On the towering stilettos of The Devil Wears Prada comes a biting, mordantly funny debut novel about the extremely unladylike business of publishing a very ladylike magazine.

Once there was a little girl from Fargo, North Dakota, named Maggie Goldfarb who grew up, moved to Manhattan, and morphed into Magnolia Gold, the highly paid editor in chief of Lady magazine. With a corner office, a designer wardrobe, and dozens of loyal employees, Magnolia has been hired to update the dowager of women's magazines. She's on her way to giving Lady a face-lift when she is ignominiously replaced by Bebe Blake, a brash television personality who remakes the magazine in her own hilariously inappropriate image. With her ketchup-red hair, skintight clothes, and penchant for "boy toys," Bebe is more out of control than a speeding limo. Maddeningly unpredictable, she confounds everyone at the newly christened Bebe with her personal vision of what a women's magazine should be, and baffles them further with her bawdy sense of humor and over-the-top generosity.

Shunted off to the darkest corners of executive purgatory — an overlooked back office she shares with a cockroach or two — Magnolia seethes from the sidelines as Bebe turns her beloved, once-profitable Lady into a sideshow. As things go from bad to worse, Magnolia fears that her career will never recover, but even she can't predict how deeply satisfying her eventual triumph will be. And not just at work: amidst the frenzy of backstabbing at the office, Magnolia finds Mr. Right in a city of Mr. Not-Quites.

Inspired by real-life events, Little Pink Slips is about the fall, rise, and sweet revenge of a woman who witnesses corporate shenanigans at their most flagrant. Filled with gossipy revelations about celebrity obsession and behind-the-scenes details of the media business in all its malfeasant glory, this novel is delicious, can't-stop-reading fun.

"Former McCall's editor-in-chief Koslow features in her mellow roman clef Magnolia Gold, who gets booted out of her magazine kingdom, but lands on stilettos that 'you could almost mistake for Manolos.' Magnolia, editor-in-chief of Lady magazine, has her dream job, a Cartier watch and a fab New York apartment, but Lady's publisher and parent company president cozy up to gauche celebrity Bebe Blake and decide — against Magnolia's warnings that Bebe will alienate the mag's 'red state Republican' readership — to turn Lady into Bebe and demote Magnolia to 'corporate editor,' a bogus position that's soon eliminated. (Bebe may remind readers of Rosie O'Donnell, who assumed Koslow's duties at McCall's once it was relaunched as Rosie.) As Bebe ravages the magazine, a down-and-out Magnolia orchestrates her return while she and best friend Abbey run through their share of nonstarter men. Abbey finds Mr. Right, and just as things are looking their bleakest for romantically and professionally flailing Magnolia, lightning strikes twice. Koslow's take on behind-the-scenes maneuvering will keep readers turning the pages of her debut, but her soft-focus on glossy magazine publishing (the same mani-pedis, shopping diversions and expensive meals circuit that have been catalogued elsewhere) feels reserved: the villains aren't especially vile, and the goodies are very goodly — call it a red state The Devil Wears Prada." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"In the realm of pampered-heroine escapist reading, Little Pink Slips is a semi-success." New York Times

"Little Pink Slips is notable not for its plot...but for the many grace notes in the writing." Wall Street Journal

"Too many oddly inserted characters and a bland romantic subplot make the story clunky and detract from an otherwise interesting peek at the magazine publishing world." Library Journal

"Breezy glimpse into the behind-the-scenes shenanigans of modern celebrity culture and the women's-magazine business." Kirkus Reviews

Inspired by real-life events, this mordantly funny debut novel explores the extremely unladylike business of publishing a very ladylike magazine.

Sally Koslow, who was born and raised in Fargo, North Dakota, is the former editor-in-chief of McCall's magazine. Married and the mother of two sons, she lives in New York City. Little Pink Slips is her first novel.