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Laurell K. Hamilton

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Laurell Kaye Hamilton (born February 19, 1963) is an American fantasy and romance writer. She is best known as the author of two series of stories.

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65-471: Her New York Times -bestselling Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series centers on Anita Blake , a professional zombie raiser, vampire executioner and supernatural consultant for the police, which includes novels, short story collections, and comic books. Six million copies of Anita Blake novels are in print. Her Merry Gentry series centers on Meredith Gentry , Princess of the Unseelie court of Faerie ,

130-687: A Denver Post review of Danse Macabre took a more positive view of the eroticism in Hamilton's work. Although it noted that "[t]hose looking for mystery and mayhem on this Anita adventure are out of luck" it also stated that "the main attraction of the Anita Blake novels in the past five years has been their erotic novelty", and "[f]ew, if any, mainstream novels delve so deeply into pure, unadulterated erotica". (in Anita's chronological order) The New York Times Best Seller list This

195-407: A dagger indicating that a significant number of bulk orders had been received by retail bookstores. The New York Times reported in 2013 that "we [generally do not] track the sales of classic literature," and thus, for example, new translations of Dante's Inferno would not be found on the bestseller list. The exact method for compiling the data obtained from the booksellers is classified as

260-521: A trade secret . Book Review staff editor Gregory Cowles explained the method "is a secret both to protect our product and to make sure people can't try to rig the system. Even in the Book Review itself, we don't know (the news surveys department's) precise methods." In 1992, the survey encompassed over 3,000 bookstores as well as "representative wholesalers with more than 28,000 other retail outlets, including variety stores and supermarkets." By 2004,

325-483: A 2006 review in The Boston Globe of Micah . The review was largely negative, stating "we were not impressed. Hamilton no doubt appeals to romance and erotica lovers, but it does not take long for the clichés and the constant droning about sex to become tiresome." Other reviewers for The Kansas City Star and Publishers Weekly also commented on the rise in sexual themes in the series. The reviewer for

390-510: A 50% decrease in price for books on the Best Seller List to beat its competition, Barnes & Noble . After a legal dispute between Amazon and The New York Times , Amazon was permitted to keep using the list on condition that it displayed it in alphabetical rather than numerical order. By 2010, this was no longer the case; Amazon now displays the best-seller list in order of best-selling titles first. In 2013, Forbes published

455-460: A San Diego–based company that tracks data and aggregates sales information for publishers, will ... provide [e-book] data". The two new e-book lists were first published with the February 13, 2011, issue, the first tracks combined print and e-book sales, the second tracks e-book sales only (both lists are further sub-divided into Fiction and Nonfiction). In addition a third new list was published on

520-464: A list of five on January 1, 1984. It was created because advice best-sellers were sometimes crowding the general nonfiction list. Its inaugural number one bestseller, The Body Principal by Victoria Principal , had been number 10 and number 12 on the nonfiction lists for the two preceding weeks. In July 2000, the "Children's Best Sellers" was created after the Harry Potter series had stayed in

585-422: A private detective facing repeated assassination attempts. Both of these fantasy series follow their protagonists as they gain in power and deal with the dangers of worlds in which creatures of legend live. Several media outlets, including USA Today , Entertainment Weekly , and Time have identified her works as significant contributions to the development of the urban-fantasy genre. Laurell Kaye Hamilton

650-488: A senior book marketing executive who said the rankings were "smoke and mirrors"; while a report in Book History found that many professionals in the book industry "scoffed at the notion that the lists are accurate". Specific criticisms include: In 1983, author William Peter Blatty sued The New York Times for $ 6 million, claiming that his book, Legion (filmed as The Exorcist III ), had not been included in

715-478: A significant impact on urban fantasy. In 2008, Time declared that the popularity of the genre "owes everything to Laurell K. Hamilton". Authors Courtney Allison Moulton and Kelly Gay have noted Hamilton as an inspiration. Reader reaction to the series's shift in tone from crime noir thriller to focus more predominantly on the sexual themes in the series has been mixed, starting with Narcissus in Chains when

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780-628: A six-part series in which the paper promised to deeply examine past coverage by the paper and its former sister paper the Kansas City Times , in coverage he described as routinely sickening the reporters who worked on the story. The newspaper has won eight Pulitzer Prizes : The newspaper has been a finalist for Pulitzers on three occasions: In 2018, the paper received two awards at the Scripps Howard Foundation 's National Journalism Awards . The paper itself won in

845-476: A story titled "Can bestseller lists be bought?" It describes how author and pastor Mark Driscoll contracted the company ResultSource to place his book Real Marriage (2012) on The New York Times Best Seller list for a $ 200,000 fee. The contract was for ResultSource "to conduct a bestseller campaign for your book, Real Marriage on the week of January 2, 2012. The bestseller campaign is intended to place Real Marriage on The New York Times bestseller list for

910-415: A story titled "Here's How You Buy Your Way Onto The New York Times Bestsellers List." The article discusses how ResultSource , a San Diego–based marketing consultancy, specializes in ensuring books make a bestseller list, even guaranteeing a No. 1 spot for those willing to pay enough. The New York Times was informed of this practice and responded: " The New York Times comprehensively tracks and tabulates

975-492: Is an accepted version of this page The New York Times Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. The New York Times Book Review has published the list weekly since October 12, 1931. In the 21st century, it has evolved into multiple lists, grouped by genre and format, including fiction and nonfiction, hardcover, paperback and electronic . The list

1040-471: Is based on a proprietary method that uses sales figures, other data and internal guidelines that are unpublished—how the Times compiles the list is a trade secret . In 1983, during a legal case in which the Times was being sued, the Times argued that the list is not mathematically objective but rather an editorial product, an argument that prevailed in the courts. In 2017, a Times representative said that

1105-473: Is editorial content, not objective factual content, so the Times had the legal right to exclude the book from the list. In 1995, Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema, the authors of a book called The Discipline of Market Leaders , colluded to manipulate their book onto the best seller charts. The authors allegedly purchased over 10,000 copies of their own book in small and strategically placed orders at bookstores whose sales are reported to BookScan . Because of

1170-504: Is involved with a number of animal charities, particularly supporting dog rescue efforts and wolf preservation. Hamilton lives in St. Louis County, Missouri , with her daughter Trinity, and husband Jonathon Green whom she married in 2001. Laurell K. Hamilton is the author of two major book series, spin-off comic books, various anthologies, and other stand-alone titles: Entertainment Weekly and USA Today have identified Hamilton as having

1235-471: Is published by GeekNation, an entertainment website based in Los Angeles. The book was originally written as a script, and was rewritten as a novel in an attempt to launch a film franchise. In August 2017, conservative publisher Regnery Publishing said it would no longer allow its writers to claim to be " New York Times best-selling authors" due to its belief that the Times favors liberal books on

1300-420: Is published. It is based on weekly sales reports obtained from selected samples of independent and chain bookstores and wholesalers throughout the United States. The sales figures are widely believed to represent books that have actually been sold at retail, rather than wholesale, as the Times surveys booksellers in an attempt to better reflect what is purchased by individual buyers. Some books are flagged with

1365-423: Is too short to read books you don’t like" and that if they found that the current subject matter pushed "you past that comfortable envelope of the mundane" then "stop reading" and speculated that some of the readers were either "closet readers" or comment based on others' opinions. The blog entry was negatively received by some readers. Critical reviewers have also commented on the amount of sex in later books, as in

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1430-578: The Kansas City Journal . Competitor Times editor Eugene Field wrote this about the new newspaper: Nelson's business strategy called for cheap advance subscriptions and an intention to be "absolutely independent in politics, aiming to deal by all men and all parties with impartiality and fearlessness.". He purchased the Kansas City Evening Mail (and its Associated Press evening franchise) in 1882. The paper name

1495-542: The Kansas City Star stated that "After 13 erotically charged books, boredom has reared its ugly head for the 14th novel in Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series, as eroticism becomes mere description..." and Publishers Weekly commented that Blood Noir had a "growing air of ennui, which longtime readers can't help sharing as sex increasingly takes the place of plot and character development". In contrast,

1560-515: The New York Times . The Times stated it was not counted because it was published by a Canadian company. According to Random House Canada , the book was handled properly for the U.S. market. American conservative commentator Dennis Prager wrote an article for National Review titled " The Times Best-Seller List: Another Reason Americans Don't Trust the Media" in which he contends that

1625-807: The Star reported, "Printing of The Star will move up Interstate 35 to the Des Moines Register ". On December 21, 2020, the paper issued an apology for a history of racism in its news coverage. A column by Mike Fannin, president and editor, said "For 140 years, it has been one of the most influential forces in shaping Kansas City and the region. And yet for much of its early history—through sins of both commission and omission—it disenfranchised, ignored and scorned generations of Black Kansas Citians. It reinforced Jim Crow laws and redlining. Decade after early decade it robbed an entire community of opportunity, dignity, justice and recognition." His column launched

1690-558: The Times and Star ended in 1977 with their purchase by Capital Cities . In 1990, the Star became a morning newspaper taking the place of what was then the larger Kansas City Times which ceased publication. The Walt Disney Company acquired Capital Cities/ABC in January 1996. Disney sold the paper to Knight Ridder in May 1997 as Disney moved to concentrate on broadcast rather than newspaper investments. Under Capital Cities ownership,

1755-527: The 100,000 new, hardcover print books published each year, fewer than 500 make it on to The New York Times Best Seller list (0.5 percent). Many novels (26 percent) appear on the list for only one week. To make the list, it is estimated that novels sell from 1,000 to 10,000 copies per week, depending on competition. Median sales fluctuate between 4,000 and 8,000 in fiction, and 2,000–6,000 in nonfiction. The majority of New York Times bestselling books sell from 10,000 to 100,000 copies in their first year. During

1820-566: The Advice How-to list." To achieve this, the contract stated that "RSI will be purchasing at least 11,000 total orders in one week." This took place, and the book successfully reached No.1 on the hardcover advice bestseller list on January 22, 2014. In July 2015, Ted Cruz 's book A Time For Truth was excluded from the list because the "overwhelming preponderance of evidence was that sales [of Cruz's book] were limited to strategic bulk purchases" to artificially increase sales and entry onto

1885-453: The Truman administration in its closing days filed antitrust charges against the Star over its ownership of WDAF-TV . The Star launched radio station WDAF on May 16, 1922, and television outlet WDAF-TV on October 19, 1949. The Star lost its case and had to sign a consent decree in 1957 that led to the sale of the broadcast stations. With the influence of the Star in Truman's hometown,

1950-611: The benefits of making The New York Times Best Seller list (speaking engagements, more book deals, and consulting) the authors felt that buying their own work was an investment that would pay for itself. The book climbed to No. 4 on the list where it sat for 15 weeks; it also peaked at No. 1 on the BusinessWeek best seller list. Since such lists hold the power of cumulative advantage , chart success often begets more chart success. Although such efforts are not illegal, publishers consider them unethical. In 1999, Amazon.com announced

2015-506: The biggest benefit from being on the list, while perennial best-selling authors, such as John Grisham or Danielle Steel , see no benefit of additional sales. The Kansas City Star The Kansas City Star is a newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri . Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes . The Star is most notable for its influence on the career of President Harry S. Truman and as

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2080-470: The character of Anita spent too much time "obsessing about whether or not she’s a slut" while others remarked that the erotic themes enhanced the series. In response to these comments, Hamilton issued a blog entitled "Dear Negative Reader" where she addressed a growing number of readers on the Internet that were expressing disappointment in the series's changes. In the blog Hamilton told the readers that "life

2145-534: The company was then distributed among other employees. Virtually all proceeds from the sale and remains of Nelson's $ 6 million personal fortune were donated to create the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art on the site of Nelson's home, Oak Hall. Both papers were purchased by the employees in 1926 following the death of Nelson's daughter. The Star enjoyed a pivotal role in American politics beginning in

2210-734: The first edition of the Star came out from the new presses with a major redesign in the sections and the logo. The new paper design involved shrinking its broadsheet width from 15 to 12 inches and shrinking the length from 22 3 ⁄ 4 to 21 1 ⁄ 2  inches. Other broadsheet newspapers across the country, including the Wall Street Journal , are moving to the smaller standard size. The McClatchy Company bought Knight Ridder in June 2006. In February 2020, McClatchy filed for bankruptcy and Chatham Asset Management LLC bought it at auction. On November 10, 2020,

2275-570: The first week and $ 5.40 the second. In 1950, then-president Truman half joked in an unmailed letter to Star editor Roy Roberts, "If the Star is at all mentioned in history, it will be because the President of the U.S. worked there for a few weeks in 1901 [ sic ]." The paper was first printed on the second story of a three-story building at 407–409 Delaware. In 1881, it moved 14 W. 5th Street. In 1882, it moved to 115 W. 6th. In 1889, it moved to 804–806 Wyandotte. Sometime between 1896 and 1907, it

2340-430: The forefront with a business model of selling newly published best-sellers with mass-market appeal. They used the best-selling status of titles to market the books and not just as a measure of sales, thus placing increased emphasis on the New York Times list for book readers and book sellers. The list is compiled by the editors of the "News Surveys" department, not by The New York Times Book Review department, where it

2405-766: The goal is that the lists reflect authentic best sellers. The list has been a source of controversy. When the Times believes a book has reached the list in a suspicious way—such as through bulk purchases—the book's entry on the list is marked with a dagger symbol (†). Although the first best seller list in America was published in 1895, in The Bookman , a best seller list was not published in The New York Times until October 12, 1931, 36 years later, with little fanfare. It listed five fiction and four nonfiction books for New York City only. The next month,

2470-549: The idea that the New York Times doesn't like it?" The Post compared the list to best seller lists from Publishers Weekly looking for bias but could not find anything convincing. In February 2018, the Toronto Star published a story by books editor Deborah Dundas who found that the best-selling book 12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson , who topped Publishers Weekly chart list, did not even chart on The New York Times bestsellers list, without reliable answers from

2535-400: The inconsistencies in the most recent reporting cycle, we decided that the sales for Handbook for Mortals did not meet our criteria for inclusion. We've issued an updated 'Young Adult Hardcover' list for September 3, 2017 which does not include that title." It was uncovered, by author Phil Stamper, that there had been unusual bulk ordering patterns which inflated the number of sales. The book

2600-568: The issue with Peterson's book, as well his The Rational Bible: Exodus , is their conservative context and the lack of inclusion is the American mainstream media's manipulation. The Times denied any bias. In 2019, the release of Donald Trump Jr. 's book Triggered was shown to have only reached the best-seller list through approximately $ 100,000 in behind-the-scenes bulk purchases meant to pump up its sales numbers illegitimately. Vanity Fair reported in October 2020 that this sort of gaming of

2665-627: The late 1920s when Iowa-native Herbert Hoover was nominated at the 1928 Republican convention in Kansas City and continuing through 1960 at the conclusion of the presidency of Kansas favorite Dwight D. Eisenhower . Editor Roy A. Roberts (1887–1967) was to make the newspaper a major force in Kansas politics. Roberts joined the paper in 1909 and was picked by Nelson for the Washington bureau in 1915. Roberts became managing editor in 1928. He

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2730-525: The list due to either negligence or intentional falsehood, saying it should have been included due to high sales. The Times countered that the list was not mathematically objective but rather was an editorial product and thus protected under the Constitution as free speech. Blatty appealed it to the Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case. Thus, the lower court ruling stood that the list

2795-559: The list was expanded to eight cities, each with its own list. By the early 1940s, fourteen city-lists were included. A national list was created on April 9, 1942, in the Sunday New York Times Book Review as a supplement to the Monday edition regular city lists. The national list was ranked according to how many times the book appeared in the city lists. Eventually the city lists were eliminated, leaving only

2860-458: The list. In response, Cruz called the Times "a liar" and demanded an apology. The Times said it stood by its statement and evidence of manipulation. In August 2017, a young adult fiction book, Handbook for Mortals by previously unpublished author Lani Sarem was removed from the list, where it was in initially in the No. 1 spot. According to a statement issued by the Times , "after investigating

2925-416: The list. The Times responded that the political views of authors have no bearing on the list and noted conservative authors routinely rank highly on the list. The Associated Press noted the Times is a frequent target of conservatives and Republicans. The Washington Post called Regnery's ban a "stunt" designed to increase sales, "What better way to sell a book to a conservative audience than to promote

2990-477: The main character of Anita Blake becomes infected with the ardeur . The ardeur is a supernatural power inadvertently given to Anita by her vampire Master Jean-Claude that gives her massive amounts of power but also demands that she have sexual intercourse with several different people through the course of a day, sometimes in large groups. Reception to these dynamics and to the usage of sexual abuse in later books has been mixed, with some reviewers commenting that

3055-489: The methodology on his blog; he posted: "If I could obtain bulk orders before Leapfrogging was released, ResultSource would purchase the books on my behalf using their tried-and-true formula. Three thousand books sold would get me on The Wall Street Journal bestseller list. Eleven thousand would secure a spot on the biggest prize of them all, The New York Times list." In 2014, the Los Angeles Times published

3120-517: The most copies in one year followed by the biography Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson . The list has been criticized by authors, publishers, book industry executives, and others for not providing an accurate accounting of true best-seller status. These criticisms have been ongoing ever since the list originated. A book industry report in the 1940s found that best-seller lists were a poor indicator of sales, since they were based on misleading data and were only measuring fast sales. A 2004 report quoted

3185-477: The national ranking list, which was compiled according to "reports from leading booksellers in 22 cities". Ranking by bookseller sales figures continues today, although the process has remained proprietary. By the 1950s, The Times ' s list had become the leading best-seller list for book professionals to monitor, along with that of Publishers Weekly . In the 1960s and 1970s, shopping-mall chain bookstores B. Dalton , Crown Books , and Waldenbooks came to

3250-597: The newspaper and Roberts were the subject of an April 12, 1948, cover issue of Time magazine. In 1954, Topeka correspondent Alvin McCoy won a Pulitzer Prize for a series of articles questioning the business dealings of the Republican national chairman. Roberts reported the Pulitzer Prize in a four-paragraph item. Roberts semi-retired in 1963, officially retired in 1965, and died in 1967. Local ownership of

3315-592: The newspaper that became the Fort Wayne News Sentinel (and earlier owned by Nelson's father) in Nelson's Indiana hometown, where Nelson was campaign manager in the unsuccessful presidential run of Samuel Tilden . Morss quit the newspaper business within a year and a half because of ill health. At the time there were three daily competitors – the Evening Mail ; The Kansas City Times ; and

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3380-407: The newspaper where a young Ernest Hemingway honed his writing style. The paper is the major newspaper of the Kansas City metropolitan area and has widespread circulation in western Missouri and eastern Kansas . The paper, originally called The Kansas City Evening Star , was founded September 18, 1880, by William Rockhill Nelson and Samuel E. Morss . The two moved to Missouri after selling

3445-494: The newspaper won three Pulitzer Prizes ( 1982 , 1982 , 1992 ). Knight Ridder's legacy is a massive $ 199 million, two-block long, glass-enclosed printing and distribution plant on the northeast side of the Star' s landmark red brick headquarters at 1729 Grand Avenue. The plant began printing in June 2006. It took nearly four years to build and is considered a major part of the effort to revitalize downtown Kansas City. The plant contains four 60-foot-high presses. On June 4, 2006,

3510-416: The number was 4,000 bookstores as well as an unstated number of wholesalers. Data is adjusted to give more weight to independent book stores, which are underrepresented in the sample. The lists are divided among fiction and nonfiction , print and e-book, paperback and hardcover; each list contains 15 to 20 titles. The lists have been subdivided several times. "Advice, How-To, and Miscellaneous" debuted as

3575-635: The paper bought the Flambeau Paper Mill in Park Falls, Wisconsin to provide newsprint. The mill was to be cited for pollution problems and have labor problems, and the Star was to eventually divest itself of the mill in 1971. Roberts was elevated to president of the Star in 1947. The Star was not particularly kind to hometown Democrat Harry Truman , who had been backed by famed big city Democratic Machine boss Tom Pendergast . In 1953,

3640-617: The paper's famous and often used style guide : Use short sentences. Use short first paragraphs. Use vigorous English. Be positive, not negative. Nelson's wife died in 1921; his daughter Laura Kirkwood died in a Baltimore hotel room in 1926 at the age of 43. Laura's husband Irwin Kirkwood, who was editor of the paper, led the employee purchase. Kirkwood in turn died of a heart attack in 1927 in Saratoga Springs , New York , where he had gone to sell thoroughbred horses. Stock in

3705-519: The period studied (August 6, 2008, to March 10, 2016), Dan Brown's book The Lost Symbol held the record with 3 million copies sold in one year followed by The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest by Stieg Larsson and Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee which sold 1.6 million copies each. In nonfiction, more than half of the hardcover books that make the list are in the biography category. The autobiography of George W. Bush, Decision Points , sold

3770-423: The system has been a common practice among American conservative political figures, and has also included the use of political campaign funds to purchase the books in bulk in order to boost their rank on the list. A Stanford Business School analysis suggests that the "majority of book buyers seem to use the Times ' list as a signal of what's worth reading". The study concluded that lesser-known writers get

3835-558: The top spots on the fiction list for an extended period of time. The children's list was printed monthly until February 13, 2011, when it was changed to once an issue (weekly). In September 2007, the paperback fiction list was divided into "trade" and "mass-market" sections, in order to give more visibility to the trade paperbacks that were more often reviewed by the newspaper itself. In November 2010, The New York Times announced it would be tracking e-book best-seller lists in fiction and nonfiction starting in early 2011. "RoyaltyShare,

3900-447: The web only, which tracks combined print sales (hardcover and paperback) in fiction and nonfiction. On December 16, 2012, the children's chapter books list was divided into two new lists: middle-grade (ages 8–12) and young adult (age 12–18), both which include sales across all platforms (hard, paper and e-book). According to an EPJ Data Science study that used big data to analyze every New York Times bestselling book from 2008 to 2016, of

3965-512: The weekly unit sales of all titles reported by book retailers as their general interest bestsellers. We will not comment beyond our methodology on the other questions." The New York Times did not alert its readers to this, unlike The Wall Street Journal, which admitted that books had landed on its bestseller list due to ResultSource's campaign. Soren Kaplan, the source who admitted he had paid ResultSource to land his book, Leapfrogging , on The Wall Street Journal ' s bestseller list, revealed

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4030-769: Was born Laurell Kaye Klein in Heber Springs, Arkansas but grew up in Sims, Indiana with her grandmother Laura Gentry. Her education includes degrees in English and biology from Marion College (now called Indiana Wesleyan University ), a private Evangelical Christian liberal arts college in Marion, Indiana that is affiliated with the Wesleyan Church denomination . She met Gary Hamilton, whom she married, there. They have one daughter together, Trinity. Hamilton

4095-570: Was changed to The Kansas City Star in 1885. Nelson started the Weekly Kansas City Star in 1890 and the Sunday Kansas City Star in 1894. In 1901 Nelson also bought the morning paper The Kansas City Times (and its morning Associated Press franchise). Nelson announced the arrival of the "24 Hour Star ." In August 1902, future president Harry S. Truman worked in the mailroom for two weeks, making $ 7.00

4160-453: Was instrumental in pushing Kansas Governor Alf Landon for the Republican nomination in 1936; Landon was defeated in the general election by Franklin D. Roosevelt . In 1942, the Journal , the last daily competitor, ceased publication. The Journal had offered unwavering support of Tom Pendergast 's political machine; once Pendergast had fallen from power, the paper suffered. In 1945,

4225-554: Was located at 1025–1031 Grand. In 1911, it moved into its Jarvis Hunt -designed building at 18th and Grand. Nelson died in 1915. Nelson provided in his will that his newspaper was to support his wife and daughter and then be sold. Ernest Hemingway was a reporter for the Star from October 1917 to April 1918. Hemingway credited Star editor C.G. "Pete" Wellington with changing a wordy high-schooler's writing style into clear, provocative English. Throughout his lifetime, Hemingway referred to this admonition from The Star Copy Style ,

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