Sam Baker (born July 1966) is a British journalist, author, and broadcaster.

Life and career

Baker was born in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, and studied

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

Birmingham University The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...

. She went on to work as a writer and editor for numerous British women's magazines, including ''Red'', ''New Woman'', ''Chat'', and ''Take a Break''. After re-launching teenage magazine ''

Just Seventeen ''Just Seventeen'', often referred to as ''J-17'', was a fortnightly magazine aimed at teenage girls, published by Emap from October 1983 to April 2004. A special preview edition was given away free with sister magazine ''Smash Hits ''Smas ...

'' as ''J-17'', she spent five years as editor of UK women's magazine ''Company'', before resigning to write her first novel, ''Fashion Victim'' (described by ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

'' as one of the five break-through first novels of the summer of 2005). Her second novel, ''This Year's Model'', was published by Random House in the US, and Orion in the UK. Her third novel ''The Stepmothers Support Group'' was published by HarperCollins in 2009 (''The Other Mothers Club'' / Avon / 2010 in the US). Her fourth novel, ''To My Best Friends'', was published by Harper in May 2011. She was the editor in chief of ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

'' in the UK until December 2006. She then became editor in chief of ''

Red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

'', owned by

Hachette Hachette may refer to: * Hachette (surname) * Hachette (publisher), a French publisher, the imprint of Lagardère Publishing ** Hachette Book Group, the American subsidiary ** Hachette Distribution Services, the distribution arm See also * Hachett ...

, and a sister magazine to ''

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the ...

''. She resigned from ''Red'' in 2013, shortly after Hachette's magazines in the UK were acquired by Hearst. She took a year out researching the future of women's media and launched the website The Pool in 2015, with co-founder

Lauren Laverne Lauren Cecilia Fisher (née Gofton; born 28 April 1978), known professionally as Lauren Laverne, is an English radio DJ, model, television presenter, author and singer. She was the lead singer and additional guitarist in the alternative rock ba ...

. The Pool was described by

J. Walter Thompson J. Walter Thompson (JWT) was an advertisement holding company incorporated in 1896 by American advertising pioneer James Walter Thompson. The company was acquired in 1987 by multinational holding company WPP plc, and in November 2018, WPP merg ...

intelligence at Cannes Lions 2015 as "A new vision of women's media that goes beyond the glossy." The website entered administration in January 2019. In Spring 2016 she published ''The Woman Who Ran'', a critically acclaimed reworking of

Anne Brontë Anne Brontë (, commonly ; 17 January 1820 – 28 May 1849) was an English novelist and poet, and the youngest member of the Brontë literary family. Anne Brontë was the daughter of Maria (born Branwell) and Patrick Brontë, a poor Irish c ...

's ''

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall ''The Tenant of Wildfell Hall'' is the second and final novel written by English author Anne Brontë. It was first published in 1848 under the pseudonym Acton Bell. Probably the most shocking of the Brontës' novels, it had an instant and phe ...

'', described by

Marian Keyes Marian Keyes (born 10 September 1963) is an Irish author and radio presenter. She is principally known for her popular fiction. Keyes became known for her novels ''Watermelon'', ''Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married'', ''Rachel's Holiday'', ''Last ...

as, ‘Wildly gripping and unputdownable. This is a brilliant book.' Baker also broadcasts on young women's issues. She lives in Winchester, Hampshire, and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

with her partner, the novelist

Jon Courtenay Grimwood Jon Courtenay Grimwood (born 1953 in Valletta, Malta) is a Maltese born British science fiction and fantasy author. He also writes literary fiction as Jonathan Grimwood, and crime fiction and thrillers as Jack Grimwood. Biography Grimwood was ...

Works

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Sam British magazine editors Living people 1966 births Alumni of the University of Birmingham 21st-century British novelists