Saturday, August 02, 2008

Get the Word Out!

I am often asked why I maintain this blog. The answer is complicated. It's part reading journal (The New Yorker Story reviews) and part self-promotion (the list of my publications). But more than that I like to use it to promote the work of other emerging writers, which is why I often review literary magazines and books published by small presses. That's where the emerging writers can be found.

So it was interesting to see a discussion today at Emerging Writers Network on the topic of what we can all do to support our emerging writer peers. It's a great topic, first raised by Blake Butler at No One Does That.

Check out those suggestions and see what you can do. It all boils down to Get the Word Out!

3 comments:

jessica handler said...

I agree, that was a really valuable post on EWN.

Heather said...

I enjoy your blog - I don't really have a lot of people to discuss the New Yorker stories with, and I like reading your take on them.

Paul Epstein said...

Re Heather's comments on New Yorker discussion, I often email authors when I like their stories, and they nearly always email appreciative replies. (The "nearly" is because not everyone has the time to reply -- not because anyone objects to my emails!) It's extremely rewarding to discuss the work with the actual writer. I would imagine many New Yorker authors would be happy to comment on their own stories if they knew of this blog.

Paul Epstein