Leah Sottile (@leahsottile): "I started my career at an alt-weekly in Washington state and so did Lindy West. Her book reminded me of how predatory those places could be, asking female writers to dump all their sadness on the page for a paycheck. In the end, that’s what Adult Braces does, too. "

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The Truth Does Not Change According to Our Ability to Stomach It

I started my career at an alt-weekly in Washington state and so did Lindy West. Her book reminded me of how predatory those places could be, asking female writers to dump all their sadness on the page for a paycheck. In the end, that’s what Adult Braces does, too.

West’s book made me remember was how they were famous for barely paying young writers, and asking those young, impressionable, eager-to-be-publisher scribes to fillet themselves on the page in personal essays. Confessionals by female writers were the entire backbone of xoJane.com, with its long running “It Happened to Me” column, and Jezebel, where West would go on to work after leaving The Stranger.

Leah Sottile

Mar 31

2:36 PM

Make money doing the work you believe in

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