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 #paris review

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


Google Play Newsstand merges Currents, magazines and newspapers on Android today, iOS in 2014

Google is not particularly great at keeping secrets. Its Nexus devices always leak and peeks at code are constantly revealing features before they're announced. So, it's no surprise that, exactly one month after we reported references to a Google Play Newsstand popping up, Mountain View is... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2013-11-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #personal data #home screen #magazine subscriptions #content hub


Eyetracking And The Neuroscience Of Good Web Design

Fabian Stelzer, EyeQuant's CEO, believes there's a science to how we view the Web. Whether on desktops or on mobile, whether we're male or female, young or old, our eyes will be drawn to certain common elements of web design–– a combination of contrasts, locations, contours and colors. Stelzer's... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2013-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #email address #tech world


Bertrams sees internet and international boost

Wholesaler Bertrams' latest financial results have seen growth from online traders, its... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-10-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #wholesaler bertrams


Erie Times-News Releases iPad, iPhone, Android Apps and Mobile Web Powered by Whiz Technologies

Erie Times-News and www.GoErie.com, based in Erie, PA, owned by Times Publishing Company, announced that it has released new tablet apps for the iPad and Kindle Fire, new smartphone apps for iPhone and Android, and HTML5 mobile web to its readers. Th ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #smartphone apps #kindle fire #tablet apps #android apps


When The Internet Isn't Awful: What You Can Learn From The Heartbreaking, Inspiring Messages From CaringBridge

The Internet can often feel like a cesspool of bad intentions, casual cruelty, and hopeless ignorance. Which is why a social networking site like CaringBridge, which allows sick people and their families to give their communities updates on their illnesses, gives us hope for humanity. The site... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2013-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #long time


Killing Lessons author revealed as Glen Duncan

The author of literary thriller The Killing Lessons, snapped up by Orion at auction on the eve of... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #literary thriller


In the Digital Publishing Era, Content Trumps Platform

The varied views from digital publishers on display at Berlin's Rewrite the Web event revealed one commonality: content always takes precedent over platform. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #digital publishers


World's Press Calls on Established Democracies to Better Protect Freedom of Expression

Following recent attacks on press freedom in the United States, France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) has called on all governments to recognise that freedom of the press is ess ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #united kingdom #recent attacks #protect freedom #press calls #world association #press freedom


Scribd launches subscription ebook service for Android, iOS and web

Many of us associate Scribd with embedded documents on websites, but the company has been quietly building an ebook platform -- first by selling content and later by soft-launching a subscription service. The company is now making its strategy clear by formally launching the ebook service and... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2013-10-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #back catalog #major publisher


Will the Digital Era Produce as Influential a Book Critic?

Marcel Reich-Ranicki was a living embodiment of so much of 20th century German intellectual life. Will the internet era ever produce as influential a critic? Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-09-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #internet era #living embodiment #book critic


Google+ rolls out features to help publishers build Web audience

SAN FRANCISCO — As part of its increasingly aggressive moves to get more people to use Google+ and to keep Facebook and Twitter from dominating the social networking business, Google is rolling out two new tools that it says will help authors and publishers build a bigger audience on the Web.     Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-09-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #bigger audience


Storify Acquired by Web Publishing Services Company Livefyre

Storify, a digital storytelling tool used by journalists to surface conversations that originate on social media, has been acquired by the Web publishing services company Livefyre. Livefyre plans to fold Storify into its StreamHub product, which offers Web publishers tools for commenting, live... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2013-09-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #potential implications #user-generated content #publisher clients #live chats


New York City Has An Internet Inequality Problem

Last Monday night, Mark Zuckerberg published a post announcing Facebook's new initiative to bring Internet access to the developing world. The blueprint for internet.org mapped out how Facebook and a host of phone company allies might connect an additional 5 billion people online through more... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2013-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #online learning #public libraries #president obama #report revealed


'Today' is now the home of a book club

NBC's 'Today' show will be picking monthly titles for a book club, with Samantha Shannon's 'The Bone Season' serving as the first selection. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-08-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #bone season #samantha shannon #book club


Morning TV Show “Today” Launches a New Book Club

The Today Show's monthly book club gives publishers new hope for Oprah-like success and features interactive elements like Twitter chats. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-08-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #today show #book club


Study Suggests Fake Web Traffic Is Worse Than You Thought

Fake web traffic has long plagued the online publishing world, but Dr. Paul Barford, computer science professor at the University of Wisconsin, is claiming the problem might be worse than suspected. And it's costing some of the top online adverti ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-08-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Meet XKeyscore: The NSA's Secret Real-Time Internet Snooping System That May Have Already Met You

New documents published in The Guardian reveal that the NSA can snoop on you in real time--and that the agency is building a giant keyword-based database of everything connected to the Internet, including Word and Excel docs on users' hard drives. Sometimes life seems a lot like dystopian... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2013-07-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #google searches #browsing history


A New Era at Thames & Hudson

It’s not many publishing companies that can say they beat revenue projections by 40%, but that was the case in the fiscal year ended in March for the U.S. division of the U.K.-based illustrated book publisher Thames & Hudson. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-07-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #publishing companies #thames hudson


One Born Every Minute tie-ins for Quadrille

Quadrille is publishing a new series of pregnancy books to tie in with the Channel 4 television... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-07-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


How Close Can Today’s Agent-Author Relationships Be?

Given the upheaval in digital publishing and many authors' entrepreneurial spirit, can today's literary agents engage their clients' art as they did in the past? Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-07-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #entrepreneurial spirit #digital publishing