Janice Kaplan
Janice Kaplan is an American novelist, magazine editor, and television producer. As Editor-in-Chief of Parade magazine (2007-2010), the Sunday newspaper supplement with a circulation of 32 million, she was responsible for many important articles, including two cover stories by President Barack Obama. His first piece, “A Letter To My Daughters,” ran two days before his inauguration and became the basis for his book Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters. She also published articles by Madeleine K. Albright, Senator John McCain, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, and Senator Jim Webb. She wrote cover stories for the magazine on celebrities including Barbra Streisand, Clint Eastwood, Matt Damon and Daniel Craig.
Early career
Kaplan grew up in Newton, Massachusetts and attended Yale University. She began her career as a sports reporter at CBS Radio and wrote a monthly sports column for Seventeen magazine for five years. She graduated Yale magna cum laude and won the Murray Fellowship to research her first book, Women and Sports, which was published by Viking Press. Her articles on women’s sports appeared in many popular magazines, and in his textbook On Writing Well, author William Zinsser quoted extensively from two of Kaplan’s articles as breakthrough examples of sports writing.
Books and television
Kaplan is the author and co-author of ten novels and one non-fiction book. Mine Are Spectacular (2005) was a national bestseller that People magazine called “a funny, buoyant novel [with] whip-smart dialogue.” The Botox Diaries ( 2004) received attention as a breakthrough for “chick lit.” Kaplan subsequently wrote two mysteries set in Los Angeles featuring a heroine named Lacy Fields.
Kaplan published several novels early in her career, often using her experiences as a television producer as background. A Morning Affair (NAL, 1989) was set in a morning television show, and Kaplan had been a writer and producer at Good Morning America on ABC network from 1982-1986. She later worked as a producer at the syndicated show A Current Affair and was Executive Producer of the TV Guide Television Group, where she created 30 network television programs, including The TV Guide Awards Show on Fox and the series Celebrity Dish on Food Network.
Kaplan has regularly appeared as a guest on television shows including Good Morning America, Today, CBS Early Show, Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood.
Bibliography
Novels
- A Job to Kill For (2008, Touchstone/Simon & Schuster)
- Looks to Die For (2007, Touchstone/Simon & Schuster)
- The Men I Didn’t Marry (2006, Ballantine Books/Random House)
- Mine Are Spectacular (2005, Ballantine Books/Random House)
- The Botox Diaries (2004, Ballantine Books/Random House)
- The Whole Truth (1997, NAL paperback)
- Wild Nights (1991, St. Martin’s)
- A Morning Affair (1989, NAL)
- If You Believe in Me (1984, Avon Books)
- First Ride (1982, Avon Books)
Non-fiction
- Women and Sports (1979, Viking)
- 10 Journalists Talk About Writing (contributor)
References
Sources
- People, books section, July 2005.
- Zinsser, William. "On Writing Well: A Classic Guide to Non-Fiction Writing" Collins Publishing.
- Journal News newspaper, “Kaplan Leads Parade of Hope" by Heather Salerno, February 13, 2008.
- Journal News newspaper, "Spectacular’--Sex and Suburbs" by Barbara Nachman, July 1, 2005.
External links
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