Devoted to publishing, publishers and to those who craft the written word

As the holiday book-buying season nears, Josh Getlin over at the LA Times interviewed scores of confused and concerned publishers. As bloggers and and lit blog networks create bazillions of new book-reviewing outlets, none of these publishers know who to contact on the web.

There's a lesson for us here: As a fledgling web writer, you must participate in web communities that appreciate your tastes--don't blindly shove your work into the hands of unknown bloggers.

Edward Champion (a writer with excellent taste, in my opinion) put it another way, describing the function of his blog:

"What does that make me? A very strange media outlet? Perhaps. An opinionated one with esoteric references, a highly subjective approach, and bad puns. Sure!

"But none of this makes me (or, for that matter, any of my blogging companions) a marketing tool. In fact, I regularly say no to very nice people and still feel bad for doing so. My time is limited. But this is not marketing. This is a form of opinion journalism."