A litblog (alternate: lit-blog or literary blog) is a
blog
A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order s ...
that focuses primarily on the topic of
literature
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...
. There is a community of litblogs in the
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 collection of connected communities) or as a social networking service in which everyday authors can pu ...
whose authors cover a variety of literary topics. An author of a litblog is called a 'Litblogger' and they 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 a
Read the Nobelsan
The Complete Bookerwhere contributors share reviews of winning and shortlisted titles, information 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 focusing on the work of a single notable author such a
La Comedie Humainewhere members share their summaries and reviews as well as information about the French author,
Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly , ; born Honoré Balzac;Jean-Louis Dega, La vie prodigieuse de Bernard-François Balssa, père d'Honoré de Balzac : Aux sources historiques de La Comédie humaine, Rodez, Subervie, 1998, 665 p. 20 May 179 ...
.
Examples
Bookslut
Jessa Crispin (born c. 1978 in Lincoln, Kansas) is a critic, author, feminist, and the editor-in-chief of ''Bookslut'', a litblog and webzine founded in 2002. She has published three books, most recently ''Why I Am Not A Feminist: A Feminist Mani ...
,
Laila Lalami
Laila Lalami ( ar, ليلى العلمي, born 1968) is a Moroccan-American novelist, essayist, and professor. After earning her ''Licence de lettres'' degree in Morocco, she received a fellowship to study in the United Kingdom (UK), where she e ...
,
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 Publishing
Melville House Publishing is an American independent publisher of literary fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. The company was founded in 2001 and is run by the husband-and-wife team of Dennis Loy Johnson and Valerie Merians in Hoboken, New Jersey. T ...
website. Litkicks, run by
Levi Asher is the oldest-known literary blog of its kind and also remains active.
See also: HTML Giant, Reader of Depressing Books, No One Does That, and
The Rumpus
''The Rumpus'' is an online literary magazine launched on January 20, 2009. The site features interviews, book reviews, essays, comics, and critiques of creative culture as well as original fiction and poetry. The site runs two subscription-base ...
Abandoned Booksreviews books and authors not much discussed on the web any more but which were bestsellers in their da
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 includ
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
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' allows authors to chime in on books and current publishing gossip at a feature called
Comment is free
TheGuardian.com, formerly known as Guardian.co.uk and ''Guardian Unlimited'', is a British news and media website owned by the Guardian Media Group. It contains nearly all of the content of the newspapers ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer'', ...
. Litblogs can also serve as adjuncts to literary journals or organizations, such as those of
3:AM Magazine,
Inside Higher Ed,
Spike Magazine
''Spike Magazine'' is an internet cultural journal which began in 1995, 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.
D ...
, ''
The Virginia Quarterly Review
The ''Virginia Quarterly Review'' is a quarterly literary magazine that was established in 1925 by James Southall Wilson, at the request of University of Virginia president E. A. Alderman. This ''"National Journal of Literature and Discussion" ...
'', and the
Poetry Foundation
The Poetry Foundation is an American literary society that seeks to promote poetry and lyricism in the wider culture. It was formed from ''Poetry'' magazine, which it continues to publish, with a 2003 gift of $200 million from philanthropist Ru ...
. The
National Book Critics Circle
The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) is an American nonprofit organization (501(c)(3)) with more than 700 members. It is the professional association of American book review editors and critics, known primarily for the National Book Critics C ...
has its own litblog called Critical Mass that posts commentary that is very critical of nonprofessional litbloggers.
LitBloggers have also entered the Literary Prize scene by hosting what are called Shadow Literary Prizes, which have no monetary value but offer valuable international publicity to the long and short-listed books, and provide an archive of reviews of the titles, since all the longlisted titles are reviewed by at least one member of the Shadow Jury, and all the shortlisted titles are reviewed by all members. The Shadow Giller Prize, founded in 1995, was the first of these Shadow Literary Prizes. Its origins were the inaugural Shadow Giller Lunch of literary critics and people in the publishing industry in 1995, but the concept migrated to the web in 2009. Coordinated by Kevin From Canada
who convenes a 'jury' each year, the Shadow Giller Prize Jury by consensus awards its own Shadow Prize to the book the jury prefer
In 2011, The Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize bega
modelled on the Shadow Giller and coordinated by ANZ LitLovers in Australi
it also has an international jury of bloggers who commit to the same principle: to criticize a prize, a Shadow Literary Prize Jury makes its choice before the Real Jury makes its announcement.
Professional
Professional critics have litblogs at
House of Mirth
''The House of Mirth'' is a 1905 novel by American author Edith Wharton. It tells the story of Lily Bart, a well-born but impoverished woman belonging to New York City's high society around the end of the 19th century. Wharton creates a portrait ...
, About Last Night,
Inside Higher Ed,
The Dizzies, and more. In addition, the litbloggers from
The Elegant Variation
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
,
Laila Lalami
Laila Lalami ( ar, ليلى العلمي, born 1968) is a Moroccan-American novelist, essayist, and professor. After earning her ''Licence de lettres'' degree in Morocco, she received a fellowship to study in the United Kingdom (UK), where she e ...
,
The Old Hag,
Maud Newton,
Return of the Reluctant
Return may refer to:
In business, economics, and finance
* Return on investment (ROI), the financial gain after an expense.
* Rate of return, the financial term for the profit or loss derived from an investment
* Tax return, a blank document or t ...
,
Bookslut
Jessa Crispin (born c. 1978 in Lincoln, Kansas) is a critic, author, feminist, and the editor-in-chief of ''Bookslut'', a litblog and webzine founded in 2002. She has published three books, most recently ''Why I Am Not A Feminist: A Feminist Mani ...
,
Ready Steady Book
Ready may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Ready'', a 2002 British short starring Imelda Staunton
* ''Ready'' (2008 film), a Telugu film
* ''Ready'' (2011 film), a Hindi remake of the Telugu film
* "Ready" (''New Girl''), a television episo ...
,
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
The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) is an American nonprofit organization (501(c)(3)) with more than 700 members. It is the professional association of American book review editors and critics, known primarily for the National Book Critics C ...
has its own litblog called
Critical Mass
In nuclear engineering, a critical mass is the smallest amount of fissile material needed for a sustained nuclear chain reaction. The critical mass of a fissionable material depends upon its nuclear properties (specifically, its nuclear fi ...
that posts commentary that is very critical of nonprofessional litbloggers. Litblogger Scott Esposito also established
The Quarterly Conversation
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
, a quarterly online publication featuring lengthy literary essays.
Some litbloggers, including
Laila Lalami
Laila Lalami ( ar, ليلى العلمي, born 1968) is a Moroccan-American novelist, essayist, and professor. After earning her ''Licence de lettres'' degree in Morocco, she received a fellowship to study in the United Kingdom (UK), where she e ...
and
Mark Sarvas of
The Elegant Variation
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
, are also literary fiction authors. Many published authors have also started blogs. Some of these bloggers are
Neil Gaiman,
Alison Bechdel
Alison Bechdel ( ; born September 10, 1960) is an American cartoonist. Originally known for the long-running comic strip ''Dykes to Watch Out For'', she came to critical and commercial success in 2006 with her graphic memoir ''Fun Home'', whi ...
, and Cory Doctorow of the popular blog
Boing Boing
''Boing Boing'' is a website, first established as a zine in 1988, later becoming a group blog. Common topics and themes include technology, futurism, science fiction, gadgets, intellectual property, Disney, and left-wing politics. It twic ...
. Writers of
young adult fiction
Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults.
The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...
increasingly are blogging as well. Some of these bloggers are
Neil Gaiman,
Holly Black
Holly Black (''née'' Riggenbach; born November 10, 1971) is an American writer and editor best known for her children's and young adult fiction. Her most recent work is the ''New York Times'' bestselling young adult ''Folk of the Air'' series. ...
,
Justine Larbalestier
Justine Larbalestier ( )' (born 23 September 1967) is an Australian writer of young adult fiction best known for her 2009 novel, '' Liar''.
Personal life
Larbalestier was born and raised in Sydney. She now alternates residence between Sydney ...
, and
Scott Westerfeld
Scott David Westerfeld (born May 5, 1963) is an American writer of young adult fiction, best known as the author of the ''Uglies'' and the '' Leviathan'' series.
Early life
Westerfeld was born in Dallas, Texas. As a child he moved to Connectic ...
.
Group litblogs continue to diversify. A group of academics runs a litblog called The Valve. The Litblog Co-op (disbanded) was a group of 20 litbloggers who voted 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. Vollmann'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 Michael Scalzi II (born May 10, 1969) is an American science fiction author and former president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He is best known for his ''Old Man's War'' series, three novels of which have been nom ...
, and Miss Snark (the latter now defunct) are written by professionals in the industry who have insights for writers
Flogging the Quillis 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 may refer to:
Sports
* Chris Anderson (baseball) (born 1992), American baseball player
* Chris Anderson (cheese roller), 22-time winner of annual cheese rolling
* Chris Anderson (footballer, born 1925) (1925–1986), Scottish footb ...
(author of ''
The Long Tail
In statistics and business, a long tail of some distributions of numbers is the portion of the distribution having many occurrences far from the "head" or central part of the distribution. The distribution could involve popularities, random nu ...
''.
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'' was a podcast based in New York City run by writer and literary critic Edward Champion between 2004 and 2012. It was revived in mid-2013.
The program features comprehensive interviews with prominent figures in arts and ...
.
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
Publishers Weekly
''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
. 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
Encyclopedia of Love is a trilingual Literary platformby Complete Review with extensive links
Guardian Article on Litblogs and Marketing
The rise of the literary blogGuardian Article on rise of Litblogs
Village Voice Article on Litblogs and their impact on publishing
Litblogs Provide a New Alternative for ReadersArticle on litblogs with links
Litblogs.netNetwork of literary weblogs
Following Silliman's BlogrollGuide to subscribing to many popular litblogs, with links
Litblogs.orgA directory of literary blogs by country
{{Blog topics
Literary criticism
Literary magazines
Blogs
Literature websites