Bookslut was born in an era of internet freedom. Today's web has killed it

The books community that my site joined was driven by enthusiasm not clicks, goodwill and not money – and that culture has goneI miss the internet. I know that, technically, the internet still exists. It’s the Facebook-, Twitter-filtered series of algorithms designed to put cat videos, think pieces, and advertisements in front of you. But I get nostalgic for the days before money invaded the internet – the early 2000s, in particular, when I created the literary blog and webzine Bookslut.com.Back then, nothing you did mattered. And that gave you freedom. Back then, the online book culture was run mostly by enthusiasts and amateurs, people who were creating blogs and webzines simply for the pleasure of it, rather than to build a career or a brand. I know that nostalgia is a stupid emotion, but still I regret the day money found the internet. Once advertisers showed up, offering to pay us to do the thing we were doing just for fun, it was very hard to say no. Or understand exactly what the trade-offs would be.The most disappointing revelation about the books world: even an intellectual is susceptible to clickbaitYou click on it, you own it. Related: Jessa Crispin: 'We're not allowed to say the Paris Review is boring' Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2016-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #books world #jessa crispin #paris review

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20 brand-new books hitting shelves today.

The days in quarantine would all blend together if it weren’t for Tuesday, which is the day new books hit the (now metaphorical) shelves. Here are a few of the titles dropping today. You can get them from your local indie and/or Bookshop (which, by the way, has now raised over one million... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-04-28 13:57:38 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #local indie #million dollars #bookshop


Michelle Obama is now officially the best celebrity reading children’s books to us over the internet.

On “Mondays With Michelle Obama,” which begins today at 12pm EST, and will run from through May 11, the former first lady will livestream a reading of a classic children’s book as part of the PBS Kids Read-Along series. She joins an ever-expanding pool of celebrities reading books for kids... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-04-20 14:10:58 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #michelle obama #classic children #children’s book


Killing Eve writer Jennings joins Big Book Weekend

Luke Jennings, author of the Villanelle series (John Murray), and Adam Kucharski, author of The Rules of Contagion (Wellcome Collection), are among the names joining The Big Book Weekend virtual festival. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-19 23:52:40 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #big book


How a rough Apartheid-era school spawned an award-winning YA novel

Malla Nunn's "When The Ground is Hard," winner of the 2019 Times Book Prize for young-adult literature, revisits South Africa's toughest years. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-04-17 15:25:14 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #award-winning ya #times book


Paulette Jiles returns to the Civil War era with the romantic western ‘Simon and the Fiddler’

The novel is sweeter than Jiles’s previous work but no less attentive to the texture of the American Southwest. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-04-14 15:57:54 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #previous work #american southwest


Internet Archive Responds to Senator’s Concern Over National Emergency Library

Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle told U.S. Senator Thom Tillis that the National Emergency Library is meant to provide digital access to students and readers who cannot access print collections during the Covid-19 crisis. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-04-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #covid-19 crisis


How is the internet handling increased traffic during the COVID-19 crisis?

With the current COVID-19 pandemic leading to increased demand for online services there have been concerns about the web's ability to cope. New analysis by Fastly of traffic patterns between January and March looks at regional trends for key US states and countries around the globe that are... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2020-04-09 10:31:56 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #covid-19 crisis #increased demand #online services #covid-19 pandemic #school closures #stay-at-home orders #digital publishing


In ‘House of Glass,’ Hadley Freeman unearth’s the World War II-era secrets of her family’s past

The four siblings central to Freeman’s book, a history of a 20th-century Jewish family as much as a memoir, were outsized characters. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-03-30 21:52:58 UTC ]
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Internet Archive accused of using Covid-19 as 'an excuse for piracy'

The ‘National Emergency Library’ has made 1.4m ebooks freely available, many by current bestsellers, and sparked outrage from writers’ organisationsThe Internet Archive has launched a “National Emergency Library”, making 1.4m books available free online – but has been accused of “hitting authors... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-03-30 17:13:20 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #current bestsellers #free online #public domain #ebooks


Internet Archive Responds, Says National Emergency Library Is Legal

After a week of intense criticism, the Internet Archive yesterday posted an FAQ in response to concerns raised by authors over its National Emergency Library. The FAQ claims the initiative has a basis in law, and reiterates that it is being undertaken in response to a national crisis. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-03-30 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #concerns raised


Coronavirus shows we need local papers – but it could kill them off | Jane Martinson

As City AM suspends publication, regional print media are coming under increasing pressurePlayboy, the glossy magazine relic of the pre-#MeToo era as well as the occasional publisher of Margaret Atwood, among others, would seem to have little in common with City AM, the business-led freesheet... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-03-22 14:00:08 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #local papers #jane martinson #margaret atwood #tackling coronavirus #print editions #print media


Hi, I’m a Bookseller! Can I Take Your Puzzle Order Today? (shelftalker)

A bookseller at BookPeople reflects on a week of online and curbside fulfillment. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-03-20 12:00:32 UTC ]
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Defending the rule of law in the Trump era

A sobering reminder of what’s already been broken, and a way for Americans to fix it. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-03-20 12:00:00 UTC ]
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How new performance trends in JavaScript are driving an ever-faster web [Q&A]

'Write once, run anywhere' was the promise that Sun Microsystems made for Java in the mid '90s. But front-end development trends suggest that it's really JavaScript -- and its fast-evolving libraries and frameworks -- that are executing on that promise today. To learn more about the JavaScript... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2020-03-19 11:48:08 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #libraries


‘My Dark Vanessa’ is being described as ‘Lolita’ for the #MeToo era. It’s more than that.

Kate Elizabeth Russell’s novel places readers in the shadowy realm between right and wrong. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-03-09 16:51:57 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #dark vanessa ##metoo era


A new site for headline-inspired fiction launches today with stories by Carmen Maria Machado, Colum McCann, and more.

We can’t stop telling stories about pandemics, even as we wait for one to hit us. As coronavirus spreads across the world, so have headlines about the ways that storytellers, from those in Babylonia to contemporary novelists and Hollywood, have used infectious disease for narrative effect. The... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-03-02 16:51:35 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #colum mccann #coronavirus spreads #contemporary novelists #infectious disease #novelists


R. Eric Thomas talks Internet fame, comments sections and his fear of suburbia

The viral ELLE.com columnist just released “Here for It,” his first book of essays. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-02-24 15:35:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #comments sections #viral elle


R. Eric Thomas talks Internet fame, comments sections and his fear of suburbia

The viral ELLE.com columnist just released “Here for It,” his first book of essays. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-02-24 15:35:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #comments sections #viral elle


What you can do about climate change, today

The authors of the new book ‘The Future We Choose,’ which outlines possible outcomes of the climate crisis, explain how you can make the choices today that will create the best possible world in 2050. A new book called The Future We Choose lays out two scenarios for the future: what 2050 looks... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2020-02-24 06:01:25 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #climate change #climate crisis #current trajectory


I found the most boring headline on the Internet.

And here it is: Canadian Book-Buying Habits Haven’t Changed Much in the Last Year. In case you’re still reading, for some reason Forbes is reporting that Canadians (my people) aren’t taking to audiobooks in quite the same way their cousins to the south are. Year-over-year American audiobook... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-02-11 16:22:32 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #people aren #audiobook