E-Zines

I disagree with the current Monday Report up on the www.literaryrevolution.com fan site-- and with a recent letter Jackie Corley posted on her own site.

I believe strongly that, for creative writers, e-zines and blogs are a dead end, for basic, fundamental reasons. The most fundamental reason being the law of supply and demand. For starters, there are millions of web sites. There are already many thousands of literary websites and e-zines. How is any writer of this mass supposed to stand out-- or develop an audience? (Lit bloggers' audience seems to consist of other lit bloggers.) It's the essence of solipsism-- the writer is writing for no one so much as himself. (The LitRev site, because of the attention the ULA has received, at least has a chance to stand out.)

In other words, there is growing supply, with static demand-- which means that the value of the product (The Writer) goes down. The philsophy, in fact, is directly opposed to the philosophy I've tried to implant into the ULA, utilizing the built-in advantages true underground writers have, such as their scarcity, or their ability to find new readers, or the innate difficulty of creating zeens, to give those writers who do belong to the ULA more value.

The fans of e-zines, contrary to the illusion they paint for themselves, are not creating new territory; are merely following the current pack.

Obviously, the Internet has its uses, but is not as time-effective as people think. (Which is why I'm putting more of my efforts off-line.) Just as obviously, it's very easy to use-- witness this blog.