The following is the sixth E-Panel of LitBloggers – as more of these pop up, I’ll try to continue to find those that are both interesting and varying in some nature from the others. Please take a visit to their sites and look around. This now makes 55 blogs that have participated to date - you can still read the others.
Matthew Tiffany – Condalmo – www.condalmo.typepad.com
Jessica Stockton – Written Nerd – www.writtennerd.blogspot.com
Darby Dixon – Thumb Clocks and Oven Drives - http://www.thegrue.org/tdaoc/
John Fox – BookFox - http://www.thejohnfox.com/
Callie Miller – Counterbalance – www.counterbalance.typepad.com
Carol Novack – I am Not Who I Think I Am, or is it Whom? - http://carolnovack.blogspot.com/
Carolyn Kelloggg – Pinky’s Paperhaus – www.pinkyspaperhaus.com
Levi Asher – Literary Kicks – www.litkicks.com
Kelly Spitzer – Kelly Spitzer – www.kellyspitzer.com
EWN:
Thank you all for participating and passing along information about your blogging experiences. First of all, as I don't see much income generation on your sites, what do you all do for a living?
Matthew Tiffany – Condalmo:
I have a masters in clinical counseling, and I'm slowly working toward getting the license to be a practicing counselor/therapist. In the meantime, I'm a case manager on an ACT Team - Assertive Community Treatment, which means we help people with severe mental illness to function in the community and stay out of the hospital. It also means a lot of paperwork.
Jessica Stockton – Written Nerd:
I work as the events coordinator at McNally Robinson, an independent bookstore in New York City. And when that doesn't quite pay the bills, I do some light freelance writing/editing.
Darby Dixon – Thumb Drives and Oven Clocks:
I'm currently a technical writer for a software company.
John Fox – BookFox:
I teach English Composition to occasionally bright and occasionally stubborn undergraduates at the University of Southern California. It’s the third university I’ve adjuncted at, and since I usually only teach a course or three, I use the spaces in-between for writing fiction and blogging.
Callie Miller - Counterbalance:
Graphic designer.
Carol Novack – I am Not Who I Think I Am:
Ha. As we say in New York, you call this a living? Seriously, I haven't looked into "blogging for money." It's just something I do, basically, to get news out about my new publications, Mad Hatters' Review readings/events, and where I occasionally ruminate in public instead of talking to myself and annoying people at zoetrope.com. I also post articles on various topics that interest me as a writer, a regular person that blogs, and someone who cares about the BS the greedy, narcissistic rulers of my country are downloading on all of us.
After a long career in the legal arena and a couple of years spent acquiring another higher degree of experience, I'm not yet making what anyone would call a living. I have a very part-time, seasonal job as an instructor in what I call lyrical fiction writing, and I've been a paid humor/love advice columnist. So…I'm thinking of selling the cats and moving to Cambodia. As long as I can get high-speed Internet connection.
Carolyn Kellogg – Pinky’s Paperhaus:
I’m a full-time graduate student. My very existence is the inverse of “income generation.”
Levi Asher – Literary Kicks:
I am a web applications developer and content management specialist. My current main gig involves data mining for corporate litigation support, which is more interesting than it sounds. I also do music and literature websites, currently PearlJam.com and WordsWithoutBorders.org.
Kelly Spitzer – Kelly Spitzer:
I’m lucky enough to have a husband who wants me to focus on my writing (and him!) so I don’t have an income generating job at the moment. Actually, I haven’t had one in years. I think I’m afraid of the “real” world now.
EWN:
If you don't mind, in an attempt to determine if this ability to blog has any restrictions, what ten year age range do you fall into? Twenties, thirties, etc.?
Matthew Tiffany – Condalmo:
Early thirties.
Jessica Stockton – Written Nerd:
I’m in my late twenties.
Darby Dixon – Thumb Drives and Oven Clocks:
Twenties.
John Fox – BookFox:
I’m in my late twenties.
Callie Miller – Counterbalance:
Early thirties.
Carol Novack – I am Not Who I Think I Am:
Over the hill, but below the mountain. What does age have to do with blogging, as long as one has adequate prescription eyeglasses? Really!
Carolyn Kellogg – Pinky’s Paperhaus:
Thirties.
Levi Asher – Literary Kicks:
Fortysomething.
Kelly Spitzer – Kelly Spitzer:
Twenties. For another six or seven months anyway…
EWN:
When did you begin your blog?
Matthew Tiffany – Condalmo:
August of 2006, in its current incarnation. My previous failed attempts at lit-blogging can still be found online by the enterprising Googler with a complete lack of other worthwhile hobbies/interests.
Jessica Stockton – Written Nerd:
I started in October of 2005, when I was working at a bookstore where no one seemed quite as excited as I was about books and book culture; I wanted a way to talk to more people about books and bookstores, and blogging seemed to lend itself to that.
Darby Dixon – Thumb Drives and Oven Clocks:
January 2005.
John Fox – BookFox:
BookFox started in May 2006 with a stutter and some misfiring pistons, but as I learned The Way of the Blogger (i.e. how to carve out time to write online as well as personally), posting came up to a rather steady hum.
Callie Miller - Counterbalance:
2 years ago.
Carol Novack – I am Not Who I Think I Am:
A sudden and unexpected gale of peer pressure gripped me circa Fall 2005. I mean, everyone was blogging, so why not? It was free and offered another means not to spend enough time writing. I'd never publish anything new on my blog. I mean, I'm so brilliant, someone would steal it. Either that, or some journal editor would say well, I won't publish that whatever the hell it is because it's been published.
Carolyn Kellogg – Pinky’s Paperhaus:
August 2004.
Levi Asher – Literary Kicks:
I started LitKicks in the summer of 1994, but it wasn’t a blog. I added something called Beat News from 1995 to 2001, and I think this is historically the world’s first literary blog, though hilariously I only updated it once a month (and I thought that took a lot of work). I then dropped away for awhile, then relaunched LitKicks as a message board site, then shut that down and recreated it again as a blog in 2004.
Kelly Spitzer – Kelly Spitzer:
I started setting up my website in January of 2006. It took several months from there, however. I think my first blog post was in April, and it pimped Roy Kesey’s novella Nothing in the World. It went slowly from there, until I started Picks of the Week (now The Showcase) and the New Yorker threads, in late August, and then, in March, I kicked off The Writer Profile Project. I’ve been pretty busy since then.
EWN:
How difficult was it for you to learn how to maneuver within your blog and get things looking the way you wanted them to?
Matthew Tiffany – Condalmo:
My first computer was a Commodore 64, back when that was the good stuff. I was pretty involved with the BBS scene, ran up some debt with Q-Link. I am not especially savvy with HTML, or whatever, but I know enough from years of half-assed tinkering to get by. Which does not really equate to things being the way I want them to look, but what are you going to do? I try (and often fail) to leave well enough alone with the site design.
Jessica Stockton – Written Nerd:
Pretty easy. I use Blogger, which seems to be kind of the lowest common denominator. Posting was as simple as typing, and I figured out how to change the template by cutting and pasting. I'm still learning, though, and still pretty low-level when it comes to working with code (as Bud Parr can attest, since I had to beg him for help in getting Brainiads set up on my site!)
Darby Dixon – Thumb Drives and Oven Clocks:
Not too hard. There were a few challenges, like the random header image with the text floating on top, which drove me batty for a while. But I'm sort of a huge geek, so I enjoy learning how to do that stuff.
John Fox – BookFox:
Incredibly difficult. My Typepad BookFox is my second site – I started on Blogger, back when everyone had access to their HTML so it was actually possible to change things. The downside was that I spent weeks fiddling with a code that looked suspiciously like hieroglyphics. Of course, it all begins to make sense after a while, and then I felt very pleased with myself. In December 2006 I moved to Typepad, which seems easier, but since I wasn’t using a template, it took me some time to get the colors and formats and everything just right. It helps that my wife is a photographer and dabbles a lot in graphic design – she told me when something didn’t work and when I was getting warmer to an aesthetically pleasing layout. The misconception is that you can set your template and just leave it alone for a while. For me, I’m always adding things in the sidebars, and considering whether I should change the header, and trying to dream up new additions. So it’s a continual job, not just one in the past tense.
Callie Miller - Counterbalance:
Rather easy, but, that’s what I do for the day job!
Carol Novack – I am Not Who I Think I Am:
Big assumption. I'm barely able to figure out how to make things look the way I want them to look. And I can't spend the time to learn how to look fascinating.
Carolyn Kellogg – Pinky’s Paperhaus:
That wasn’t hard, being as I was, at the time, a professional web producer. But that also means that I tend to get frustrated with different blogging platforms and hosting companies, and I’ve swapped and futzed a lot. I sense a design itch in the near future.
Levi Asher – Literary Kicks:
Being a Java programmer, naturally I had to code my blog in Java, which made it very difficult since I had to build everything from scratch. I have practically the only Java-based blog in the world. What this means, basically, is that I’ve made everything about ten times more difficult than it should be. I’m switching to WordPress later this year if I can only find the time.
Kelly Spitzer – Kelly Spitzer:
I’m extremely fortunate to have a brother who does web and software design for a living. He’s so talented that he works for company—Fluid—based in San Francisco, and lives in Colorado. They even gave him a raise to move to Colorado so he could buy a house where he could work from home! (Clearly I’m very proud of him!) Anyway, I basically told him how I wanted the site to look and function, and he put it together from there. With plenty of better ideas, I must add. He used a program called Word Press, which we both adore. It makes life on both of our ends much simpler. The one thing I had a ridiculous time learning was how to upload images. What a pain in the rear. Now, it seems so easy, but back then… my stomach hurts just thinking about it.
EWN:
What is the significance of your site's name?
Matthew Tiffany – Condalmo:
No significance that I'm aware of. The word Condalmo comes from a name my grandfather used to bandy about, some fictional country music singer. At least I think he was fictional.
Jessica Stockton – Written Nerd:
I've embraced the title Book Nerd for a long time – my enthusiasm about books and bookstores makes me a little geeky. But I thought it would be fun to have some sort of witty title for the blog, so The Written Nerd is a play off of "the written word" (obviously). It may have been a mistake, though, since no one seems to be able to distinguish my handle (Book Nerd) from my blog title. Oh well.
Darby Dixon – Thumb Drives and Oven Clocks:
I was sitting at my kitchen table when I decided to start the blog. I needed a name, so I looked up from my laptop, and I took the first two objects I saw and stuck 'em together. Voila: Thumb Drives and Oven Clocks. Random, but I like the sound of it. It's got a good beat, I think.
John Fox – BookFox:
Simple: A Fox that reads Books. Of course, I wanted to name it so many other things – like Book DJ, which has to be the best name for a book blog (if someone steals it, you have to give me credit) because just as a DJ is so knowledgeable about all the hip and upcoming musicians, so we bloggers are spinning an eclectic mix of authors that offer a familiarity with the old while shuffling in the new and offbeat. The drawback of my current name is the formatting: I chose to make it one word and capitalize the F of Fox. While this has always been very pleasing to me, no one can ever get it right. They write Book Fox or Bookfox. Not that it matters to an excessive degree, and it’s probably my own fault for formatting it that way.
Callie Miller - Counterbalance:
The Webster’s take on counterbalance is something to do with equal and opposing forces. I’m interested in the push-pull of reading vs. writing, writing vs. reading, working vs. reading, working vs. writing. Now, ironically, I’ve got to throw blogging vs. writing, blogging vs. reading and blogging vs. working into that mix. I could get completely Jungian here about how your creative brain makes itself known when you’re working too much and how your working brain makes itself known when you’re writing too much and how the ideal state is one of balance, rather than a constant state of balance/counterbalance. But that would be highly nerdy and, well, too revealing…
Carol Novack – I am Not Who I Think I Am:
It's the title of an absurdist language-driven piece that was published in the print magazine Anemone Sidecar. The protagonist is overwhelmed by a perpetual grammatical, (in)tense, and cultural/socio/political identity crisis.
One of these days, the aforementioned piece will appear in an e-journal. That's the big problem with print magazines. I can't say in my blog --- here's the link to my site's title. Though if nobody publishes the piece soon, I'll post it on my blog – I shall, I shall!
Carolyn Kellogg – Pinky’s Paperhaus:
It began as the accompaniment to an internet radio show I had on killradio.org. Knowing my straightlaced job wouldn’t appreciate my participation in an anarchist collective, I needed a pseudonym: Pinky’s Paperhaus. I started playing with ways to make the radio show into a podcast; by the time I left the radio station, Pinky’s Paperhaus was going strong as a litblog. Come to think of it, that’s about the time I left the straight job. By then, the name had stuck. (And yes, sometimes my hair is fuchsia.)
Levi Asher – Literary Kicks:
When I started LitKicks I was reading a lot of Beat Generation novels, and I wanted the site to have a Beat flavor. Kerouac and Ginsberg are always writing about “kicks” this and “kicks” that, and I think it’s a great word. The name “Literary Kicks” came to me one day when I was shopping in a supermarket, and I knew this was the name for the site I wanted to build.
Kelly Spitzer – Kelly Spitzer:
Oh, geez. I must seem very self-absorbed. My site is named nothing other than Kelly Spitzer. That’s because I meant it to be nothing more than a place to park links to my work and make announcements about my, um, “career.” Or what I hope will one day be my career. At the time I started my site, I was just finishing up a novel, and I thought it would be an appropriate tool in the agent/publisher hunt. I’d read somewhere that author sites are a good idea, that agents/publishers love them. So I created the site, and then somewhere down the road, got sidetracked. Well, not sidetracked exactly, but excited about the possibilities of blogging. I’ve since thought about giving my blog an actual name, but people know it as is, so it would probably be counter-productive.
EWN:
Are you able to track traffic? If so, what's the average amount of hits per day your site receives?
Matthew Tiffany – Condalmo:
I am able, but loathe to do so. I don't want to get in competition with myself for one-upmanship.
Jessica Stockton – Written Nerd:
Yep, I've got a site meter that tells me I've got an average of around 100 hits a day. That varies a lot, since I only post three days a week, and if there's a mention of me somewhere the stats shoot up.
Darby Dixon – Thumb Drives and Oven Clocks:
Numbers makes me nervous--I'm worried they'll either sound pitiful or self-inflated. Let's say that according to my dubious math there's currently a couple hundred people hitting the site each week. That's a couple hundred more than I ever expected would pay any attention to me. If I had the means, I'd personally buy each of them cookies.
John Fox – BookFox:
My site is low on the totem pole, I believe – usually from a hundred to a couple hundred hits a day, but sometimes I’ll get a spike from some links and it’ll jump up higher. But I’m fine with that kind of traffic – I’m not trying to be Ed or Maud. I’m also not willing to post multiple times a day, every single day, over a long stretch of time, to build up my readership. I’m fine with being a periphery source in the blogosphere, and just fulfilling my niche.
Callie Miller - Counterbalance:
I was able to track traffic until Typepad modified its interface and now it’s wonky so I can’t. When I first started I had very few visitors a day. 30 at most. Now I average about 500 unique visitors. On a very good day, when a “big” blog links to me or a newspaper, it shoots up dramatically but then falls back to the status quo a few days later.
Carol Novack – I am Not Who I Think I Am:
Well, my blog virtually crashed the other day and the site counter disappeared. The blog's back now, but I haven't fixed the stat counter. I often don't post anything, and my traffic is modest.
Carolyn Kellogg – Pinky’s Paperhaus:
Pinky’s Paperhaus averages more than 2,500 pageviews a day.
Levi Asher – Literary Kicks:
Lately about 3500 hits a day, representing about 1200 unique users. I get more when it’s not summer, though.
Kelly Spitzer – Kelly Spitzer:
I do have a “webalizer.” I don’t know if it’s accurate, but its most current statistic is this:
May 2007:
average hits per day: 2230
average visits per day: 204
EWN:
How much time do you spend on average per day on your site?
Matthew Tiffany – Condalmo:
Lately, not so much; I have less than one month until the new baby gets here, my other daughter just turned four, I'm insanely far behind on paperwork at the day job, etc. I'm lucky if I get half an hour over 3-4 days.
Jessica Stockton – Written Nerd:
I blog Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (usually), and those days I probably spend an hour or more writing posts. But the rest of the week I spend time poking around other blogs for stories and links, so it's probably ultimately more.
Darby Dixon – Thumb Drives and Oven Clocks:
I'm so random. An hour, maybe? That's a long-range average. There are occasional spikes. I try to be free-spirited about it, out of necessity--life's pretty busy these days. But I admit I get twitchy if I go for a week without posting anything.
John Fox – BookFox:
Too much. Or sometimes, after a break, I get guilty and feel I’ve spent too little.
Callie Miller - Counterbalance:
2 – 4 hrs, depending on what I’m covering and how busy my work/writing/reading life is. If it’s something big, I’ll spend a lot more time.
Carol Novack – I am Not Who I Think I Am:
Very little, if any. I devote most of my time to my journal Mad Hatters' Review and to my self as a writer of fictions, poetries, dramas, and whatnots.
Carolyn Kellogg – Pinky’s Paperhaus:
About an hour? Does reading all the wonderful litblogs out there count as time working on my site? Then, ah, more.
Levi Asher – Literary Kicks:
Hah. I wish I could say five minutes. About two hours. But I don’t usually post on Saturdays, and Jamelah Earle is my esteemed contributor on Wednesdays, so that’s a day off too.
Kelly Spitzer – Kelly Spitzer:
Since starting The Writer Profile Project, it’s truly become a part-time job. I’m always reading published work, browsing writer’s sites, scouring their bios looking for things to talk about, and trying, endlessly, to come up with original questions. So, yeah, it takes a ton of time. But I love it, and I’ve gotten to know people with whom I was only vaguely familiar with beforehand, and we’ve created what feels like a very supportive community.
The Showcase thread takes up quite a bit of time, as well. I have a list of over fifty magazines that publish work online, and I try, oh how I try, to keep up with them. To me, reading the work in these places is well worth the time it consumes. Not only am I constantly amazed by the quality of writing out there, in small journals in particular, but it counts as market research for my own work!
In sum, I don’t work directly on my site every day, but I’ve always got something in the works for it. It takes up a lot of time. It does.
EWN:
Who is your intended audience, and who do you believe your actual audience has been so far?
Matthew Tiffany – Condalmo:
I'd like to think that, through the magical routing properties of the internets, I'm connecting with people who have similar reading interests to my own. One of the biggest benefits to me, as audience to other litblogs, has been discovered a slew of authors I might not otherwise have found out about. I hope to provide a little bit of that service myself.
My actual audience thus far has been Darby Dixon.
Jessica Stockton – Written Nerd:
I'd like for my audience to be all book people everywhere, of course, but I think I have found my niche especially within the book industry and especially bookselling. I know some folks at the American Booksellers Association read The Written Nerd, and I'm always running into booksellers at conferences who read it. Because I focus on independent bookstores and their place in the book industry, that has become my audience. It may be preaching to the choir a bit, but I hope it gives us all a chance to have a common ground for conversation.
Darby Dixon – Thumb Drives and Oven Clocks:
If you read the blog, and you like it enough to keep coming back--you're part of my intended audience. Chances are that means you love books the way some people love breathing, but that you also like to have a sense of humor about it.
John Fox – BookFox:
Intended Audience: Savvy Publishers, Scoping Agents, Single and Sexy Librarians, Very Smart Academians, Up-And-Coming Writers, Other Uber-Cool Bloggers, Prolific Readers.
Actual Audience: The partially drunk guy I met at the party who wanted to read lit-blogs because he read the dust jacket of a Michael Crichton book last week. Mrs. BookFox. My father. Okay, and when I’m not being cynical, probably a good dose of what I listed above as intended audience.
Callie Miller - Counterbalance:
No intended audience as I had not expected anyone to read it. My actual audience seems to be all over the place – writers, bloggers, readers, anyone who is discerning in their reading or who likes a good laugh. If anything, it seems my readers must be a humorous bunch because they keep coming back.
Carol Novack – I am Not Who I Think I Am:
Friends, acquaintances, admirers of my writings and/or my journal, left-inclined activitists, people who stumble upon my blog, feel a connection, and become new acquaintances and friends.
Carolyn Kellogg – Pinky’s Paperhaus:
My intended audience is George Clooney, who I am hoping to steal away from Miss Snark. But I’d say my actual audience likes to read books, and spends a lot of time on the internet.
Levi Asher – Literary Kicks:
I think LitKicks appeals to readers interested in the historical sweep of literature rather than just the current scene. Both Jamelah and I try to write about the classics as often as we can, and the types of readers who enjoy discussing great writers of the past tend to be our repeat readers. I also think we appeal to young readers looking to understand experimental or “philosophical” or popular postmodern literature, whatever that all means.
Kelly Spitzer – Kelly Spitzer:
Writers. Writers. I always get excited when unexpected people find my site, however. Once, I did a blog post on trying to live like one of my characters who has obsessive-compulsive disorder, and I got interesting feedback from non-writers living with OCD. That was fun. Also, Elmore Leonard happened upon my profile of Fleur Bradley, and blogged about a selection of her interview on his site. That was a total thrill.
EWN:
What do you hope to accomplish with your efforts?
Matthew Tiffany – Condalmo:
See previous question. As I wrote before, my life is hectic. My friends are busy with their own lives, their own children, and largely have less interest in books than I do, and so the blog fills a gap in my life - it's a good little hobby, I get to talk about books, I get to learn about books, it's mine all mine. I also hope to find another book as good as Cloud Atlas.
Jessica Stockton – Written Nerd:
I'd like to draw attention to the importance and potential of independent bookstores in the literary world, and ultimately their parallels with blogs themselves: a non-corporate voice, the freedom to follow one's passions, personal relationships with other readers, that kind of stuff. Ultimately, of course, I'd love to have someone read my blog and offer me a million dollars to start my own bookstore, but I'd settle for a slightly raised awareness of the viability and vibrancy of indie bookstores, and some good conversations about great books.
Darby Dixon – Thumb Drives and Oven Clocks:
I'm just looking to have some fun.
Also, I think it would be cool if my blog got super popular, and then Julianne Moore started reading it, and then she fell in love with me, and we eloped, and it was all over the news, like a really huge scandal, but like, we totally ignored it, because we were too busy laying around in bed reading books all day. That would be awesome.
John Fox – BookFox:
To spread the word about both established and emerging authors. To improve my ability to synthesize and analyze the components of a book and relay that information in an intelligent and stimulating manner. To network with all the other bloggers, and form a literary community. To provide a platform for short story writers to have their work promoted, and to interview them. And, for myself, it’s helpful to have a web presence, as a well as a template of my personal literary taste out there in codified form.
Callie Miller - Counterbalance:
Ah, the big lofty goal bit. I had no goal when I began. Now…I’d just like more people to read and find good books. I’m lucky enough to live in a city where so many wonderful writers come through every week. I find readings fascinating – from the author to the audience members to the guy who stumbled in off the street and ends up buying all the books – and I like being able to give the guy in Terre Haute (because I believe he’s out there slogging away, I do) a little taste of what the reading was like, what the author said, etc. I also feel lucky to have found a way to highlight writers that are wonderful but aren’t getting any love from mainstream media. I’ve also gotten quite into works in translation recently which rarely get talked about outside academic journals.
Carol Novack – I am Not Who I Think I Am:
I have no particular goal in mind.
Carolyn Kellogg – Pinky’s Paperhaus:
My immediate goal: as I drive from NY to Seattle Pittsburgh
Levi Asher – Literary Kicks:
Well, first, I do make a decent amount of pocket change through ad sales. What honestly motivates me, though, is my desire to get my own writings out there to an audience. Some people think bloggers are journalists, some think bloggers are gossip columnists, some think bloggers are exhibitionists, but I say bloggers are writers. I’m a writer, and I love being read. I think I feel the same thrill of recognition and appreciation when I write a great blog post that any other author feels after writing something they believe in.
Kelly Spitzer – Kelly Spitzer:
Good question. To be honest, I’m not really sure. I didn’t go into blogging with any goals in mind. I never said to myself: I want to do this, in hopes that this will happen. I basically wanted to have fun and pimp writers and ideas I found worthy. Now, I have this vague idea in mind that I want writers to be *involved* with their lives. Whatever that means. Plus, I’m really obsessive, so once I get going on something, I have to make it SOMETHING, and I constantly reinvent so I don’t get bored. Or comfortable. If I’m comfortable, I’m lazy. I recently started a food blog (www.flavoradeux.com) because someone said I should and I couldn’t get the idea out of my head. I guess that means I hope to satisfy my neuroses.
EWN:
Why you?
Matthew Tiffany – Condalmo:
It had to be me. I don't know, why not? Millions of "National Bingo Night" enthusiasts are unlikely to step up to the plate. Is that wrong to say? I don't know how to answer this question.
Jessica Stockton – Written Nerd:
Because I can't help it, I guess. And somebody's gotta do it. =)
Darby Dixon – Thumb Drives and Oven Clocks:
I don’t know.
John Fox – BookFox:
I read a great deal, I write a great deal. I know books and I know authors. I have excellent taste in fiction (or so my inner self constantly reassures me). I have time, and people like to listen. Also, I’ve been well equipped by a kind of educational duality: I’ve studied under famous literary theorists who observe books and I’ve studied under famous authors who create books. Why not me?
Callie Miller - Counterbalance:
It probably shouldn’t be me. But…a reader who I recently had lunch with said they liked my blog because it was clear I didn’t know everything. It sounds harsh, but she meant it earnestly. I’m not an industry insider, I’m not a published author, I don’t have a PhD in literature. I’m very upfront about all that. This, it seems, makes me approachable. Or, at least, not intimidating. I do, though, have a degree in writing and have worked at literary agencies and am hoping to place my short stories and other fiction so I’m not a total hack. I do one day hope to become intimidating, though. That would be kind of fun for awhile.
Carol Novack – I am Not Who I Think I Am:
Why me, what? Please clarify the question, counselor.
How about:. I blog because I am, rather than am because I blog?
Carolyn Kellogg – Pinky’s Paperhaus:
Not to get all grad school, but doesn’t “why you?” imply “and not someone else?” Because I just can’t answer that. Got something to say? Please come in. Join the salon. Let me make you a martini.
Levi Asher – Literary Kicks:
Hah (again). I’ve been a strange guy from the day I was born. I just find myself full of opinions and ideas that I must spew, so I spew them.
Kelly Spitzer – Kelly Spitzer:
Because I’m a hermit and like to be more busy than not.
EWN:
What do you consider an Emerging Writer to be? (Yes, a pathetic attempt to drag my own site into this conversation).
Matthew Tiffany – Condalmo:
Someone getting noticed for doing something interesting, original, inventive. Something that works.
Jessica Stockton – Written Nerd:
Like the Emerging Leaders Project in bookselling (www.abaemergingleaders.com – ha, pathetic cross-self-promotion!), the Emerging Writers Network seems to be for those who are just finding their way into the industry and need some support – moral, financial, informational – in order to make a living at it. Though I imagine Emerging Writers is less about age, and more about being at the beginning of one's career.
Darby Dixon – Thumb Drives and Oven Clocks:
To put the annoying generalized spin on this question: I think any literary writer is in some way constantly emerging. As long as an author's words and works entertain, inform, affect emotional or intellectual change in the reader, try, struggle, counteract, object (or become objects)--and I prescribe no particular order or ratio of importance to those terms--then I think they are involved in a constant process of emergence. It's emergence as a journey, a process that can take place on any given scale--you can look at the arc of the author's career, or you can pick up any one book or story by an author and see, if you care to look for it, that process taking place on any one page, in any one sentence.
I've tried about fifteen ways of explaining this further but I keep falling on my nose with each extended metaphor, so I'll leave it at that, and hope it sounds somewhat interesting. I should at least clarify that when I say "literary" writer, I mean that in a quality-of-writing sense, not a genre sense. As with international globalization, so goes literary genre--the boundaries are and have been falling apart. Also I should note that I'm certain I've committed or professed allegiance to both the intentional and affective fallacies here. So be it: the whole "death of the author" litcrit thing never rang true for me. Texts don't grow on trees. Also, I should make it plain that I'm not really sure what I'm talking about, but I sure do like talking about it.
John Fox – BookFox:
I find that criteria are rather meaningless, because the bar can be set anywhere – published a short story? Where. How long. Has a book out? Published by whom. Sold how many. Any criteria you begin to set seems rather arbitrary when compared to other criteria. So I guess there’s a broad constellation of varying publishing credits under which one could be considered an emerging writer. EWs are only disbarred from membership if they are publishing a sequel to a bestseller.
Callie Miller - Counterbalance:
Someone who has published a few stories here and there, maybe a collection of them, maybe a novel…who is on the cusp of great things and is just starting to get talked about in wider writing/bookish circles. Indie. Not quite mainstream, not quite on the tables at Barnes & Noble just yet.
Carol Novack – I am Not Who I Think I Am:
I really think that's an amusing term, Dan, but that's my satirical wise-ass perspective. It seems to imply a writer that hasn't yet made the best seller list or attained a certain level of starletdom, but may be growing increasingly popular in some circles or rhombuses, partially or primarily due to certain "desirable" credits listed on her/his bio, such as: "nominated 6 times for the Pushcart Prize."
Seriously, I don't really know what the term means, assuming one definition holds for most people. So I'll turn the table on its top, Dan. Why did you name your site "Emerging Writers' Network?" I recognize that you promote writers who haven't yet etched or penned an indelible mark in the furniture of contemporary literature, but in whom you believe. So perhaps I understand what you mean by the term, and in that sense, it has meaning.
Carolyn Kellogg – Pinky’s Paperhaus:
Pop quiz: Lindsay Lohan, Tiger Woods, Gwen Stefani, Tyra Banks, Richard Powers. Do you know them all? Which can you picture? I bet you know who recently smashed her Mercedes into a tree, whether you want to or not. All writers, no matter how accomplished, are still “emerging” in a larger cultural sense. I look forward to the day that VH-1 has a cheesy week-that-was show dedicated solely to literary gossip.
Levi Asher – Literary Kicks:
Anybody who’s getting their works out there in any sense: on a blog, at a poetry slam, in chapbooks, in journals, magazines, in print-on-demand, small presses, large presses, MySpace. Anybody who cares about getting their work out there, who is trying (even if they are failing, because it’s scary and hard) is an emerging writer.
Kelly Spitzer – Kelly Spitzer:
Someone who still has time to do something other than worry 24/7 about appealing to publishers.
EWN:
Who is the one author that you enjoy to the point that you're probably plugging/suggesting him or her nearly once a week on your site?
Matthew Tiffany – Condalmo:
Historically, probably Haruki Murakami, but he hardly needs to be suggested by a little site like my own. A recent lesser-known read I enjoyed a lot was Part of the World, Robert Lopez, which if I could get out of my own way I would have written a review of by now. I love the way it folds over on itself repeatedly. Unlike my site, which has been scattershot and haphazard lately, no "golden thread" amongst it all.
Jessica Stockton – Written Nerd:
Oh, David Mitchell, of course. He's been nominated twice for the Booker Prize (but never won), and despite his genius cred he's not read enough by general readers. Cloud Atlas is probably my favorite contemporary novel (if not book of all time), and I keep an eye out for anything else Mitchell puts out. Every time he's in town I get to say hi and then rave about it, too.
Darby Dixon – Thumb Drives and Oven Clocks:
I go through phases. Can I list two names? Is that fair? I'm huge into Kazuo Ishiguro and Stephen Dixon. I've learned so much about my own writing by reading those two writers. (The fiction writing I do, I mean, not so much my blogging writing, which is pretty much straight-up degraded sub-erudite David Foster Wallace.)
But I shouldn't say learned. That makes it sound like they've taught me specific lessons. Like, "Thou shalt make thine reader know more than thine narrator." Or, "Thou shalt make thine sentences last for days." I should say they've been like--
Okay. Let's pretend my writing is a fire. It's not very hot and it's not very bright, but it's there, because I've put it there. I arrange words like logs and I've applied some flame--I dunno what that is outside the metaphor, maybe that's my laptop or something? Or the power cord to my laptop? Whatever. Fine. Okay, that's my writing. I keep it in my fireplace. No, wait--my laptop is the fireplace. Right. The flame is the coffee I buy at the coffee shop I write in. The coffee shop sort of being my house. Okay. Anyway.
So, what do people keep next to their fireplaces? Pokers. I've got a ton of pokers next to my fireplace. Every writer does. Being a writer is all about collecting pokers and then trying to use them. And, see, the two pokers I seem to reach for most consistently are Kazuo Ishiguro and Stephen Dixon. Something about their work really helps me prod my own writing. When I see what those two writers do with their own words, I want to see what I can do with my own words. It's like, I just saw this quote somewhere, I forget where, it was Stephen Dixon saying that when he finishes writing a book, he tries to take some time off, and do some reading, and think about what he wants to do next, but then he reads stuff and he has to write, like he needs to work on his own stuff again, because how can you read books and not want to try to write one? I loved that.
It's like--if you want to see what I mean, go to Amazon or wherever and buy yourself a used copy of The Stories of Stephen Dixon, then open it up to the first story, "The Chess House." I believe it's the first story Stephen Dixon ever published and it floored me when I read it a couple months ago. It's short and brilliant and it devours worlds. And this, I read this after I'd read a bunch of his books, like five or six or something, and still that story hit me in the face and stole my wallet. And some days it feels like all my writing since has been me chasing after that story, trying to get my wallet back.
Anyways, yeah. Stephen Dixon and Kazuo Ishiguro are geniuses, as far as I'm concerned.
John Fox – BookFox:
I recently read in the Washington Post that Charles D’Ambrosio’s collection of short stories, The Dead Fish Museum, only sold 3,000 copies. This is a crime. He’s incredible. I don’t know think I consistently plug him (or any other author) on my site, but maybe my long-term readers would see patterns.
Callie Miller - Counterbalance:
Ah! Great question! But there is not one! You can do that where you start to feel like a shill and I worry that people think I’m being paid to shill or something. But when I’m really enthusiastic about something, I can’t shut up about it. I did that recently with Antoine Wilson. I’m always a nut for Maggie Nelson, who I think is sublime. I’ve got well-known crushes on James Salter and David Mitchell. I love Carole Maso and talk about her frequently, although no one has ever responded to a Maso post. One day, they’ll read her and understand!
Carol Novack – I am Not Who I Think I Am:
One author? No way! I'm in the middle of reading so many books, all at once, I've finished few of them. One great thing about being the Publisher/Editor of an uber uber journal like Mad Hatters' Review is the free books off-mainstream Mad Hatter types of writers give me. And so many of these writers become friends. I'm presently reading Yuriy Tarnowsky's most recent book (a collection of surrealistic "mini-novels" that displays his wonderful imagination) which I adore absolutely and I'll have to mention it on my blog --- maybe. I've also been reading my friend Lynda Schor's latest, delightfully satirical story collection, and my friend Tsipi Keller's recently published novel. On my night table (as well) I have a couple of books by Steve Tomasula, who is brilliant --- he read an excerpt from his novel-in-progress at my KGB Bar reading series that made me weep it was so moving and gorgeously written. Wow! I finished a novella by Debra Di Blasi --- called "Drought," but I don't have a copy of her latest obviously hysterical novel "The Jiri Chronicles and Other Fictions." Kass Fleisher, who has a book forthcoming with Dalkey Archive Press, sent me her last book, and she's a fascinating writer. So is
Carolyn Kellogg – Pinky’s Paperhaus:
Sorry, I don’t flog. But my favorite read right now, which I’ll recommend to pretty much anyone who asks, is “ Jamestown
Levi Asher – Literary Kicks:
I find myself talking about John Updike so often I want to stop myself. But he is not only one of my favorite novelists but also one of my favorite critics, and I just respect the hell out of him for the work he’s done.
Kelly Spitzer – Kelly Spitzer:
I’ve probably mentioned Roy Kesey more than anyone. I just finished reading the galley of All Over, which you so generously supplied me, plus I have the Fall/Winter 2007 issue of Ninth Letter, which he’s in, that I’ve been meaning to read. That said, I don’t talk about him, or any other writer, every week. But maybe I should. I could talk about Roy and Kathy Fish and Nadine Darling and Aimee Bender and Steve Almond and Joyce Carol Oates and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Kent Haruf and A.M. Homes and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Carson
EWN:
There's a bit of a cliquishness at times between the blogs - what with the links and comments and references back and forth on a daily basis. What idea can you admit to having copped from another site?
Matthew Tiffany – Condalmo:
The Roundup, of course, though I am surprised that more people don't use Google Reader to have a continually updating roundup. It's easily the most frequently updated, content-heavy part of my site, thanks to the hard work of others.
Jessica Stockton – Written Nerd:
Hmmm… I think maybe the idea of a link roundup came from either Bookseller Chick or Ed Champion's Return of the Reluctant – the idea that I didn't have to write an essay every day, that it was valuable just to point out some stories and stuff going on out there. But that's pretty common. I admire Scott Esposito's (Conversational Reading) Friday column, and try to model my weekly elements (Monday links, Wednesday book reviews, Friday commentary) on that, though mine aren't nearly as extensive.
Darby Dixon – Thumb Drives and Oven Clocks:
Have I stolen anything? I don't think I have. I didn't mean to. I'll put it back. Is this going on my permanent record?
John Fox – BookFox:
Um, nothing that I know about (but someone out there is probably waiting to accost me for mendacity). But really, I try to attribute if I get info from a site.
Callie Miller - Counterbalance:
Ed Champion, Mark Sarvas and George at Bookninja do excellent roundups that are not just links but somehow infused with their own insights as well. I try to make sure every “roundup” I do includes something besides just links – something extra. It doesn’t always happen though.
I also just started doing Roundtables which I got from Ed and from Bud Parr at Chekov’s Mistress.
Carol Novack – I am Not Who I Think I Am:
I'm not in any clique, and I don't compete, blogwise. I don't think I've copped any ideas from other blogs.
Carolyn Kellogg – Pinky’s Paperhaus:
To me, cliquishness and appropriation are two very different things. That said, last fall Gwenda (http://gwendabond.typepad.com/) began posting an MP3 on Fridays – I love that. I might just join in.
Levi Asher – Literary Kicks:
I’d say the two bloggers I’ve stolen everything from are Maud Newton and Ed Champion. Following Maud, I always try to achieve a certain reserve, a certain understatement. Following Ed, I try to never censor myself. Of course, these are mutually self-contradictory ideals, which is why I’m often confused.
Kelly Spitzer – Kelly Spitzer:
The only thing that I can think of (which doesn’t actually come from a blog, so this doesn’t really answer your question now does it) is the idea I stole from Black Warrior Review. They started this really cool guest editing program starting with their Fall/Winter issue, where each staff editor chooses a guest editor, and that guest editor selects a work to publish. I took that idea into my Showcase thread. Swipe. Except we don’t publish anything, just highlight things that have been. Hmmm. Kind of like you, Dan! I’m not sure I knew about Emerging Writer’s Network before I started by Picks/Showcase thread though. I can’t remember. But if you want, I’ll say I stole that from you!
EWN:
What innovative idea have you employed, or do you plan on using, at your site? i.e. - author keys, guest bloggers, guest reviewers, dueling viewpoints, updates, etc.
Matthew Tiffany – Condalmo:
Is it innovative to think that there's value in reading, and eschewing National Bingo Night? Condalmo is not especially innovative. I'm just one guy who loves books and doesn't have a lot of free time.
Jessica Stockton – Written Nerd:
I don't know if it's innovative, but my periodic trick is to pose a question to readers, usually about the book industry, and gather their comments for several days or weeks efore posting my own thoughts on the issue, incorporating their comments into the mix. It seems to me the closest blogs can get to a conversation, and in some ways better because their ideas have time to inform mine before I put anything in writing.
Darby Dixon – Thumb Drives and Oven Clocks:
I'm not so much with the innovation.
Though, for a while I was considering starting a sort of book club--a Book of the Quarter club--and I was going to pick three recently published books each year that I've loved to death, and I was going to spend three months a year on each book doing close, critical readings. Like, really insane, intense stuff. Totally demolishing and deconstructing opening lines and recurring motifs and all that kind of hot English major litcrit noise. Totally rock and roll. And I was going to try to get guest posters and do roundtables and do all that stuff. Low APRs, hotdogs for the kids, fireworks every night at closing. Everything. Because on the blog I'm generally giving books the mile-high perspective--I talk about what I like and don't like in very general ways. And I sort of wanted to swing to the other end of the intensity spectrum for a while. But life got busy, or I got lazy, one of the two, and I never got it off the ground. If I ever find a couple extra hours in the week, and can figure out how to drink more coffee without giving myself an ulcer, I might still try it out.
Plus, I mean, I had this totally sweet acronym for it--TDAOCBOTQC--which, I mean, come on, how sweet is that? It's like, forty-eight letters long. I'm obligated to make that happen some day.
John Fox – BookFox:
I’ve had a lot of innovative ideas that have fallen by the wayside. I used to have a Read/Don’t Read column. I’d tell people which new book was wonderful and which one wasn’t worth their time or money. But this had severe drawbacks. It cast me into a dichotomous perspective on book reviews – either it was to be read, or not to be read, and I didn’t have enough space to get at all the nuances of the book. Also, it didn’t make sense to spend time and space trashing a book. Either it was popular enough that my dislike might have been due to my idiosyncrasies – one of my Don’t Reads was Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking – or if it truly was bad, then it would sink into the quicksand of remainder shelves quickly enough without my help.
Another technique I’ve done at BookFox is the Literary Mix Tape (you can see the continued theme of mine – along with the Book DJ title – of applying musical terms to what I do) I actually like this concept, but haven’t used it for a while because I haven’t had the time (check out my former ones on my site by clicking on the category Mix Tapes) Here’s the gist of it: I find an organizing principle to link up some passages, like sex or sports or death or bodies. Then I draw a paragraph from three or four recently published books and put it all together. Viola! Literary Mix Tape. If I could get them on audio, I could probably make a killing. Or at least make a lot of people happy.
Callie Miller - Counterbalance:
Nothing new under the sun, I’m sad to say. I’ve somewhat cornered the market on the extremely detailed write-up of author events. Some would argue that’s a market that should never have been cornered. Others would argue they are far too detailed. I enjoy writing them though and I believe bloggers laboring away in Terre Haute
I’m just wrapping up my first roundtable and I have enjoyed it so much that I’ll be doing quite a few in the future. Hosting other authors with very different views is a great way to extend the dialogue about a book.
Carolyn Kellogg – Pinky’s Paperhaus:
Does podcasting count? (Ed. Note: Hell yes it does)
Levi Asher – Literary Kicks:
We have a running poetry board called Action Poetry that’s quite amazing. People can post poems or they can post poetic responses to each other’s poems. This has been running since 2001 and I think it just keeps getting better and better.
Kelly Spitzer – Kelly Spitzer:
Oh, I use all kinds of devices, gimmicks, innovative ideas, whatever you want to call them. I’ve had numerous guest editors for The Showcase, Darby Larson reviewed SmokeLong Quarterly’s issue 16 for the site, I used to do Writer Updates, but that’s fallen off since starting The Writer Profile Project. That’s my biggest thing. It started in March and will run through December. The problem is, there are so many more writers, as well as other types of artists, that I’d love to profile, that I see no end in site. A break though, definitely, a break. I would love to have guest bloggers, too. Hey: Who wants to be a guest blogger?! See. Now I’m all excited and I can’t quit thinking about it. Mark my words, I will have a guest blogger.
EWN:
Have you had much feedback from the literary establishment? Authors, publishers, and the like?
Matthew Tiffany – Condalmo:
I've been fortunate to have some small presses willing to send some recommendations my way. I guess my reading sensibilities are clear from what I write on Condalmo, because most of what I've been sent fit right in for me. Joseph Coulson, Robert Lopez, Marguerite Duras, Brian Evenson, Laird Hunt - with the exception of Duras, I've had good correspondences with them all about their writing. I take pride in writing a fairly-well-written review from time to time, and publishers have been appreciative of that.
Jessica Stockton – Written Nerd:
Well, I've started getting galleys addressed to my blog persona, so that's a kind of feedback! And as I said, it's always gratifying to run into booksellers, publishers, and other folks at conferences who are reading my blog.
Darby Dixon – Thumb Drives and Oven Clocks:
I've received some kind thank-yous from a few authors whose books I've mentioned liking. (There's a certain indescribable thing your heart and throat do when you open your email and see an author's name in the "From" field that only becomes pleasant in retrospect, after you realize you didn't say anything horrible about the book in question, and that no, the author isn't going to ask for your address so they can come over and slap you in the face.)
John Fox – BookFox:
Yes. The LA Times found me. Publicists are continually contacting me, although that probably doesn’t say much. And yes, authors as well. But honestly, some of the biggest support has been from my fellow bloggers, as they link and offer praise about a specific post.
Callie Miller - Counterbalance:
I’ve gotten the most feedback from authors, which utterly surprises and delights me. Except when they don’t like something I’ve said. That’s less delightful. Publicists have been wonderful. Also , because I focus so much on readings and bookstores, I’ve established a great rapport with LA booksellers which is so surprising and excellent because I love their bookstores and spend hours in them each week.
Carol Novack – I am Not Who I Think I Am:
Once in a while, writers and normal human beings tell me they enjoy my blog, which honestly surprises me, as I'm such a lame blogger. I don't post unpublished writings and series-in-progress there, so I don't expect to get contacted by publishers, although I was once contacted by an agent who admired a funny piece of mine published online at Yankee Pot Roast. So who knows? All those writers who think that print publishing is the only way to go need to reassess their assumptions. In any event, I'm a zealous advocate of online journal publishing. There are quite a few very fine online journals. I rave on about that in my interview at portal del
Carolyn Kellogg – Pinky’s Paperhaus:
The LA Times recently published a book review of mine. How cool is that?
Levi Asher – Literary Kicks:
Yes, I find that authors and publishers are very interested in literary blogs, and since I live in New York City
Kelly Spitzer – Kelly Spitzer:
I’ve gotten thank yous from authors whose work I’ve featured in Picks/Showcase. I’ve met quite a few people that way, and that’s always a joy. I love hearing from people, especially when they are outside of my personal writing community. I think I met you through my site. And Aaron Burch, the editor of Hobart
EWN:
Not that you are necessarily looking for it, but do you believe having a well-done, highly respected Lit. Blog will lead to job offers in the future within the literary industry?
Matthew Tiffany – Condalmo:
No. My life circumstances preclude the possibility of having the well-done, highly respected site for at least the immediate future. At some future point I'll be able to pick up the pace with it again, but I would be very surprised by and highly suspect of any such job offer. Actually - I just remembered, I was offered a regular paying gig with a startup social networking site that would also be offering some varieties of original content, some of which was to be my book reviews. They were supposed to launch late last year; I jumped ship when it appeared it would never actually materialize. It did, but they appear to have scuttled the book review aspect of it.
Jessica Stockton – Written Nerd:
I believe it already has made some difference. I think my increased profile within the bookselling world was helpful in getting me asked to join the board of my regional booksellers' association, and getting me involved with the Emerging Leaders Project. As I said, the ultimate benefit would be attracting some literary investor who wanted to help me open my bookstore, but I think the network of contacts I've built up through the blog and the resultant parties, interviews, meetings, committees, etc. will be very beneficial as I build my mailing list and customer base for my own bookstore.
Darby Dixon – Thumb Drives and Oven Clocks:
Maybe. Maybe not.
John Fox – BookFox:
No idea. I suppose it would be nice if huge money and prestige and job offers came rolling my way because of BookFox, but that’s not exactly the path I’m taking. I’d be happy if some editors hired me to do some print reviews, in addition to what I’m doing on the site.
Callie Miller - Counterbalance:
With all the media attention on litblogs and our “hackery”, I’ve felt the pressure to up my game, to make sure that I’m delivering original content and covering things that aren’t covered elsewhere, to do even more research and fact-checking before something is posted. I don’t think it will lead to job offers, but I do believe that if getting a job in the industry is your goal, having a so-so blog isn’t going to help you. If, however, someone wants to pay me to do what I’m now doing for free…well, that would be lovely.
Carol Novack – I am Not Who I Think I Am:
I suspect so, and I think that's why a majority of writers blog. Blogs are promotional vehicles. Almost everything is these days (sigh). If you put a lot of effort into self-promotion by means of (say) publishing your own clever book reviews, posting and/or inviting comments about your own works, or interviewing writers you like, you may well reap concrete results. Blogging is the rage and it's not going away before the mother of all tsunamis wipes us out. The most successful blogs are listed at popular resource sites like aldaily.com, and materialistically successful blog owners pay people to work on/for their blogs.
Carolyn Kellogg – Pinky’s Paperhaus:
For me and all my friends.
Levi Asher – Literary Kicks:
Absolutely, I’ve seen it happen several times, and it’s happened to me.
Kelly Spitzer – Kelly Spitzer:
Sure. I’m an optimist. Why not? Dave Clapper liked my work with The Writer Profile Project and The Showcase enough that he brought me on board SmokeLong Quarterly. Oh, and The New Yorker called me up the other day… HAHA! But I am waiting… ;)
EWN:
There have been some recent articles about bloggers in the print world. What do you think the journalistic public is still getting wrong about LitBlogging? (Ed. Note – These questions have stayed the same since the 1st litblogger e-panel, in October 2004 – sort of sad how this question may actually apply even more now than it did then)
Matthew Tiffany – Condalmo:
Well, we aren't maggots. Seriously though, a lot of what I've seen is so black and white - newspaper reviews good, blogs bad. As though it's wrong for blogs to use material from other sources as fodder; as though it's wrong for criticisms to be leveled at blogs. A lot of heated hyperbole from both sides, tensions run high, can't we all just do our thing and let the readers read what they will? It's the gaywads versus the dorkwads. We need the wad accord, now more than ever. (There I go again, being a maggot.)
I shouldn't say anything; yes, the journalistic public is being elitist, but how many National Bingo Night references do I need to make, really?
Jessica Stockton – Written Nerd:
Aargh, of course they're still getting some things wrong, as they are about indie bookstores. I think sadly the ones who have acquitted themselves worst are authors who make snide comments about blogs without reading the good ones. I think the assumption that bloggers are "amateurs" in the sense of uninformed (as opposed to unpaid) is an ignorant one, as many of the best bloggers work in the book industry or in academia and know exactly what they're talking about. But to be fair, I think the blogging public gets some things wrong about journalism as well. The ire and indignation on both sides, as opposed to a recognition that we're two sides of the same coin, is I think the biggest mistake.
Darby Dixon – Thumb Drives and Oven Clocks:
Sometimes it seems like professional book reviewers or critics (because those are different types of book-related writing) seem to forget that book bloggers are nothing more or less than people who love books and who love talking about books. Every blogger does their own thing of course, but I think few of us would object to the spirit of that baseline definition. (Unless I'm totally wrong, in which case I'm sure I'll find out.)
So I guess if I had to remind the journalists of any one fact, it's that us book bloggers are in many ways a large part of the primary audience for professional writing about books. We want to read and discuss your writing the same way we want to read and discuss the books we're all writing about.
John Fox – BookFox:
BookFox’s Top Five Things Mainstream Journalists Have Wrong About LitBlogging:
1. We are not at odds. We are all in this together, all on each other’s side, because we are all talking about books. Books are a shared commodity, not a topic to be relegated to prissy intellectuals who look down on any discourse that uses too many monosyllabic words.
2. We are not amateurs. We are creative writers, journalists, and scholars, and we have just as many or more letters behind our name as you do, thank you very much.
3. We are not scabs – or choose your own derogatory defecting term – because we choose to offer our intellectual wares for free. The future of the market is free content. To believe otherwise is simply to date yourself as someone who didn’t grow up with the internet.
4. We are not peripheral. More people are turning to blogs for direct content as well as a sieve to help sift information. Whatever percentage of readers that turn to blogs currently, that number is not going to decrease over the next decade. Whatever your perspective, the tide toward blogs is inevitable.
5. We do not only produce an ouroboros network of links. This is a particularly pervasive myth, and the shame is that it comes from supposedly “professional” people in journalism. The people who are posting reductive myths merely have to actually visit some Litblogs, where they would discover insightful and original content. To those who are credulous enough to believe such myths, I have something else for you: a secret text called the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. You would not believe what Jews are doing these days.
Callie Miller - Counterbalance:
What still blows my mind is the vitriol of those who speak against litbloggers. Otherwise intelligent, well-read, insightful print journalists & reviewers are reduced to sheer anger and actually print things that claim we all have 18 cats running around and aren’t capable of wearing anything but our robes and slippers. It’s so ninth grade and so base. These gross generalizations are so surprising to me because they don’t further the discussion and reduces the “professionals” to whiners. We are all professionals in our own right – we manage our own businesses, work intense day jobs, etc. We aren’t flunkies.
The other misconception that baffles me is that blogging is easy. That it only takes a few minutes to spew your thoughts into a post and off you go. I spend hours a day writing for my blog, to the detriment of my clients and to my own writing.
Carol Novack – I am Not Who I Think I Am:
I'm afraid I haven't read most of them, Dan. Except that online publishing is still considered second class by many members of the so-called "literary establishment," as well as journalists who must think --- geez, I struggled all these years to get a position at The Washington Post (eg), got my degrees, etc. etc., and these snoops come along, with no journalistic experience, no training in investigative reporting whatsoever, and THEY get the attention I should be getting, and of course, they know nothing.
Carolyn Kellogg – Pinky’s Paperhaus:
We are far, far better looking than we appear in our mug shots.
Levi Asher – Literary Kicks:
Well, they seem to think that “anybody can become a blogger”. Sure, anybody can create an account on a blogging site, but you’re not really a blogger until you have readers, and getting readers is not easy. You have to be knowledgeable, you have to be accurate, you need an instinct for what people want to read about, and you need some amount of writing style. We put a lot of work into what we do, and a few print snobs out there might want to stop sneering in our general direction.
Kelly Spitzer – Kelly Spitzer:
Truthfully, I haven’t read any recent articles about blogging. At least not that I can think of. I know some people think blogs are a waste of time, while others think they are essential to gaining exposure and readership. I’m sure both are true, to a certain extent, but it also depends on what you do with your blog. For me, blogging has really opened me up to new ways of writing and reading, and, more importantly, to the literary community. It’s very easy to become isolated as a writer, especially if you live in a small town as I do, and really, that’s lousy. Isolation leads to staleness. No one likes stale writing. Or stale people for that matter.
EWN:
Again, I thank you all greatly, both for your time here, and the hours of enjoyment I've received wandering across your websites - they are all well worth the time of anybody reading this. Feel free to add any final comment about blogs, your site, or any of the others participating here (or any of those bloggers who participated in the other panels)!
Matthew Tiffany – Condalmo:
I would add as a closer that my blog has, lately, been very quiet. I hope to get back into it more when life settles down a bit, but for the immediate future, posting will be sporadic. The "Roundup" column will be more likely to have more updates.
Jessica Stockton – Written Nerd:
It was great to meet Levi and Carolyn at the Litblog Co-Op party at BEA, and Matt Tiffany and John Fox have two of the newer litblogs I'm most interested in. Thanks for highlighting all this great work, Dan – I look forward to learning more about all these new writers in the blog world.
Darby Dixon – Thumb Drives and Oven Clocks:
Thanks for inviting me out to play, Dan. It's been fun. (Though, also? Scary. This panel is chock full of some of my favorite litbloggers. I feel like the nervous youngster sitting at the cool kids' table...)
John Fox – BookFox:
Thank you, Dan. You do good work.
Callie Miller - Counterbalance:
I read all the other blogs on this panel daily. The way I write, the way I blog, and the way I read has been challenged, informed, and expanded by reading their work and the other blogs featured in previous panels. No one really talks about that. Yet I find it so lovely to visit a blog and see a post and marvel at the perfectly captured moment, the gorgeous sentence, the dead-on humor, the pitch perfect response to a book they expected to love and didn’t. I am constantly in awe of the sheer talent many litbloggers posses and as cheesy and way-too-serious as it sounds, I’m inspired by them to stretch beyond what I thought possible, to do better, to go further…and on and on. Ugh – now I sound like Hallmark. Or a telephone commercial.
Carol Novack – I am Not Who I Think I Am:
Thanks for including me, Dan! I'll do my best to blog more in order to ensure more hours of enjoyment! J
Carolyn Kellogg – Pinky’s Paperhaus:
Thanks for all your hard work, Dan! And everyone else, too!
Levi Asher – Literary Kicks:
Thank you too, Dan! You are really an inspiration for the stuff you’ve done with your site, with Dzanc, etc. I enjoyed the e-panel.
Kelly Spitzer – Kelly Spitzer:
Thank you for inviting me to be a part of you panel, Dan. I feel honored. And if I can, I’d like to bring the focus back around to you, Emerging Writer’s Network, and Dzanc Books. You do so many amazing and wonderful things for writers. You are my idol. Truly, truly. And I’ve never had an idol before, so thank you.
The PODler, another litblogger, devotes his site to the reviewing of POD books, whose authors often have a tough time getting reviews by the more widely known publications.
Posted by: Kristen | July 04, 2007 at 12:54 PM