LitBlog Spotlight: The Literary Type

It’s become ever so important for magazines to increase their online presence. Literary journal The New Quarterly has been hard at work to that end, offering up online exclusive content, an easy to use website, and, best of all, a book blog! Candid, fresh, and funny, The Literary Type offers up guest posts by favourite authors, a look inside the TNQ offices, highlights of other small magazines worth a look, and much more.

Books@Torontoist chatted with TNQ‘s managing editor, Rosalynn Tyo, about the what it’s like to run a book blog from inside a lit journal.

Torontoist: How did The Literary Type come to be and how has it evolved?

Rosalynn Tyo: Hm. Well, a few years ago, the consultant we hired to write our business plan recommended that we start one [a blog], as a way of maintaining our connection to our readers in the longish period of silence between issues—The New Quarterly comes out only four times a year (natch!)—and as a way of reaching out to a new audience. Back then, I felt I didn’t have the time. In my view, a professional (versus purely personal) blog that is not updated frequently, at least a few times a week, is not worth doing if its intention is to build a relationship with your readers and/or with like-minded people who may become your readers.

However, as time went on and I found myself reading more and more lit blogs, I felt that TNQ was excluding itself from this amazing conversation and that we really should be there. When Melissa (our Circulation Manager) joined the team, I found I had not just the time to blog, as she relieved me of several responsibilities, but also more energy to do so: she’s a fellow blogger, and highly literate in all things online, and has been a huge boost for me. I was pretty nervous about this whole process at the outset, as most of my experience until then was on the print side of things, as is the case for most of us (editors, board, volunteers) at TNQ.

TO: How does The Literary Type fit into TNQ‘s vision?

RT: In terms of where the blog fits into our vision, I’ve been thinking of the print magazine and the blog as two sides of the same coin. The print magazine strives to be timeless; the blog strives to be timely. The print magazine is built to last, this lovely, tactile, aesthetic object you want to show off on your bookshelf; the blog is more ephemeral. There are things you just can’t do with one that you can’t do with the other—you can’t ask a question in the print magazine and get an immediate response, for example, which is something I love to do—so it just makes sense to have both, and to use each medium to its maximum potential.

TO: The relationship between TNQ & The Literary Type isn’t immediately obvious when looking at the blog. Was this a deliberate decision?

RT: The short answer to this is yes. As for why? Well, the editorial content of our website has always been pretty minimal, and consequently I have felt for some time that someone new to the site can’t really connect with us, get a sense of who we are, what kind of work we publish, and whether or not our magazine is “for” them. Unfortunately, what’s really holding me up is a lack of resources. Until I can find them, our website will continue to *mostly* be a storefront, the place where people who already “know” us, who have already forged a relationship with TNQ through the mag itself, our public events, presence at lit fests, etc., go to buy or renew a subscription or a T shirt, enter our contests, book an ad, make a donation, etc.

I wanted the blog to be that place where both potential and existing readers of/contributors to our print mag could come to connect with us, just to chat about things literary, to get to know us. The blog is not just an instrument for selling the magazine: its focus is broader, and its tone more personal than that. Its purpose is to plug TNQ into the online literary community, to meet and talk with (as opposed to ‘at’) our fellow readers of Canadian fiction and poetry. That’s why I tried for a different look and feel, something a bit softer and friendlier than the website.

TO: What surprised you the most about book blogging?

RT: How much I love it! Of course, I occasionally have that “who the hell cares what *I* think?” moment when I’m writing about a book that’s been well reviewed, or about an issue that’s already received a lot of attention from those much wiser than me.

TO: What recommendations would you give to another magazine or journal looking to start a blog?

RT: Have a team. Maybe each member of your editorial board could commit to one post per week. Writing a post can also be a rewarding assignment for your editorial interns or volunteers. I’ve loved having the occasional post from Sarah Grace and Catherine on the blog, it gives me a break from writing, and I think it’s a nice change of perspective/voice for the readers as well. Lastly, I’d suggest you go with a platform that is easy to pick up. We use WordPress, and it is extremely easy to use, even for someone with next-to-know knowledge of HTML, like me. I was good to go after one half-hour lesson.

TO: Since The Literary Type is housed within TNQ, how does the writing and brainstorming process work?

RT:I’m the blog’s editor, or blogger-in-chief, I guess, though that sounds a little silly. I write most of the posts, proof and edit those written by my colleagues (though they rarely need it!), and solicit guest posts. Unfortunately, the only proofer of my posts is me, so generally I’m alerted to my typos and other faux-pas by kind (and not-so-kind) sticklers in the comments, or by Kim when she’s had a chance to catch up, often a day or two after a post has gone up.

We’ve had only one or two formal “brainstorming” sessions about the blog. Ideas are pitched at random. Most often, we’ll just be talking in the office and someone will say, “We should blog about this,” and then one of us, whoever has the most enthusiasm for the idea, will do it. I’d love to have more guest posts, and had a killer one by Katherine Govier; however, we cannot afford to pay for these, and paying writers for their work is something we take very seriously here at TNQ, even though our resources for doing so are very slim and getting slimmer. So that’s been holding me back, a bit. I’d also like to do more interviews, and always, always, looking to feature my fellow small mags. If I may, a quick plug: if your small mag has yet to be featured on The Literary Type as part of my Mighty Small Mag profile series, please contact me!

TO: What has reaction to The Literary Type been like?

RT: Generally, I’ve found it’s been very positive—our traffic is steadily growing, and several writers/fellow lit maggers who also blog have linked us and left kind comments. One of the nicest comments I’ve received so far was from a subscriber: she came to our open house in May and when I introduced myself, she said “I feel like I already know you because of your blog!”

TO: Since you’re affiliated with a journal, what challenges do you face that an average book blogger might not?

RT: I’m not sure there are many, as I’m given a lot of free rein: there’s no topic or issue that the editor or board of directors has encouraged me not to write about. Some issues are a little ticklish. For example, the recent decision over at the Department of Canadian Heritage (to disqualify magazines with less than 5,000 annual circ for Aid to Publisher grants). If I were blogging about this issue purely from my perspective as a reader of small cultural mags, and not as the Managing Editor of one such mag (ahem, the person who will be writing an application to the DCH’s Business Innovation program the minute they release the guidelines), I would probably feel a little more free to express my displeasure. I also hesitate to use expletives on the blog because The Literary Type is connected to TNQ. But really, that has more to do with the fact that my mother reads it from time to time!