Ex mag editor Mia Freedman to publish bio
Former magazine editor Mia Freedman will next week publish her autobiography.
Freedman – who was famously editor of Cosmopolitan at the age of 24 and almost as infamously involved in Nine’s failed daytime show The Catch-Up – is now a newspaper columnist and blogger. She also occasionally collaborates with ad agency Droga 5.
Her book – called Mama Mia: A Memoir of Mistakes, Magazines and Motherhood – is published by Harper Collins.
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large. He returned to Mumbrella as Publisher in January 2025
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topics
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Mama Mia
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*yawn*
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So what???? What has happened to this website?
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Equally as baffling as ex-magazine editors writing bios about their time in the ‘chair’ is the spate of journalists writing books about the ‘hilarious’ tribulations of first-time parenthood (I note both Emma Tom and Stephen Lacey have such books currently on the stands).
From what I can gather lots of people quite successfully edit magazines and raise children too. I’ve done both. And neither was particularly difficult. Why do book publishers think we’re interested in this stuff? And intriguing still, why is it that journalists appear so inept at both the editing and the child rearing process?
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I had a mum… does that mean I can write an autobiography too?
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How about a bio from Dr Mumbo serialised into blog form??
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I can’t believe that Mia actually believes she’s done something worth writing about?
How vacuous is that. It’s about me,me ,mia!! Says everything about magazine types who think their world is something special. Wrong.
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I’ve never met Mia Freedman, but how old is she? Enough years in the back of her cart to warrant a restrospective of her life thus far? I’m reminded of two beautiful pieces of wisdom from my early days in journalism:
(1) “How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live” – Thoreau, I think, and
(2) If you’ve gotta spell out on the cover what’s in the book, it aint worth buying.
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Massive yawn
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I am struggling with the recent line up of former womens’ magazine editors who are turning up in mainstream media all wholesome and spiritual trumpeting the virtues of ignoring diets, doing what you love, finding more meaning in life. These are the women who sat in the ACP towers shovelling diets, fashion, fads, shoes and bags down our throats for the last two decades … and now the better for your trend comes along and we’re supposed to follow them to spiritual enlightenment?
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…and why is she always introduced as the “Cosmo editor at 24”? There’s lots of people who edit magazines in their mid-20s, particularly magazines aimed at an audience in their mid-20s.
I notice she said she had to go into therapy after leaving Cosmo. Yeah, a magazine that took most of its content from the US edition and filled the rest of its pages with photos of handbags – yeah, I could only begin to imagine how stressful that would’ve been. And the TV show? Even that was an appalling rip-off of an American version. Go away. Other than your eastern suburbs loveys, no one gives a sh#t….
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Isn’t she a little young to be writing an autobiography? Harold Mitchell i get (and can’t wait to read) but Mia Freedman….really?
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yeah well…… you guys sure its a book and not a ‘flyer’ ????
I actually enjoy reading the occasional story on successful media people (Packer, Murdoch etc) so is there any other good ones out there i should have a read of?
gwright@aprs.com.au
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Desperate measures for desperate times.
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Wow – for a bunch of media pros I’m amazed at the bitchiness of the comments.
The book is going to sell and she’s timed it right. Mia has parleyed a successful media career into a successful one as a blogger/columnist. She’s a in demand commentator and her skills with social media are a good example for other to follow.
The question is: why would anyone continue with the mugs game of magazine editing / publishing when you knew her level of success was achievable by jumping out of the mainstream (and then exploiting it).
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Just because McDonalds sells, doesn’t mean it’s any good.
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Mia Freedman is not one of those magazine editors perched in ACP “shovelling” diets, etc down our throats. She introduced Cosmo’s body love policy and “real” women in the magazine, which she was criticised for doing, and now is a champion for “normal” girls. Mia pioneered change in the magazine industry and to me that’s worth reading about.
Is this an example of bashing successful media personalities – I think so, and I doubt any of you actually read Cosmo or Mia’s blog. Fair enough – that’s your choice. But I’ll definitely choose to read her autobiography.
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I find it most interesting that the Mia-bashing taking place above is a primarily male response. Are you threatened by her success and achievements? If you’re not interested in her works, then perhaps they’ve not been directed at you? I’m not quite sure that such arrogance and negativity is necessary here. Whether you’re a fan or not, are the snide remarks justified?
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Woah, what’s with all the snarkiness? ‘Anonymous’ is right – Mia did big things with her Body Love policy, and as an avid reader who was her target audience at the time, I can honestly say that no magazine resonated with me, or made me feel as confident and ‘normal’ as Cosmo (and indeed, Mia) did.
I have no doubt her book will be a smash-hit and I for one cannot WAIT for my pre-ordered copy to arrive!
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I agree with Rochelle.
I’ve been interstate and offline for the last few hours, otherwise I’d have joined in this discussion earlier.
A couple of points to bear in mind.
First, I notice from the IP addresses, that many of these comments seem to come from people working at large media owners. What they may not have yet have noticed (because it’s happened quite quickly), is that Mia Freedman’s blog has already become successful. Certainly if her comment stream is anything to go by, then she has a loyal and engaged audience. That perhaps answers those who ask whether they’ll be an interest in it.
Second, she’s not 18, she’s in her mid 30s. That doesn’t exactly make her the youngest person to write an autobiography.
In that time, she’s edited Cosmo (and yes, Brian, actually I do think it’s a big achievment to get your hands on one of the world’s most famous magazine brands at that age – even as a franchise).
But the thing I’ll be most interested to read is the story of what happened at Nine, and why The Catch Up didn’t work out.
Now I’m not Mia Freedman’s target audience, but I enjoy reading her columns in Fairfax’s Sunday Life mag. She writes warmly and well. I suspect the book will be a good read too.
And by the way, she’s not a mate. The only time we’ve met face to face was at a trade press briefing at Nine for The Catch Up more than two years ago.
By all means criticise the book if it’s no good. But it seems weird to criticise the fact that it exists when I’m sure it’ll do far better than many books published in Australia this year.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
Zoo Weekly has a HUGE following. I don’t rate it. But I understand that it’s not designed for me. I mean, I found the ‘how to cheat on your girlfriend and not get caught’ feature really insightful and I loved ‘A day in the life of a midget’. But if the editor wrote a book on his life, regardless of his age, the only contact I’d have with it is to clean my glass coffee table. Unless of course, he FINALLY ran my pic in Zoo’s ‘Booty Bank’ column.
Mia is loved by her readers because she can genuinely connect through open, honest story telling based on her own experiences that most women in her demongraphic can relate to. And she does it with class, style, humour. She doesn’t preach, she shares!! Not just about the good stuff, but the bad experiences too. If she can maintain this in her book, I’m sure it will be an enjoyable read. For the right audience, that is.
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How many Aussie cricketers bring out autobiographies every year, well before they’ve actually had any international success, usually well before they’ve reached their late 30’s? Anyone willing to slam Ricky ‘Punter’ Ponting about his first foray into the written word back in 1998, well before he’d had the opportunity to disgrace us as captain?
Yes, I’m a cricket fan and yes I am bitter about losing the Ashes!
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Playing cricket for Australia is regarded by many, many people as one of the highest acclaims in this country. I’m not sure that could be said for editing a woman’s magazine.
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Hello everyone………….. i was born in Melbourne and lived in Sydney for 5 years, spent a few years in Adelaide and now spend a fair bit of time in Thailand and Gold Coast on business….
Im going to write my autobiography and it will be on the streets early November ok.
I am asking my friend Mr Jones who lived next door if he can provide a forward for me….
Oh, i have a wealth of experience in the publishing industry – i have read lots of magazines so does that count as experience
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Another update… the preview copy just arrived in the office.
It’s embargoed, so I can’t talk about the contents just yet, but I just stood and read the chapter on The Catch Up. It’s well worth a read for anyone interested in what went on behind the scenes and how it went so wrong. (Although I suspect she’s taking more of the blame personally than is realistic)
I’ll be taking the book home with me tonight, and I’m looking forward to reading the rest.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
and Tim what do you think?
A) Rate it or hate it?
B) Is it going to succeed?
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