As you head home for a weekend of reading and writing, we have a simple piece of advice from the great author Alan Watts: “Forget the money.”

When actor and director Lena Dunham scored a major deal this week, the Internet sagged under the weight of frustrated writers arguing about money. This beautiful video clip from Tradgedy annd Hope dramatizes a simple but powerful lecture from Watts, reminding us why we write. Doobybrain transcribed a bit from the video:

When we finally got down to something that the individual really wants to do, I will say to them: “You do that and forget the money.” Because if you say that getting the money is the most important thing, you will spend your life completely wasting your time. You’ll be doing things you don’t like doing in order to go on living that is to go on doing things you don’t like doing. Which is stupid! Better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing, than a long life spent in a miserable way. And after all if you do really like what you’re doing it doesn’t matter what it is, you can eventually become a master of it. The only way to become a master of something is to be really with it.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The New York Times had the scoop: “Ms. Dunham, the writer and star of the HBO comedy Girls, circulated a 66-page proposal with color, illustrations and a humor that publishing executives predicted could produce another best seller like Tina Fey’s blockbuster memoir, Bossypants.”

Random House is reportedly comparing Dunham’s style to Helen Gurley Brown, David Sedaris, and Nora Ephron. Dunham has published “First Love” in  The New Yorker and a short essay in Rookie.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Slate’s Brow Beat culture blog broke the news, giving us a glimpse at the Not That Kind of Girl: Advice by Lena Dunham book proposal that reportedly set a million dollar start for the publishing auction.

If you want to read her writing, Dunham has published “First Love” in  The New Yorker and a short essay in Rookie, both included a candid look at love, sex and youth. She also has more than 354,000 followers on her Twitter feed, posting fairly regular commentary about her life.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

For your weekend reading pleasure, here are our top stories of the week, including Humble Bundle experiments, a big book deal for a Twilight fan fiction writer and Jon Hamm & Lena Dunham‘s iPhone app introduction (video embedded above).

Click here to sign up for GalleyCat’s daily email newsletter, getting all our publishing stories, book deal news, videos, podcasts, interviews, and writing advice in one place.

1. Twilight Fan Fiction History of Gabriel’s Inferno
2. Periodic Table of Typefaces
3. Humble Bundle Model Tested with eBooks & Charity
4. David Pogue Downloads BitTorrent Copy of eBook
5. How To Get a Refund for Jonah Lehrer’s Imagine
6. Free Sites to Promote Your eBook
7. HR Pro: ‘Master’s Degrees Often HURT an Application’
8. The Lost History of Fifty Shades of Grey
9. Self-Published Bestseller List
10. Jon Hamm & Lena Dunham Introduce New Yorker App

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Mad Men star Jon Hamm and Girls creator Lena Dunham took a kooky turn in a five-minute video introducing The New Yorker‘s iPhone app.

We’ve embedded the video above–what do you think? Hamm plays a sleazy night show host and Dunham plays a disinterested actress, but somehow, they manage to outline all of the new features on the app as well.

All Things D has more about the app: “If you’ve used the New Yorker’s iPad app, then you’ll have a very good sense of what you’re getting here: All of the magazine’s content, along with a small handful of digital goodies, delivered to your device via Apple’s Newsstand. Access is free for print subscribers, or you can buy a digital-only subscription that includes iPad and iPhone access; you can also buy individual issues. Publisher Conde Nast is giving away this week’s edition free, so you can try it out yourself.”

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.