Bloggasm

George Murray is a poet and the editor of Bookninja.com. He is the author of three critically acclaimed books, including The Cottage Builder’s Letter (McClelland & Stewart, 2001) and The Hunter (M&S, 2003). He has been an editor at print magazines such as Maisonneuve (Associate Editor), The Literary Review of Canada (Poetry Editor), as well as several other literary magazines for which he served as contributing editor. He is widely published (Canada, the USA, the UK, Europe and Australia) and reviews poetry and fiction for the Globe and Mail. He has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and won the 2003 New York Festivals Radio and Television Gold Medal for Best Writing (the first and only time it has been won for a poem).

Simon Owens: I’ve noticed that a lot of book blogs are used in conjunction with an online magazine of some sort. For instance, Bookslut is not only a blog, but a magazine as well. Since Bookninja is not just a blog, but an online magazine also, do you think that a daily blog helps in building up readership for the regular magazine?

George Murray: Most people come for the blog. We’re snappy and cheeky and nice to read in the morning when you’re procrastinating at your day job. The magazine is in its germ stage right now, but I think people really like it when it’s rolling along. Our stats say people visit the articles in a lump when they first come out, but that they occasionally go a little viral and get linked into from a series of sites. When this kind of thing happens, the life of the article can be several months with thousands and thousands of people reading it.

I think the blog does draw in readers, if only because our regulars come back day after day (and often several times a day) to check in and sometimes find themselves staring down a link that doesn’t leave the site. We manage to get some good writers covering interesting industry topics, so I think there’s some buzz generated when something goes up.

That all said, without the blog aspect, I doubt most people would remember to check back for new articles and we’d have to rely on a mailing list or advertisements to spread the word as other web magazines do.

Simon Owens: How well do you think lit blogs work at promoting unknown, small-press titles? Are they the key for unknown writers to get their work reviewed and sold?

George Murray: I know (and so do publishers) that lit blogs do create buzz. The mounting stack of books I receive weekly can attest to this. We are sent books from all sorts of presses and authors, from the largest to the smallest.

As I’ve said before, given the choice between supporting a title with a big-budget press machine behind it, and a title from a small press where one publicist (or the editor!) handles all the titles on a given list, we’ll go for the small press book almost every time. That said, if a large press book deserves the attention, we’ll focus ourselves there.

I don’t think blogs are “key” to anything. Publicity-wise, I think each book and author develops by a series of lucky or unlucky breaks. Of course, if the writing of an “unknown” writer sucks, they likely won’t even sell the book to a publisher, much less get it reviewed and then sold to the public. Publishers are a filter (imagine how black and gungy they are inside).

But once you’re published, you have to get the word out. Besides reading to five people in a mid-western Borders, how do you do that? Of course, exposure in the mainstream media is gold, everyone knows that, but you can’t control it. Blogs, on the other hand, are a useful tool for writers, in a way mainstream media can’t be.

Anyone can create and run a blog. All you need is spare time and a curious, tenacious personality. But again, if you or your writing are uninteresting, no one will read, and therefore no one will click through to your Amazon listing and you’ll fail and die miserably. I assume. But seriously, who’s going to pay for your book when the writing you’re offering for free is working as bad advertising?

As for third party bloggers like Bookninja, we’re a mixed bag. We’re opinionated people who love books and have fierce opinions. You might as easily get skewered as lauded. Thus, I would recommend people research what blogs you’re sending things to (much like your publicist should for msm outlets). I’ve received several trashy chicklit titles and some relationship books written by ex-playmates. Not a good fit.

Simon Owens: Has the blog worked at all in introducing your own books to new readers?

George Murray: It might have. I have links on the “About” page to my titles, but I don’t really keep track. My poetic and blogging selves are two totally different parts of an MPD. I’m a very serious poet in real life and a shit-disturbing, facetious dickhead on the web. Besides, Kathryn (my Bookninja co-blogger) and I have both had enough success with our writing that we’re really beyond the blog helping all that much. It’s more a starter motor than a star machine.

Simon Owens: As an author, do you find it hard to balance both your regular writing and your blog writing?

George Murray: Yes. Frustratingly so. But I imagine it’s even harder for novelists. The less said on this the better, in case I cry.

Simon Owens: How does the Canadian publishing scene compare to that of the US? Is it harder or easier for a Canadian to be published?

George Murray: This is a very complex question and I think it’s best answered with “I know you are, but what am I?”

(Seriously, I would say it’s easier to get published in Canada, but easier to get noticed once published in the US.)

Simon Owens: What are the five blogs you’d recommend to supplement the reading of your own?

George Murray: The five best lit blogs that aren’t Bookninja are bookslut.com, complete-review.com/saloon, edrants.com, maudnewton.com, and moorishgirl.com. I’d add mobylives.com (which I consider to be Bookninja’s paternal grandpappy), but it’s always on a hiatus of some sort, so I might steer you to an apology.

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