Jill Abramson

In March there was much debate about whether people would begin subscribing to the New York Times since the newspaper began charging for previously free online access. I decided that I would finally make good and subscribe. One of the reasons I hadn’t yet was because the massive amount of paper involved in a daily newspaper subscription horrifies me. But with the new subscriptions, online-only access was going to be an option—the perfect option for me.

The weird thing is that I continued to be able to click on what seemed like unlimited articles each month. This is where the first of two embarrassing parts of this post comes in. After telling people, with pride, that I read the New York Times online, I discovered I had never read more than the 20 free articles in a month. I don’t suppose reading less than one article a day really counts as being a legitimate “reader” of a newspaper. Read more »

There’s cronyism and there are the cronies themselves and the question is how to discern the difference.

Cronies are simply long-standing friends, chums, sidekicks, supporting cast-members, fat-fingered Facebook acquaintances, sycophants with low-credit scores, groupies, posse, a shared-history contingent, homies, neighbors with good fences… etcetera.

Cronyism, like most “ism’s,” allows those time-honored relationships to morph into something else.  Something with its own peculiar ring of Dante’s Hell.  That is, unfair advantage, favoritism, the old-boys network, the ya ya sisterhood… Think of George W. Bush telling the former F.E.M.A. director, Michael Brown, “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of job!”   And now consider that statement in light of the fact that Brownie, the one-time city manager in Edmund, Oklahoma, had absolutely no experience in dealing with disaster when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans.

I mention this because I wonder, perhaps cynically, about cronyism when it comes to literary achievement and writing gigs.   I wonder about articles, stories, poems and whole books being published as a result of the networks one has carefully crafted rather than the inspired or hard-won words on the proverbial page. Read more »

Back in the old twisted happy Greek times, poets would address the Muses at the start of their work, asking for a blessing. These days, poets (and prose writers too, I don’t mean to be exclusive) often begin their collection with an acknowledgment page, blessing all those family members, loved ones, mentors, and peers whose support made the collection possible.

It’s a sweet tradition. And when, one day in the future, I publish my first book, I will certainly want to thank the people in my life who believe in me and my poetry. Because they make me want to get up in the morning and write and make them proud and stuff.

But they’re not the only ones who affect my poetry and inspire me to write. In fact, if I were being truthful when assembling my acknowledgment page, I would have to include a whole other list of unsung heroes: my anti-muses. Read more »

Last year I blogged here on Bark about how book trailers were essential–according to some publishing experts–to properly market your book. As expected, many authors didn’t agree and/or made trailers that made fun of the whole concept.

My favorite back then was Dennis Cass’s “Book Launch 2.0,” which won the 2010 Moby Award (The Oscars of the Book Trailers) for Best Performance by an Author.

Now I have a new favorite.

Here’s Max Barry promoting Machine Man.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEN10axDJtA&feature

I can’t stop laughing. It must be the Australian accent.

Because I am an impoverished grad student, I buy all my books for school used, online. And because I am not a particularly attentive or contentious consumer, I often don’t read all of the product information before purchasing used books online. I kind of just figure as long as the author names and titles match the ones on the syllabus, I’m fine.

This is how I ended up with a large print edition of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

I’ve always been aware of the existence of large print books, but I can’t remember ever having seen one up close before. I think I assumed they would look like regular books inside, just with, you know, bigger words. But this is not the case.

Ladies & gentlemen of the jury, if I may direct your attention to Exhibit A.

Exhibit A. Also, the pages are weirdly white, like printer paper white.

I’m no design expert, but something is not right here. Sure, the print is bigger, which makes sense because some people don’t have the greatest eyesight and need bigger words for easier reading. But it also seems like the margins are off. It looks like the text could be read straight across both pages. Is that also something people with poor eyesight need? Or maybe it’s a font problem. I don’t know what this font is, but it’s not particularly dignified. I kind of feel like this font is talking down to me, saying hey, you’re clearly an elderly person whose eyes don’t work right so you don’t deserve a nicely formatted page.

This is some ageist bullshit right here.

Read more »

Toad Suck Review

If you are a person who is getting (or has gotten) an MFA in creative writing, there is a high likelihood that you are also a person who has at least toyed with the idea of starting your own literary magazine. Don’t even pretend like this isn’t true. I know you. Don’t lie.

And if you have considered starting your own literary magazine then you know there are a lot of big decisions to make before undertaking such a project. Like, you will probably need to figure out how to get a lot of start-up cash and a Web site and a printer you like and trust and other smart friends who will help you edit it and many other things that you haven’t even thought of because logistics are boring and therefore not a part of anyone’s literary magazine daydreams. In the land of what-if-I-started-my-own-magazine, there is really only one concern that reigns supreme.

What am I going to name it?

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Daniel Polansky’s debut novel “Low-Town,” is fast-paced noir set in a dystopian alternative world, and features an anti-hero in the tradition of Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe. “Polansky has managed to craft an assured, roaring, and rollicking hybrid, a cross-genre free-for-all that relishes its tropes while spitting out their bones,” writes Jason Heller at the A.V. Club.

I spoke to Daniel near downtown Vancouver, perhaps one of the least noir cities on the planet, on a sunny Monday morning in September. Despite giving a top-notch wedding toast, and lighting up the dance floor the night before at his older brother’s wedding, Daniel was kind enough to answer a few of my questions after refueling with a delicious brunch.

Let’s talk a little bit about the genesis of the book.  Do you remember when you first had the idea?

After college, I had a job managing a team of writers at an E-learning site and wrote in the evenings or on lunch breaks.  It started as an experiment that seemed to go okay.  I’d basically never written fiction.  I didn’t really have, well, almost any idea, even what the book would be about, which is not a great idea, obviously, its about the worst possible way. I wouldn’t recommend it.  It’s the sort of thing where you have to admit to yourself that you’re trying to write a book, and not just messing around in your room.  That took some time. It’s easier to say I’m just writing a few words here or a chapter here or a chapter there. You sit down, you write an outline, you set a goal for yourself. And if you don’t reach that goal, you haven’t succeeded.   Anyway, I finished a draft.  I quit my job.  I had some money saved so I thought I’d revise the heck out of this and then go traveling.

Did you outline much of the book once you decided to get serious?

Not really.  Looking back I did so many things wrong with that first draft.  I’m surprised the book is even legible.  I think it sort of carried its own momentum.  Once I got into it, I felt like I was always five chapters ahead in my mind. And I had a pretty good idea of the very end.  I never had a formal outline, which was, again, a bad idea. Read more »

Like this, but with a pair of Pilot soft-grips rather than Glocks.

“Me? I made like Chow-Yun Fat.” — Max Payne

So at this point, I’m now officially a grad-student. The sheer surreality of that admission still leaves me reeling. Understand, there was a time growing up when I never even thought I’d have a degree, let alone be going back for a second, let alone in pursuit of the craft at which I always thought myself a fumbling amateur. So, you’ll excuse me if I just need to take a moment here and let my head be flown. All summer I’ve been submitting pieces, reading slushpiles, partying and hanging out with all the big-baller second-years. And now, on the cusp of my first day of classes comes that sudden stunning reminder: Oh. Right. I’m still just a punk first-year. I still know nothing, by comparison.

Or, as Our Lord and Savior Tommy-Lee Jones once put it: “Let me tell you something about your skills. As of right now, they mean precisely dick.”

Read more »

Photo Credit: Cold Front Magazine

I have minimal investment in the Bark/BlazeVOX conflict. I’ve had friends and teachers publish with Blaze, but have never actually submitted there myself. I’ve also never met Brett Ortler, and likely never will, despite both of us being fellow Barkers. Still, I’ve watched events unfold these last few days, and though I may not have the same history with Bark, the same experience as a seasoned MFA, I feel compelled to speak. My opinions are neither those of Bark, nor of Eastern Washington University. But I speak anyway.

The world of letters is viciously competitive. It is a world filled with talent and ambition, but also with frauds and hucksters, entities like James Frey who would take the naive or the desperate and exploit their hard work for profit. I do not sincerely believe BlazeVOX to be among this number, and indeed I was disheartened to think that they would shut down. I am glad now after all that has transpired to see that they may not. That said, it is still hard to look at their correspondences with Mr. Ortler and not feel that they have crossed an ethical line. At best their model is ill-conceived; at worst it is dishonest. If one wishes to charge authors to cover the costs of publishing, then fine. That is one’s prerogative. But if such is the case, one should not cloak one’s intentions in the latter paragraphs of an acceptance letter, or fail to keep one’s numbers completely consistent. Read more »

I don’t want Blazevox to go under, as this is the worst possible outcome. Hopefully, however, the pledge to end Blazevox is reversible. Let me reiterate once again, I admire the books and work Mr. Gatza has produced. And as strange as it may sound, I’d like to try to help him devise ways to stay afloat.

I recently emailed Mr. Gatza twice to let him know this.

The simplest way would for him to simply to announce the existing policy with clarifications to assuage the fears that were clearly expressed in the comments of the earlier Bark piece. This might take effort, but perhaps it could keep the press running in the short term.

In addition, according to Mr. Gatza, he has little to no support for the press; there has to be a way to mobilize financial support for Blazevox, right? A Kickstarter campaign might be in order, or even an old-school donation drive. I’d be happy to help in that regard (and they can raise a significant amount of cash). Needless to say, there are options.

Can we somehow convince him of that?