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

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Bookslut was born in an era of internet freedom. Today's web has killed it'


Michael Connelly reveals how ‘Bosch’ was born and other tales of his humble rise to fame

The author talks about his new novel, “The Night Fire,” and why, despite TV and podcasting fame, he’s a book writer at heart. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2019-10-16 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #author talks #night fire #book writer


Disguised as a boy, the heroine of ‘Curious Toys’ finds freedom — and answers

Elizabeth Hand’s novel is both a mystery and a fascinating exploration of gender. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2019-10-15 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #elizabeth hand #fascinating exploration


A Day Like Today by John Humphrys review – 'I like arguing'

The combative broadcaster’s memoir mixes engaging snapshots of his early career with some score-settling and a robust defence of his interviewing styleJohn Humphrys is the first to admit he doesn’t deal well with authority. He inherited it from his father, who refused to use the service entrance... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-10-10 06:30:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #prime ministers #hot water #military coup #memoir


A vintage Benson & Hedge's ad evokes a cheekier (but no less deadly) era of cigarette marketing

Sometimes an ad gets just a little too truthful for its own good.  By the time this 1972 full-pager for Benson & Hedges 100’s ran in Life magazine, smoking was widely understood to be associated with a range of serious diseases. So, sure, let’s equate using our product to jumping out of a... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2019-09-30 09:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #merger talks #minority stake #recent months #memoir


Rankin, Braithwaite and Killing Eve win Amazon Publishing Readers’ Awards

Crime heavyweight Ian Rankin, Booker longlisted Braithwaite and "Killing Eve" were among the winners of the 9 Amazon Publishing Readers’ Awards on Saturday night. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-30 00:14:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #amazon publishing


Ronan Farrow, author of 'Catch and Kill,' joins the Times Book Club

Journalist Ronan Farrow discusses "Catch and Kill" and #MeToo revelations on Oct. 22 with the L.A. Times Book Club. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-09-25 14:00:46 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ronan farrow #times book


Monstrous Acts and Erections of Doom: On Five ’80s-Era “Paperbacks from Hell”

THE MOST TERRIFYING WORK of fiction you may read in 2019 — Elizabeth Engstrom’s When Darkness Loves Us — first crawled to life as a cheapo paperback in the mid-1980s. Now back in print as part of Valancourt’s Paperbacks from Hell series of ’70s and ’80s horror rediscoveries, Engstrom’s genre... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2019-09-18 12:30:01 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Rows, bloopers and scoops: John Humphrys’ 32 years at Today

The veteran presenter, feared and respected by all sides, is hanging up his mic. We look at his career highs and lowsFor good or ill, after 32 years serving on the frontline of radio news presentation for the Today programme, John Humphrys has become an emblem of BBC journalism. One of the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-09-14 16:45:01 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #today programme #political leaders #jeremy corbyn #prime minister #david cameron #memoir


How the Internet has changed the way we write — and speak. It’s not all ALL bad.

In “Because Internet,” a linguist looks at the way online conversation is shaping all conversation. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2019-09-13 02:02:24 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


What the ‘Resistance Library’ shows us about America’s struggles today

A new series of works by Milgram, Kierkegaard, Hoffer, Fromm and Nietzsche reveal the dangers of -isms. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2019-08-28 16:50:21 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Asian Bookstore Forum 2019: The Retail Context in China Today

At China's Asian Bookstore Forum in Xi'an, researchers cited a sharp shift, book sales moving quickly away from physical stores and over to online retail. The post Asian Bookstore Forum 2019: The Retail Context in China Today appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-08-23 05:30:19 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #china today #physical stores #online retail #bookstore


Lessons From Nabokov: Finding Freedom in a Foreign Language

I own a 19-year-old copy of Vladimir Nabokov’s Invitation to a Beheading. I place its age from the barcode on its back, which states the name of the bookstore where I bought it: Borders.The one that used to sit on the ground floor of the World Trade Center, the one I’d been to multiple times […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-08-19 08:50:43 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #vladimir nabokov #finding freedom #foreign language #ground floor #bookstore


Study: How Today’s News Publishers Can Use Data, Best Practices, and Test-and-Learn Tactics to Build Better Pay-Meters

The past half-decade has seen a digital subscription renaissance in the news publishing industry. Publishers are increasingly recognizing a market Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2019-08-13 17:00:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #news publishers #increasingly recognizing #news publishing


‘The Chelsea Girls’ revisits the fear and desperation of the McCarthy-era theater world

Historical novelist Fiona Davis sets her books in famous New York buildings.This time: the Chelsea Hotel. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2019-08-12 17:25:32 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Bill Berkson’s ‘A Frank O’Hara Notebook’ is a magical artifact from another era

The literary collage amounts to a charming, intriguing and insightful portrait of a poet who continues to fascinate. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2019-08-08 15:35:36 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Publishers May Be the Ones Paying for Web Browsers’ Privacy Measures

Being an online publisher has never been more difficult. Web browser providers have pared down on ad-targeting capabilities in recent years, adding to publishers' struggles to monetize traffic and attempts to reduce reliance on third parties. Now Google is taking user privacy a step further,... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2019-07-29 21:22:56 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #web browsers #online publisher


10 ways to kill an intern

OK, first of all, nobody is going to teach you how to actually kill an intern. Instead, this is about how I almost killed our interns by unintentionally breaking their hearts. Through exit interviews, I became newly empathetic to their struggles. Even when you’re young and talented, it’s not... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2019-07-17 07:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #black hole #standing ovation #important skill #young writer


From Amazon to Uber, internet companies are driving U.S. ad spend

If you want to see what’s driving ad spending, just look at the gains: The biggest U.S. internet companies—including the likes of Amazon, Facebook and Uber—are powering the ad market as they double down on their own marketing. That’s the key takeaway from the 64th annual Ad Age Leading National... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2019-06-28 09:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #great depression #bottom line #exclusive access #marketer profiles #agency rosters #internet companies #time warner


How Gyo Fujikawa Drew Freedom in Children’s Books

Sarah Larson writes about the illustrator Gyo Fujikawa, whose children’s books celebrated the beauty and power of the natural world and the earthly pleasures of the people walking around in it. Continue reading at New Yorker

[ New Yorker | 2019-06-21 19:01:35 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #natural world #people walking #children’s book