NEWS: Former Gawker.com editor Emily Gould to release book in May 2010
Former editor, contributer and writer for Manhattan media and gossip site, Gawker.com, Emily Gould is set to release a collection of essays published in book form under the title, And The Heart Says… Whatever, on May 4th 2010, according to a product listing on Amazon.com.
The suggested retail price is listed at $16.00, but can be pre-ordered on Amazon.com for $10.88.
The brief product listing states, “essays by media darling, former editor of Gawker.com, smart, young and hip new female voice of her generation.” It will be published by Free Press, and contain 256 pages.
Gould became a bit of a lightning rod in the blogging world that spilled over into the mainstream media during her tenure with Gawker. During a guest appearance on CNN’s Larry King Live program, being guest-hosted by media personality Jimmy Kimmel, Gould faced off against a visibly upset Kimmel who took issue with a Gawker.com feature called “Gawker Stalker,” which posted casual and random sightings of celebrities in supposed real-time, often unflattering. Kimmel was angry over a Gawker Stalker sighting that had described him as being publicly intoxicated and loud, while he maintained on the program that he was out with friends and family after attending his one-year old cousin’s birthday party. The appearance was notable as it was a fascinating glimpse of ‘old media’ meeting ‘new media,’ here television and blogging, and seemed to showcase a generational rift between the young and the old on the subjects of changing attitudes about media, privacy and broadcast; it also made the front page of Yahoo.com. Gould fared badly in the public eye after the appearance, though fans would rally to her support.
Gould also gained notoriety after revelations went public that she was keeping a ‘secret’ blog, called Heartbreak Soup, that discussed her intimate romantic relationship with a Gawker.com employee, and still current contributer, Joshua David Stein. Stein was upset that Gould didn’t appear to have boundaries between blogging about work-related and personal issues, and had expressed to her that he didn’t feel comfortable with personal details in regards to him being made public. Stein would go on to talk publicly about his private life for a spread in the always sterling New York Post, and warned about “the dangers of blogger love.”
She had a very public falling out with Gawker boss, Nick Denton. It was also rumored that Denton was prepared to offer her a yearly salary of $100, 000 to continue editing the site, despite their differences. She resigned from Gawker in November 2007.
Gould did a very well-written piece for the the New York Times called Exposed, in which she shared her experiences from these events and the nature of blogs and blogging. Published on May 25th 2008, it put her on the cover of the New York Times Magazine.
She currently self-publishes insightful, often witty, essays on her own blog, EmilyMagazine.com, and her Tubmlr blog, Things I Ate That I Love. Additionally she co-authored the young adult novel, Hex Education (with Zareen Jaffery), and has contributed to the online and print publication N+1 magazine, as well as TheAwl.com and GalleyCat.com.
Gould is also now doing a cooking segment that features book discussions called “Cooking The Books,” and is currently available on YouTube.com.
Information on, and some work by Ms. Gould can be found at the following web links:
Her wikipedia biography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Gould
www.emilymagazine.com
http://thingsiatethatilove.tumblr.com/
The self-written article, Exposed: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/magazine/25internet-t.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=all
edit: Just watched the LKL Kimmel/Gould interview and he states he was leaving his cousin’s birthday party, not bar mitzvah; how did I read that into it? Anyway, the interview is still moderately fascinating and I think Gould handled herself well amidst a rogue’s gallery. The article is corrected.
