Litblog
Encyclopedia
A litblog is a blog
that focuses primarily on the topic of literature
. There is a community of litblogs in the blogosphere
whose authors cover a variety of literary topics. Litbloggers may write about fiction, nonfiction, poetry, the publishing industry, literary journals, literary criticism, and more. They may focus on special genres of literature, including science fiction and mystery. Some litbloggers prefer an objective or formal tone, while others are more conversational.
Many litblogs feature reviews of books which may or may not be featured in the mainstream press. Some litblogs feature critiques of reviews in the mainstream press. Interviews with authors are another common feature. Litblogs can also be used as virtual reading groups for focused discussion on a specific piece or pieces of literature, with some litblogs following a particular piece of literature through an entire reading, and others reprinting diaries or letters from authors. Some litblogs are resources for information about the publishing industry, publicity, or writing craft.
Many litblogs have one author, but collaborative blogs have many authors, one of whom may serve as the primary author overseeing contributors.
There are also collaborative blogs focussing on significant international or national literary awards such as Read the Nobels and The Complete Booker where contributors share reviews of winning and shortlisted titles, informaton about award-winning authors or the history of the award. These are sometimes associated with so-called 'reading challenges' but they can become a useful repository of commentary about award winners and their books over time, especially in the case of less well-known authors.
Other collaborative blogs include those focussing on the work of a single notable author such as La Comedie Humaine where members share their summaries and reviews as well as information about the French author, Honoré de Balzac
.
, The Literary Saloon
, and Maud Newton
are some of the oldest well-known active literary blogs. Moby Lives, one of the oldest literary blogs, was recently defunct, but has returned on the Melville House
website. Litkicks, run by Levi Asher
is the oldest-known literary blog of its kind and also remains active.
Other notable litblogs include The Elegant Variation (US), Bookninja (Canada), Grumpy Old Bookman, Reluctant Habits (formerly Return of the Reluctant) (US), Galleycat (US), The Millions
(US), Chekhov's Mistress (US), The Reading Experience (US), Rake's Progress (US), Ready Steady Book (UK), Reading Matters (UK), The Old Hag (US), Buzzwords, The Book Mine Set (Canada), Kevin from Canada (Canada), The Mookse and the Gripes (US), Litminds (US), Beatrice
(US), Resartorial (US), Condalmo (US), The Mumpsimus (US), Thumb Drives & Oven Clocks (US), Shaken & Stirred (US), This Space
(UK), Whispering Gums (Australia), ANZ LitLovers (Australia), Kinna Reads (Africa), Winston's Dad which specialises in books in translation (UK), and Waggish (UK).
See also: HTML Giant, Reader of Depressing Books, No One Does That, and The Rumpus. Abandoned Books reviews books and authors not much discussed on the web any more but which were bestsellers in their day.http://abandonedbooks.blogspot.com/2006/05/abandoned-books.html The blog's owner, Doug Bassett, is interested in bestsellers of the past, "partly because there seems to be a real dearth of information on these authors, partly because I'm interested in what books become popular, what these authors share (or don't share)."
Bilingual literary bloggers include Book Around the Corner (France, written in English), Iris on Books (Holland, in English), Beauty is a Sleeping Cat (Switzerland, in English), Caravana de Recuerdos (bilingual Spanish/English).
Some litblogs are profitable businesses while others are not run for profit. Some authors of litblogs are professional writers, academics, literature enthusiasts or industry professionals. Others are simply people who enjoy writing about books. In the democratic forum of the blogosphere, these groups can interact by reading and commenting on one another's posts.
Increasingly newspapers and magazines are also creating litblogs. Dwight Garner
of the New York Times Book Review writes a litblog called Paper Cuts that is hosted by the newspaper. The Guardian
allows authors to chime in on books and current publishing gossip at a feature called Comment is free
. Litblogs can also serve as adjuncts to literary journals or organizations, such as those of 3:AM Magazine
, Inside Higher Ed
, Spike Magazine
, The Virginia Quarterly Review
, and the Poetry Foundation
. The National Book Critics Circle
has its own litblog called Critical Mass that posts commentary that is very critical of nonprofessional litbloggers.
(blog), Inside Higher Ed
, The Dizzies, and more. In addition, the litbloggers from The Elegant Variation, Laila Lalami
, The Old Hag, Maud Newton
, Return of the Reluctant, Bookslut, Ready Steady Book, The Reading Experience, and Sarah Weinman are a few of the bloggers writing book reviews and criticism for major newspapers and magazines. The National Book Critics Circle
has its own litblog called Critical Mass
that posts commentary that is very critical of nonprofessional litbloggers. Litblogger Scott Esposito also established The Quarterly Conversation, a quarterly online publication featuring lengthy literary essays.
Some litbloggers, including Laila Lalami
and Mark Sarvas
of The Elegant Variation, are also literary fiction authors. Many published authors have also started blogs. Some of these bloggers are Neil Gaiman
, Alison Bechdel
, and Cory Doctorow of the popular blog Boing Boing
. Writers of young adult fiction increasingly are blogging as well. Some of these bloggers are Neil Gaiman
, Holly Black
, Justine Larbalestier
, and Scott Westerfeld
.
Group litblogs continue to diversify. A group of academics runs a litblog called The Valve. The Litblog Co-op is a group of 20 litbloggers who vote to collectively recommend a book every three months. In the UK, six leading litblogs joined forces to create Britlitblogs.com. There have been blogs devoted to one book, like William T. Vollman's Rising Up and Rising Down, and blogs that have reprinted the entire contents of Samuel Pepys' Diary and Franz Kafka's diary. Today in Letters provided letters and diary entries from each day in literary history.
Making Light, John Scalzi
, and Miss Snark (the latter now defunct) are written by professionals in the industry who have insights for writers. Flogging the Quill is a litblog about the craft of writing. Book Tour is a litblog creation of Virtual Book Tour founder Kevin Smokler, and Chris Anderson
(author of The Long Tail
. Buzz, Balls & Hype is devoted to the creation of buzz for writers.
Edward Champion from Reluctant Habits has an author interview podcast series called The Bat Segundo Show
.
The Kidlitosphere has its own literary award it hands out once a year called The Cybils Award. They also meet once a year in October for a yearly conference.
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
that focuses primarily on the topic of literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
. There is a community of litblogs in the blogosphere
Blogosphere
The blogosphere is made up of all blogs and their interconnections. The term implies that blogs exist together as a connected community or as a social network in which everyday authors can publish their opinions...
whose authors cover a variety of literary topics. Litbloggers may write about fiction, nonfiction, poetry, the publishing industry, literary journals, literary criticism, and more. They may focus on special genres of literature, including science fiction and mystery. Some litbloggers prefer an objective or formal tone, while others are more conversational.
Many litblogs feature reviews of books which may or may not be featured in the mainstream press. Some litblogs feature critiques of reviews in the mainstream press. Interviews with authors are another common feature. Litblogs can also be used as virtual reading groups for focused discussion on a specific piece or pieces of literature, with some litblogs following a particular piece of literature through an entire reading, and others reprinting diaries or letters from authors. Some litblogs are resources for information about the publishing industry, publicity, or writing craft.
Many litblogs have one author, but collaborative blogs have many authors, one of whom may serve as the primary author overseeing contributors.
There are also collaborative blogs focussing on significant international or national literary awards such as Read the Nobels and The Complete Booker where contributors share reviews of winning and shortlisted titles, informaton about award-winning authors or the history of the award. These are sometimes associated with so-called 'reading challenges' but they can become a useful repository of commentary about award winners and their books over time, especially in the case of less well-known authors.
Other collaborative blogs include those focussing on the work of a single notable author such as La Comedie Humaine where members share their summaries and reviews as well as information about the French author, Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of short stories and novels collectively entitled La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon....
.
Examples
Bookslut, Laila LalamiLaila Lalami
Laila Lalami is a Moroccan American novelist and essayist.Lalami was born and raised in Rabat, Morocco, where she earned her B.A. in English from Université Mohammed V. In 1991, she received a British Council fellowship to study in England, and she went on to complete a M.A. in Linguistics at...
, The Literary Saloon
Complete review
complete review is a literary website founded in March 1999. It is best known for reviews of novels in English translation, in particular drawing attention to otherwise neglected contemporary works from around the world, but there are also reviews of classics, non-fiction, drama and poetry...
, and Maud Newton
Maud Newton
Rebecca "Maud" Newton is a writer, blogger, book reviewer and former lawyer born in Dallas, Texas and raised in Miami, Florida. Newton was raised in a fundamentalist Pentecostal household and attended college and law school at the University of Florida and currently resides in Brooklyn.She was...
are some of the oldest well-known active literary blogs. Moby Lives, one of the oldest literary blogs, was recently defunct, but has returned on the Melville House
Melville House
Melville House lies to the southside of Monimail in Fife. It was built in 1697 by the architect James Smith for George Melville, 1st Earl of Melville, incorporating the 14th Century Monimail Tower...
website. Litkicks, run by Levi Asher
Levi Asher
Levi Asher is a New York-based writer, blogger and web developer responsible for Literary Kicks, one of the earliest popular literary websites and now the oldest continuously-running literary website on the Internet...
is the oldest-known literary blog of its kind and also remains active.
Other notable litblogs include The Elegant Variation (US), Bookninja (Canada), Grumpy Old Bookman, Reluctant Habits (formerly Return of the Reluctant) (US), Galleycat (US), The Millions
The Millions
The Millions is an online literary magazine created by C. Max Magee in 2003. It contains articles about literary topics and book reviews.The Millions has several regular contributors as well as frequent guest appearances by literary notables, including Rosecrans Baldwin, Josh Bazell, Mark Binelli,...
(US), Chekhov's Mistress (US), The Reading Experience (US), Rake's Progress (US), Ready Steady Book (UK), Reading Matters (UK), The Old Hag (US), Buzzwords, The Book Mine Set (Canada), Kevin from Canada (Canada), The Mookse and the Gripes (US), Litminds (US), Beatrice
Beatrice
Beatrice is a name derived from the Latin name Beatrix. It is a feminine form of the late Latin name Viator which meant "voyager, traveler". It was also a common name amongst early Christians, though the spelling was altered by association with the Latin beatus, meaning "blessed". The French form...
(US), Resartorial (US), Condalmo (US), The Mumpsimus (US), Thumb Drives & Oven Clocks (US), Shaken & Stirred (US), This Space
This Space
This Space is a situation comedy from United Kingdom. There were 6 episodes....
(UK), Whispering Gums (Australia), ANZ LitLovers (Australia), Kinna Reads (Africa), Winston's Dad which specialises in books in translation (UK), and Waggish (UK).
See also: HTML Giant, Reader of Depressing Books, No One Does That, and The Rumpus. Abandoned Books reviews books and authors not much discussed on the web any more but which were bestsellers in their day.http://abandonedbooks.blogspot.com/2006/05/abandoned-books.html The blog's owner, Doug Bassett, is interested in bestsellers of the past, "partly because there seems to be a real dearth of information on these authors, partly because I'm interested in what books become popular, what these authors share (or don't share)."
Bilingual literary bloggers include Book Around the Corner (France, written in English), Iris on Books (Holland, in English), Beauty is a Sleeping Cat (Switzerland, in English), Caravana de Recuerdos (bilingual Spanish/English).
Some litblogs are profitable businesses while others are not run for profit. Some authors of litblogs are professional writers, academics, literature enthusiasts or industry professionals. Others are simply people who enjoy writing about books. In the democratic forum of the blogosphere, these groups can interact by reading and commenting on one another's posts.
Increasingly newspapers and magazines are also creating litblogs. Dwight Garner
Dwight Garner (critic)
Dwight Garner is an American journalist, now a literary critic for The New York Times. Prior to that he was senior editor at the New York Times Book Review, where he worked from 1999 to 2009...
of the New York Times Book Review writes a litblog called Paper Cuts that is hosted by the newspaper. The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
allows authors to chime in on books and current publishing gossip at a feature called Comment is free
Guardian.co.uk
guardian.co.uk, formerly known as Guardian Unlimited, is a British website owned by the Guardian Media Group. Georgina Henry is the editor...
. Litblogs can also serve as adjuncts to literary journals or organizations, such as those of 3:AM Magazine
3:AM Magazine
3:AM Magazine is a literary magazine, which was set up as 3ammagazine.com in April 2000 and is edited from Paris. Its editor-in-chief since inception has been Andrew Gallix, a lecturer at the Sorbonne ....
, Inside Higher Ed
Inside Higher Ed
Inside Higher Ed is a daily online publication focused on college and university topics, based in Washington, D.C., USA.The publication was founded in 2004 by Kathlene Collins, formerly a business manager for The Chronicle of Higher Education, and two former top editors of The Chronicle, Scott...
, Spike Magazine
Spike Magazine
Spike Magazine is an internet cultural journal which began in 1996, founded by its editor Chris Mitchell in Brighton, England. Updated monthly, its motto is "picking the brains of popular culture", though it has an intellectual inclination.-Description:...
, The Virginia Quarterly Review
The Virginia Quarterly Review
The Virginia Quarterly Review is a literary magazine in the United States. It was founded in 1925 by James Southall Wilson, at the request of University of Virginia president E. A. Alderman...
, and the Poetry Foundation
Poetry Foundation
The Poetry Foundation is a Chicago-based American foundation created to promote poetry in the wider culture. It was formed from Poetry magazine, which it continues to publish, with a 2003 gift of $200 million from philanthropist Ruth Lilly....
. The National Book Critics Circle
National Book Critics Circle
The National Book Critics Circle is an American tax-exempt organization for active book reviewers. Its flagship is the National Book Critics Circle Award....
has its own litblog called Critical Mass that posts commentary that is very critical of nonprofessional litbloggers.
Professional litblogs
Professional critics have litblogs at House of Mirth, About Last NightAbout Last Night
About Last Night is an EP by New Buffalo, released on September 10, 2001.-Track listing:# "16 Beats" – 3:32# "About Last Night" – 4:33# "Home" – 3:26# "This Is More" – 3:25# "Just a Little Time" – 4:06...
(blog), Inside Higher Ed
Inside Higher Ed
Inside Higher Ed is a daily online publication focused on college and university topics, based in Washington, D.C., USA.The publication was founded in 2004 by Kathlene Collins, formerly a business manager for The Chronicle of Higher Education, and two former top editors of The Chronicle, Scott...
, The Dizzies, and more. In addition, the litbloggers from The Elegant Variation, Laila Lalami
Laila Lalami
Laila Lalami is a Moroccan American novelist and essayist.Lalami was born and raised in Rabat, Morocco, where she earned her B.A. in English from Université Mohammed V. In 1991, she received a British Council fellowship to study in England, and she went on to complete a M.A. in Linguistics at...
, The Old Hag, Maud Newton
Maud Newton
Rebecca "Maud" Newton is a writer, blogger, book reviewer and former lawyer born in Dallas, Texas and raised in Miami, Florida. Newton was raised in a fundamentalist Pentecostal household and attended college and law school at the University of Florida and currently resides in Brooklyn.She was...
, Return of the Reluctant, Bookslut, Ready Steady Book, The Reading Experience, and Sarah Weinman are a few of the bloggers writing book reviews and criticism for major newspapers and magazines. The National Book Critics Circle
National Book Critics Circle
The National Book Critics Circle is an American tax-exempt organization for active book reviewers. Its flagship is the National Book Critics Circle Award....
has its own litblog called Critical Mass
Critical Mass
Critical Mass is a cycling event typically held on the last Friday of every month in over 300 cities around the world. The ride was originally founded in 1992 in San Francisco. The purpose of Critical Mass is not usually formalized beyond the direct action of meeting at a set location and time and...
that posts commentary that is very critical of nonprofessional litbloggers. Litblogger Scott Esposito also established The Quarterly Conversation, a quarterly online publication featuring lengthy literary essays.
Some litbloggers, including Laila Lalami
Laila Lalami
Laila Lalami is a Moroccan American novelist and essayist.Lalami was born and raised in Rabat, Morocco, where she earned her B.A. in English from Université Mohammed V. In 1991, she received a British Council fellowship to study in England, and she went on to complete a M.A. in Linguistics at...
and Mark Sarvas
Mark Sarvas
Mark Sarvas is an American novelist, book reviewer, and blogger living in Los Angeles. He is the host of the literary blog and author of the novel Harry, Revised...
of The Elegant Variation, are also literary fiction authors. Many published authors have also started blogs. Some of these bloggers are Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
, Alison Bechdel
Alison Bechdel
Alison Bechdel is an American cartoonist. Originally best known for the long-running comic strip Dykes To Watch Out For, in 2006 she became a best-selling and critically acclaimed author with her graphic memoir Fun Home.-Early life:...
, and Cory Doctorow of the popular blog Boing Boing
Boing Boing
Boing Boing is a publishing entity, first established as a magazine, later becoming a group blog.-History:...
. Writers of young adult fiction increasingly are blogging as well. Some of these bloggers are Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
, Holly Black
Holly Black
Holly Black née Riggenbach is an American writer and editor, best known for writing The Spiderwick Chronicles, a series of children's fantasy books she created with illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi.-Early life and education:...
, Justine Larbalestier
Justine Larbalestier
Justine Larbalestier is an Australian young-adult fiction author. She is best known for the Magic or Madness trilogy: Magic or Madness, Magic Lessons and Magic's Child...
, and Scott Westerfeld
Scott Westerfeld
Scott Westerfeld is an American author of science fiction. He was born in Texas and now divides his time between Sydney, Australia and New York City, USA.-Books:...
.
Group litblogs continue to diversify. A group of academics runs a litblog called The Valve. The Litblog Co-op is a group of 20 litbloggers who vote to collectively recommend a book every three months. In the UK, six leading litblogs joined forces to create Britlitblogs.com. There have been blogs devoted to one book, like William T. Vollman's Rising Up and Rising Down, and blogs that have reprinted the entire contents of Samuel Pepys' Diary and Franz Kafka's diary. Today in Letters provided letters and diary entries from each day in literary history.
Making Light, John Scalzi
John Scalzi
John Michael Scalzi II is an American author and online writer, and president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He is best known for his Hugo Award-nominated science fiction novel Old Man's War, released by Tor Books in January 2005, and for his blog , at which he has written...
, and Miss Snark (the latter now defunct) are written by professionals in the industry who have insights for writers. Flogging the Quill is a litblog about the craft of writing. Book Tour is a litblog creation of Virtual Book Tour founder Kevin Smokler, and Chris Anderson
Chris Anderson
Chris Anderson may refer to:* Chris Anderson , founder of Future Publishing and curator of the TED Conference* Chris Anderson , author, journalist, editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine, popularized "The Long Tail"* Chris Anderson , football player, educator, former Vice-Chairman of Aberdeen F.C.*...
(author of The Long Tail
The Long Tail
The Long Tail or long tail refers to the statistical property that a larger share of population rests within the tail of a probability distribution than observed under a 'normal' or Gaussian distribution...
. Buzz, Balls & Hype is devoted to the creation of buzz for writers.
Edward Champion from Reluctant Habits has an author interview podcast series called The Bat Segundo Show
The Bat Segundo Show
The Bat Segundo Show is a podcast based in New York run by writer and literary critic Edward Champion.The program features comprehensive interviews with prominent figures in arts and culture, with a special focus on literature. Past guests have included David Mitchell, David Lynch, Amy Sedaris,...
.
Kidlitosphere
Recently children's literary bloggers have organized together and brought about an entity best known as the Kidlitosphere. These bloggers include professional reviewers, booksellers, librarians, parents, homeschoolers, authors, illustrators, and anyone else concerned in the field. Some blog professionally for the online editions of print journals, like A Fuse#8 Production on School Library Journal and ShelfTalker on Publisher's Weekly. Others do a regular series of interviews and reviews, including Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, Big A little a, and bookshelves of doom.The Kidlitosphere has its own literary award it hands out once a year called The Cybils Award. They also meet once a year in October for a yearly conference.
External links
- Overview of litblogs by Complete Review with extensive links
- Publishers Must Learn to Whisper on the Web Guardian Article on Litblogs and Marketing
- The rise of the literary blog Guardian Article on rise of Litblogs
- Book Smart: Could cyberspace be the novel's best friend? Litblogs take off—and grow up. Village Voice Article on Litblogs and their impact on publishing
- Litblogs Provide a New Alternative for Readers Article on litblogs with links
- Litblogs.net Network of literary weblogs