literature.{{cite news

|author= FELICIA R. LEE

|title= Serving Literature by the Tweet

|publisher= The New York Times: Books

|date= October 27, 2009

|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/books/28electric.html

|access-date= 2010-10-05

}} Nelson appeared with Harry Smith of CBS News on The Early Show.{{cite news

|title= Sara Nelson appears on CBS's The Early Show

|publisher= CBS News The Early Show

|date= December 9, 2009

|url= http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5949798n

|access-date= 2010-10-05