Review

I've noticed that there's a great review of LITERARY FAN MAGAZINE #2 up at www.onefinemess.net, under "Zine Reviews." Nice to see that someone "gets" it. Please check it out!

About the ULA

A common mistake people make about the Underground Literary Alliance is personalizing it-- seeing it as me, or as Jeff Potter, or whomever, and attaching our particular faults to the organization itself. Which isn't really fair. My mistakes have been my own, but don't alter the fundamental truths and goals of the organization I belong to.

Much of what I intend to post here will be commentaries on the nature of "team," and how to get one to work as a well-oiled machine; how to motivate people and the like. It's no easy task, but a work in progress. Suggestions and honest criticisms always welcomed!

Media

Wherever one stands in this upcoming election-- I don't care for either major candidate (both products of the system with way more similarities than differences), the election campaign itself is interesting as a battle between Old and New media. Old (New Yorker, NY Times, major networks) is clearly on the side of Kerry. New (radio shows; internet blogs; the number one cable channel) is dominated by the Bush camp.

The swift boat story typifies the battle. Old media ignored it for a couple weeks-- but New media built up so much noise and pressure on their own, that Old eventually had to notice the story.

The lesson: the ULA, as an organization, needs to address both medias. We can make a lot of noise on-line, for instance (and through the mail, and through distributing our zeens), but it doesn't hurt to give a nod on occasion to the fossils, just in case they wish to increase their relevance by covering our movement, the only new and exciting thing happening in the lit biz.

In Other Words,

My energies are most efficiently used in promoting NOT free lancers, lone wolves, and self-serving opportunists, but those few individuals who understand the team concept-- the synergy of working together to promote the team FIRST. One can be a "star" within the team concept. I've certainly pushed my own persona out there-- due to a failure of other ULAers to step forward-- but I always do it in connection with the ULA, to the point that I'm now fully identified with the ULA, so that when one thinks of King Wenclas one thinks of the ULA, and when one thinks of the ULA one thinks of King Wenclas. Other members of the Underground Literary Alliance could and should do the same thing.

Building the ULA

Two things in particular have held the movement back.

1.) The unwillingness of many writers to merge the bourgeois personality with the interests of the group. While we want writers to promote themselves, we need them to do this within the framework of the group-- to always push the ULA along with themselves. Many writers we've encountered, to be less polite about the matter, turned out to be self-serving opportunists.

2.) A lack of total commitment to the project. Any revolutionary group, even a peaceful one such as ours, needs something of the kind of fervor and dedication outlined by the Russian anarchist Nechayev in his tracts-- single-minded purpose. Part of the reason for this is that many ULAers and non-ULAers simply lack the proper vision; the ability to see what is not there now, but what could be in the future. It's a failure to fully believe. History demonstrates that simply BELIEVING you can accomplish a feat is a major part of the fight.

Welcome

Hello! This is my new on-line home, where I'll be posting news about the literary revolution, and about the organization which fostered it, the Underground Literary Alliance. Stay posted!