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 three non-fiction books. 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. In 2013, she-coauthored the book "I'll See You Again" (Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster) which was on the New York Times bestseller list for several weeks. Her inspirational memoir "The Gratitude Diaries: How A Year Looking On the Bright Side Transformed My Life" was published by Dutton in August 2015 and also reached the New York Times bestseller list.

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. Other primetime specials she produced appeared on VH1 and ABC 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
  • "The Gratitude Diaries" (2015, Dutton Books)
  • "I'lll See You Again" (2013, Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster)
  • 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.
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