Buzz, Balls & Hype : Hype, Balls, Literary Culture and Win $50

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March 09, 2006

Hype, Balls, Literary Culture and Win $50

One wonders why journalists treat press releases the way they do. Or one doesn't.

PR hype and exaggeration happen all the time, but when it's done by a journalistic entity for itself about itself, it's harder for me to ignore it.

I just got a release from Slate that reports on Monday, March 13, it will begin publishing an online novel written in real-time, by Walter Kirn. Installments of the novel, titled The Unbinding, will appear twice a week from March through June.

It sounds like an interesting novel and I applaud not only the effort but the fact that it launches Slate's new fiction section. And I hope both are a resounding success.

But Slate's press release says this: "the first time a novelist has published a truly Web-oriented serial novel in a major online magazine."

I'm all for innovation. But I'm all for some truth too. And I'm a stickler for this stuff. So I have to point out that it's not the first time at all. (Google anyone?)

Exit Strategy by award winning author Douglas Rushkoff was published as an online serialization on Yahoo! Internet Life magazine's Web site beginning on July 8th, 2001 and continued for fourteen weeks. The novel's first chapter was also excerpted in Yahoo! Internet Life’s August paper issue.

And while it's a newspaper not a magazine, in 2003 the Wall Street Journal's online site serialized the novel by bestseller Danielle Crittenden -- Amanda Bright@home -- which was written and published in real time.

And way before that, back in 1999, award winning novelist and NYT Bestseller, Douglas Clegg published his real time e-serial, Naomi, for 8000 subscribers via his own e-newsletter.

Maybe because he did it himself rather than through an established venue means it doesn't count.

The other odd comment in the press release - which by the way is signed by Slate's culture editor - is this one:

"Its publication also marks the debut of Slate’s fiction section. Over the past decade, there has been much discussion of the lack of a truly literary culture on the Web."

Really?

A lack of a literary culture on the web?

Comments anyone?

GAUNTLET/CONTEST/$50 WORTH OF BOOKS

A lack of a literary culture on the web?

Please write 500 words or less about the literary culture on the Web that does exist. (Send to MJRoseAuthor@aol.com - no attachments – just in the body of the email.)

I’ll publish them starting next week.

The best essay (based on comments it receives) will win $50 gift certificate to the online bookstore of the writer’s choice.

LuLu's Short List

The Short List for the Lulu Blooker Prize (for a book based on a blog) was announced yesterday:

Non-fiction (6 finalists)
All The President's Spin: George W. Bush, the Media, and the Truth by Bryan Keefer, Ben Fritz, and Brendan Nyhan Publisher: Simon & Schuster (paperback, $14.00) Source blog/site: Spinsanity - www.spinsanity.com

Belle de Jour: The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl by Anonymous Publisher: Phoenix (paperback, £7.99) Source blog/site: Belle de Jour - http://belledejour-uk.blogspot.com

Biodiesel Power by Lyle Estill Publisher: New Society Publishers (paperback, $16.95) Source blog/site: Piedmont Biofuels Energy Blog - www.biofuels.coop/blog

Egg Bacon Chips and Beans: 50 Great Cafes and the Stuff That Makes Them Great by Russell Davies Publisher: HarperCollins Entertainment (hardback, £9.99) Source blog/site:
eggbaconchipsandbeans - www.eggbaconchipsandbeans.com

Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julie Powell Publisher: Little, Brown (hardback, $23.95) Source blog/site: The Julie/Julia project - http://blogs.salon.com/0001399
Stone Cold Guilty - The People v. Scott Lee Peterson by Loretta Dillon Publisher: self-published through Lulu (paperback, $16.50) Source blog/site: Observations of a Misfit - www.misfitting.com

Fiction (5 finalists)

Action Poetry: Literary Tribes for the Internet Age edited by Levi Asher, Jamelah Earle, and Caryn Thurman Publisher: Authorhouse (paperback, $17.50) Source blog/site: Literary Kicks - www.litkicks.com

Africa Fresh! New Voices from the First Continent - edited by Rod Amis Publisher: self-published through Lulu (paperback, $15.00) Source blog/site: G21: The World's Magazine - www.g21.net

Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest Publisher: Tor (paperback, $13.95) Source blog/site: Heretic Spire, a Damn Lie - http://wicked-wish.livejournal.com

Gus Openshaw's Whale-Killing Journal by Keith Thomson Publisher: MacAdam/Cage (hardback, $23.00) Source blog/site: Gus Openshaw's Whale-Killing Journal - http://blubberybastard.tripod.com/blog

hackoff.com: an historic murder mystery set in the Internet bubble and rubble by Tom Evslin Publisher: dotHill Press (hardback, $24.95) Source blog/site: hackoff.com - www.hackoff.com

Comics (5 finalists)

Ambidextrous: Collection 1 by Kevin Cornell Publisher: self-published through Lulu (paperback, $11.99) Source blog/site: Bearskinrug - www.bearskinrug.co.uk

Comic Strip Volume 1: Scarybear and Friends by Jason Pultz Publisher: self-published Source blog/site: Comic Strip - www.scarybear.org

Dinosaur Comics: Huge Eyes, Beaks, Intelligence, and Ambition by Ryan North Publisher: self-published through CatPrint (paperback, $8.00) Source blog/site: Dinosaur Comics - www.qwantz.com

The Dada Alphabet: An Absurdist's Illustrated Primer by Stephanie Freese, David Milloway, and Matthew Wood Publisher: self-published through Lulu (paperback, $15.00) Source blog/site: The Dada Detective - www.likelystories.com

Totally Boned: A Joe and Monkey Collection by Zach Miller Publisher: self-published through Lulu (paperback, $14.95) Source blog/site: Joe and Monkey - www.joeandmonkey.com

March 09, 2006 | Permalink

By M.J. Rose

Starred Library Journal Review. Booksense Pick for September and 2007 Highlight List. Starred Publisher's Weekly Review.
THE REINCARNATIONIST. "A fascinating story of reincarnation that is one of the year's most ambitious and entertaining thrillers." - David Montgomery - Chicago Sun-Times
Finalist for the Gumshoe award for Best Thriller of 2006.: The Venus Fix
"One of the year's best thrillers." -- David Montgomery (reviewer for the Chicago Sun et al.) "M.J. Rose is a bold, unflinching writer and her resolute honesty puts her in a class by herself." - Laura Lippman
James Patterson: Thriller: Stories To Keep You Up All Night
I'm a proud member of this anthology that's gotten stars from PW & Library Journal!
Lying In Bed
After years of toying with the idea... my first erotic novel. In stores May 30th. Order now.
The Delilah Complex
"Erotic, suspenseful, impossible to put down. M. J. Rose acknowledges sexuality's power - and danger - in a highly original thriller that keepsyou guessing right up to its surprising final twist. I loved it." - Joseph Finder
Finalist for the Anthony Award: The Halo Effect
"Utterly fascinating! Fans of Kay Scarpetta will be equally captivated by sex therapist Morgan Snow, whose job has her too often confronting the dark-side of human nature." - Lisa Gardner

Finalist for the 2004 Anthony Award for Best Original Paperback
Sheet Music
"No one writes so simply and superbly about such lush things as food and sex as M.J. Rose -- and at the same time, gets deep inside the heart and mind of a wonderfully complicated heroine. Literate and page-turning." -- Caroline Leavitt - author of Coming Back to Me
Finalist for the CT Book Award: Flesh Tones
"Intensely erotic and compelling, Flesh Tones explores the disturbing realm that lies between love and obsession." -- Tess Gerritsen, author of The Surgeon
In Fidelity
"Rose offers a well-crafted study of infidelity, wrapped within the context of a psychothriller. ... a fast paced-tale ... altogether a satisfying blend." --Kirkus Reviews
Excerpted in Susie Bright's Best American Erotica : Lip Service
"M.J. Rose blends the dark eroticism of Anais Nin with the lusty cravings of Erica Jong, and delivers a refreshingly open look at a modern woman's sexual coming-of-age." -- Katherine Neville, Author of The Eight

July 2008