Electric Literature
Posted by Erin Brown in uncategorized on November 6, 2009
If you’re worried about the fate of the literary magazine in this hectic new era of apps and tweets, you might find solace in Electric Literature, a bold new bimonthly with a plan to capture and convert a broad and highly mobile readership to literary fiction. Founded by Andy Hunter, 38, and Scott Lindenbaum, 26, who met in the Brooklyn College MFA program, the magazine is available on every possible platform, including paper (printed on demand), Kindle, iPhone, and audiobook. Although many literary publications have begun to offer electronic delivery in some form or another, Electric Literature may be the first to blanket the whole field.
By limiting their paper printing costs to exactly the number of copies ordered, the magazine eliminates a sizeable upfront expense as well as the losses associated with unsold copies. Such economy makes it possible for Electric Literature to act boldly in another way—by paying writers an impressive $1,000 per story. As the editors say in their mission statement, the pioneering model is designed to set a simple but compelling precedent: more access for readers, and fairness for writers.
The magazine seems to be off to a good start, thanks to some innovative marketing ideas and their success in landing such big-name writers as Michael Cunningham, Colson Whitehead, Lydia Davis, and Jim Shepard in their first two issues. With some 4,000 readers and growing, according to the New York Times, it’s generating a much-needed spark of optimism across the literary landscape.
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