A Q&A with SALLY KOSLOW
1. How would you describe Little Pink Slips?
A: I think of it as smart women’s fiction intended to be fun. Little Pink Slips is a warm, realistic account of an intelligent woman carrying on in a tough, competitive industry as well as a story about balancing commitments at work with a private life. It’s a book that I feel accurately describes the craziness of American magazines, where many all but worship celebrities.
2. The book is clearly inspired by real events that happened to you while you were working at McCall’s. It’s also filled with behind-the-scenes details of the media business and gossipy revelations about celebrity obsession. Why did you choose to tell this story as fiction form rather than a memoir?
A: It wasn’t exactly my story. I was the editor-in-chief of McCall’s and moved from that position to another executive job at the company when the magazine became a celebrity vehicle. I never actually worked with the celebrity. On the other hand, I continued to be close to the McCall’s staff that did work with her, so I was conversant with that experience. Often, during that time, I’d say to myself ‘you can’t make this up.’ America is embracing celebrity journalism as never before—in print, in television, on line. I thought a novel was an appropriate vehicle in which to explore how we’re consumed with the lives of stars.
3. Did you find writing fiction harder or easier than non-fiction? And what presented the greatest challenge for you in writing this book?
A: Writing fiction is devilishly hard. Non-fiction writing, which I’ve done extensively for magazines, is its own challenge. You amass a ton of research and try to weave it together. But when you write fiction, everything is left to the author: the setting, plot, narrative, character development, dialogue, and tone.
Telling a fast-paced, light-hearted story was the biggest challenge I’ve ever taken on. Once I got something on the page, I would turn myself back into an editor and revise as if I was editing someone else’s manuscript. I attempted to end each chapter at a point where I felt readers would want to turn the page, as well as create an arc for the whole book, weaving several plot lines. It was a huge test of my patience. It doesn’t matter if a magazine editor has a short attention span—which I do--because she doesn’t have the luxury of spending a long time on any single task, but writing a novel required sustained concentration.
4. What’s your writing routine?
A: I’ve discovered I’m a morning writer. I start early and by mid-afternoon get completely exhausted and trick myself into writing more: “You’re going to keep writing until you get to the bottom of the page” or “Keep going until four o’clock and you can eat a cookie.” I draw on my experience as a magazine editor and impose deadlines to kill my procrastination bug. As my character Magnolia said, inside of her is a sloth sitting around in flannel pajamas.
I’ve learned how important exercise is for me. During the course of writing Little Pink Slips I wrote an article for a health magazine on the relationship between exercise and creativity, because I found that if I took myself to Central Park and ran—something that’s been part of my routine for 25 years—it helped me catch new ideas for the book. (I’m the freak who literally runs with a pen and paper.) When I researched the process with medical experts, I discovered that certain repetitive exercise--speed walking, biking or running--allows your mind to recreate a dream state and solve creative problems.
5. Are the characters in this book based on specific individuals?
A: They’re all fictionalized, occasionally inspired by people in my life. I gave Magnolia Gold, the heroine, my hometown —Fargo, North Dakota—because there’s something about being from Random, U.S.A., that allows an editor to get into the heads of non-urban women, millions of whom read magazines.
6. Rosie O’Donnell was the celebrity for whom McCall’s became a celebrity vehicle. What do you think her reaction will be to the book?
A: I hope she’ll love it, because, like her, Bebe Blake, the celebrity in Little Pink Slips, is a bright woman with a great sense of humor and tremendous generosity. If one thing doesn’t work out for Bebe she forges ahead. I can see that Rosie’s done that in her own life. She’s superb on The View and brilliant at creating headlines and trying new things. That would be the same for the Bebe character. You never know what she’s going to do next.
7. At certain times during the story Bebe is also somewhat out of control. Was Rosie like that as well?
A: My understanding is that she wasn’t an easy person for the staff to work with. She’s someone with very strong opinions and doesn’t put up with people she perceives to be fools.
8. Star Jones’ departure and Rosie O’Donnell’s arrival at The View quickly turned into a highly publicized war of words about who—Barbara Walters or Jones—was betrayed or blindsided. What went through your mind as you watched all that?
A: I was thinking, “Good for you, Rosie-- I’m glad you’re back on the public scene.” I don’t know what was true or not true about her joining The View, but I certainly was excited that she was once again going to be on TV. I try to watch Rosie. I think her heart is in the right place on many issues with which I happen to agree.
9. What did you think when Rosie and Donald Trump wrangled?
A: I thought it was great television and that if you’re going to be a public personality, you better grow a thick skin.
10. Was it hard to adjust to Manhattan after growing up in Fargo?
A: Yes, definitely, especially forcing myself not to want everything I saw. Manhattan heavily concentrates the universe’s most fabulous clothes, shoes, jewelry and more into a small space. You can quickly become insanely acquisitive. Fortunately, you soon learn there’s not enough time or money to go to every show, museum, and cultural events or to own the many things you’d want to buy. The flip side is that I’ve lived in New York since I graduated from college and there hasn’t been one day in my life when I’ve been bored.
11. What do you think will surprise readers of Little Pink Slips? Were there any surprises for you as you wrote it?
A: I think readers will be happily surprised to find out how hard an editor-in-chief works. People at the top of a masthead care for their employees, kill themselves on their behalf, have high standards and are at heart, for the most part, truly decent human beings. Most of the people in the magazine industry are highly energetic, creative, funny and articulate. You’d like to know them.
One thing that surprised me—as I presented my work to my writing workshop and to my agent—was how much curiosity there is about the actual mechanics of how a magazine runs. Everyone wanted to know, let’s say, how a photo shoot works or how covers get picked. The “inside baseball” that I took for granted was of more interest than I ever guessed, perhaps because people think of magazine as extremely familiar, almost like friends.
12. How would you characterize the state of the magazine industry today?
A: The industry has its challenges. It’s taken almost a decade, but Internet websites have finally become strong and competitive with magazines, which are trying to innovate through digital media, pod casts, and better designed websites. What hasn’t changed is our curiosity about celebrities. Reporting on them seems to have become a sustained trend.
Launching magazines has also become difficult. Because there are more magazine startups than ever, the field has become extremely competitive and the period of time that a new magazine is given to prove itself is briefer than it used to be. It’s almost like television, where you get only one season to find your audience.
13. Why do you describe being the editor-in-chief of McCalls as a dream job?
A: For someone with my interests and abilities an editor-in-chief job was a perfect fit-- writing, idea development, working with designers, being the public face of the magazine on TV, managing and trying to inspire a staff and, most of all, producing a product that made people’s lives more entertaining and well-informed. I loved all of it and felt honored to have a small place in history, since McCall’s was an iconic American title. Eleanor Roosevelt was a columnist and every female baby boomer recalls Betsy McCall, the paperdoll. At the time McCall's became Rosie, it was 124 years old, the oldest women's magazine in the country.
I also took delight in the frills that came with the job: invitations to the White House, chic clothing and haircuts at discounts, luncheons at exclusive restaurants, a car service to occasionally drive me around, and, above all, a chance to meet people I never would have otherwise encountered—politicians, college presidents and sports heroes as well as writers, designers and photographers. Magazine editing has a sheen to it which was a kick for a girl from North Dakota.
14. You’re almost finished with your second novel. What’s that one about?
A: It’s a work-in-progress that I'd describe as funny, touching, thought-provoking and mysterious. Unlike Little Pink Slips, the main character is a wife and mother, like I am.
15. What do you want readers to get out of Little Pink Slips?
A: I have only one goal, to entertain. But if readers come away from Little Pink Slips with a richer understanding of the magazine industry that too would be rewarding, because I still and always will, adore magazines.
