On the towering stilettos of The Devil Wears Prada comes a biting, mordantly funny debut novel about the extremely unladylike business of publishing a very ladylike magazine.Once there was a little girl from Fargo, North Dakota, named Maggie Goldfarb who grew up, moved to Manhattan, and morphed into Magnolia Gold, the highly paid editor in chief of Lady magazine. With a corner office, a designer wardrobe, and dozens of loyal employees, Magnolia has been hired to update the dowager of women's magazines. She's on her way to giving Lady a face-lift when she is ignominiously replaced by Bebe Blake, a brash television personality who remakes the magazine in her own hilariously inappropriate image. With her ketchup-red hair, skintight clothes, and penchant for "boy toys," Bebe is more out of control than a speeding limo. Maddeningly unpredictable, she confounds everyone at the newly christened Bebe with her personal vision of what a women's magazine should be, and baffles them further with her bawdy sense of humor and over-the-top generosity.Shunted off to the darkest corners of executive purgatory-an overlooked back office she shares with a cockroach or two-Magnolia seethes from the sidelines as Bebe turns her beloved, once-profitable Lady into a sideshow. As things go from bad to worse, Magnolia fears that her career will never recover, but even she can't predict how deeply satisfying her eventual triumph will be. And not just at work: amidst the frenzy of backstabbing at the office, Magnolia finds Mr. Right in a city of Mr. Not-Quites.Inspired by real-life events, Little Pink Slips is about the fall, rise, and sweet revenge of a woman who witnesses corporate shenanigans at their most flagrant. Filled with gossipy revelations about celebrity obsession and behind-the-scenes details of the media business in all its malfeasant glory, this novel is delicious, can't-stop-reading fun.
Sally Koslow, author of WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE; THE LATE, LAMENTED MOLLY and LITTLE PINK SLIPS, was once the world's happiest magazine editor. After college she moved from Fargo, North Dakota, to work in Manhattan and started immediately at Mademoiselle. She rose in the ranks to become the editor-in-chief of iconic McCall's Magazine, a plum job which took her to the White House,"Today" and "Good Morning America"--all while she edited a magazine for regular American women just like her.
Then a curious thing happened. A new boss decided to hand McCall's to TV celebrity Rosie O'Donnell. Koslow was shifted to Corporate Editor. Rosie moved into her office and her McCall's staff became a turnkey operation for a magazine relaunched as "Rosie." Months later Koslow's job disappeared and O'Donnell quit "Rosie." After a highly-publicized court battle, the judge declared the lawsuit frivolous. By this time Koslow had been hired to create a magazine for Lifetime Television for Women and was able to rehire many of the unemployed "Rosie" staff--her former staff.
The Lifetime job was an editor's delight: the chance to invent a magazine. But starting new magazines is risky and after a few years, Koslow was again job-less, a common event at the top of a masthead. On a whim, she joined a writing workshop. Soon, she finished and sold LITTLE PINK SLIPS, her first novel. In an ironic twist, the novel was optioned by Lifetime TV for a movie. It was also sold to book clubs, released in audiotape, and published in Holland, Russia, Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia Taiwan and Thailand.
Sally's second novel, THE LATE, LAMENTED MOLLY MARX, was published in Germany (ICH, MOLLY MARX, KURZLICH VERSTORBEN) as well as in China, Poland and Turkey, In Germany the book became an immediate bestseller! WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE, Sally's third novel, is now out in paperback and appears in several translations. Her fourth book will be out next June and this time it's non-fiction--SLOUCHING TOWARD ADULTHOD: Observations from the Not-So-Empty Nest. Sally also writes essays and articles for publications including More, O, the Oprah Magazine; Real Simple; Ladies Home Journal; Good Housekeeping and Reader's Digest. She teaches creative writing atg Sarah Lawrence College's Writing Institute and coaches other writers with their work. To arrange a book club visit, inquire about independent writing coaching or just to say hello, you can contact her via her website: www.sallykoslow.com. If you email her, she promises to answer and she invites you to follow her on Twitter: @sallykoslow
