So. Does anybody - besides other litbloggers - really give a crap about literary blogs? That's part of what I'm here to find out. I'm also here to take advantage of the incredibly eclectic reading tastes of this group's participants, hoping fervently to be turned on to one of those life changing books. I'm also here to get authors and editors and readers talking about what moves them and why, and what matters and what doesn't and what it takes to get you all to pick up a book and take it home. The bloggers are doing the posting, but we all hope you'll be doing the commenting, advising, critiquing and pointing us in the right direction. As for the group itself, here's a thumbnail about what you need to know:
WHO
The literary bloggers to the left - a list we hope will keep growing in the months and years ahead.
WHAT
A quarterly book pick - cleverly called READ THIS! (Bloggers are not known for our subtlety.) It is NOT, we stress, an award, because who needs another goddamn literary prize? Anyway, we're all broke, so you'd only get one of those cheap plastic trophies. No, this is about all of us uniting with one voice to assure you that a given title is worth your time and energy. We'll make the case why, and we'll hope to move you click and buy ... (And no, we're not receiving any profits - this is a totally independent venture with no partnerships or kickbacks or commissions anywhere.)
WHEN
Four times a year. A nice four seasons kind of thing. The Summer Pick will be announced here on May 15, 2005 to strains of Vivaldi.
WHERE
Both here and at the blogs of the participating bloggers, with each bringing his or her unique perspectives and ideas to book coverage.
HOW
A rotating team of five nominators will toss their choices into the ring each quarter, and then the whole gang will vote and assess. Although we don't plan to reveal the nominations - trying to avoid that whole awards thing - we can tell you the current batch includes experimental fiction, literature in translation and a graphic novel, as well as mainstream literary fiction. Cool beans.
WHY
We may be asking ourselves this a few months from now. But in a recent email exchange with Sam Lipsyte, whose novel Home Land was recently the beneficiary of all sorts of blog love, he told me, "The power of lit blogs is both collective and singular. They should join forces to battle the pimps of the stale, sure, but they need to remember the eternal draw, too: a cranky individual with smart idiosyncratic tastes and a good bullshit detector. I'm thrilled they are out there and, for the most part, kicking ass." Sounds like as good a mission statement as any.
OK, I'm going to hand the mic back to the others now - despite Ed's kind characterization of me as Commander, we are indeed a cooperative, with all the lovely chaos that implies.
In parting I ask you all - reader, editors, publicists, journalists - if you've got a current literary treasure that you fear is getting overlooked in the rush, you could do worse than to tell us about it here, and make our nominators aware of it. We look forward to hearing from all you.
Lines are open, operators are standing by.
what an honor, to come home late and manage to be the first person to say what a fantastic idea this is. thanks to everyone involved.
Posted by: michelle | Apr 08, 2005 at 12:34 AM
Very cool idea - I'll certainly be visiting often!
Enjoy,
Posted by: Dan Wickett | Apr 08, 2005 at 02:32 AM
A great idea. i'll certainly be watching and linking to you.
Posted by: jai | Apr 08, 2005 at 03:03 AM
I agree: strength in numbers. But some transparency might not be a bad thing. Once the quarterly selection is announced, it might be worthwhile to reveal the other potential title choices (don't call them "nominations" if you want to avoid the "awards thing") rather than keeping it all a secret.
At any rate, this should be interesting. The group blog is an underused format.
Best,
Posted by: TJ | Apr 08, 2005 at 04:54 AM
Great idea! I agree with TJ, let's have all the titles-under-consideration after the chosen one has been announced. Perhaps more frequent recommendations (or themed recommendations) as time goes on? But I'll be reading this blog and keeping up with it. Thanks for doing this guys...
Posted by: KW | Apr 08, 2005 at 05:36 AM
This is a grand idea. Garnering media attention for a title will be much easier with the coordinated efforts of such a wonderful group of readers and bloggers. Perhaps independent bookstores will get on board with this and feature your selections on their sites and in stores. I also agree with the idea of maybe just mentioning the other titles under consideration after a decision has been made, that way you can spread the love around a little wider.
Posted by: Shandy Casteel | Apr 08, 2005 at 06:12 AM
Wonderful idea! Let me know how I can help.
Posted by: Katrina | Apr 08, 2005 at 06:41 AM
well, it's about time! glad to see all of you folks cooperating. i will link you to my page.
Posted by: daniel olivas | Apr 08, 2005 at 07:24 AM
this is great. I will link you to my page, for sure. If you technorati me, you'll see I've helped at least one person buy one book (Jeff Chang's lit history of hip hop)!
Posted by: danyel | Apr 08, 2005 at 07:30 AM
TJ: I'll field the "nominations list" idea to the group.
KW: While there are twenty of us, keep in mind that there are a LOT of books for us to read and gauge. This, I believe, was how the quarterly frequency was decided upon.
Posted by: Ed | Apr 08, 2005 at 10:03 AM
Bravo! Lit blogs are the source of the revival of contemporary literary fiction. I look forward to seeing how this site progresses.
Posted by: Jackie Corley | Apr 08, 2005 at 11:33 AM
O.k., so I had some initial reservations, but your "this is NOT an award" approach is striking a nice, major chord with me.
I'm pretty certain the industry doesn't need another winner-takes-all, instant blockbuster award-type-thing. There are too many publishers trying to print the next bestseller as it is.
Have fun, guys. We'll be reading along.
Posted by: jennie | Apr 11, 2005 at 10:43 AM