Griffith Review's new 'Single' and Sustainability of Literary Magazines [27.07.2011]
On a recent trip to the US, old friends and distant relatives were surprised to learn that I still work in publishing (I thought that industry was dying!). Even more extraordinary, that I help produce a literary journal (Those still exist?) in the relatively small reading market that is Australia (I heard Amazon isn’t interested in Australia because the population is too small.).
Yes, there are pressures on literary publishing in Australia – and pressures on just about every other form of publishing world wide – and yet there is a vibrant and evolving local landscape of small magazines and literary journals that are surviving or subverting these pressures. A quick glance at LitMags.com.au or SPUNC’s growing list of members will introduce you to some classics like Meanjin and Overland plus newer arrivals such as Kill Your Darlings and Spineless Wonders.
Regardless of whether these magazines and journals are print-only, online-only or a hybrid (and there have been some excellent SPLOG posts addressing this issue), Australian literary magazines and journals continue to fill specialised niches.
Griffith REVIEW, established in 2003, saw a gap in the landscape for vibrant Australian long form writing. Our model features a mix of essays, memoir, reportage, short fiction, poetry and visual essays by emerging and established authors who tease out the complexity of current events in themed quarterly editions.
That the long form format – ‘too short for a book, too long for a magazine’ – is having a renaissance thanks to the rise of social media and e-readers is no secret. This is good news for Australian literary magazines and journals which are especially well suited to take advantage of the buzz, potentially reaching those millions of English-reading consumers vital to our long-term success.
One initiative we’re excited to launch in September is the first Griffith REVIEW ‘Single’: an individual article sold separately from its edition, available exclusively in digital format. This first Single will feature internationally acclaimed author Lloyd Jones who has written a 10,000 word memoir, ‘Looking back: a self-portrait’ which features in Griffith REVIEW 33: Such Is Life.
We have always recognised that our themed editions attract two audiences; let’s call them the specialists and the generalists. The specialists with a particular interest – say, Rugby World Cup Fever or memoir aficionados – can now enjoy a satisfying long read tailored to their taste (at an attractive price and conveniently delivered, thank you very much) that they might not have encountered otherwise. Everyone else benefits too: the author receives more royalties; Griffith REVIEW gains a portion of ‘converted’ subscribers; book sellers and publishers benefit from the knock-on effects of greater visibility for the author’s other titles.
This is just one example of the spirit of innovation, collaboration and optimism that characterises Australian literary magazines and independent publishing. We look forward to many more.
Erica Sontheimer is Deputy Editor of Griffith REVIEW.
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Comments
Sam — 27 July at 10:44PM
Go long form writing! Go literary journals!
Great idea for the ‘Single’ thing. I hope this happens more often – the ability to purchase single articles from publications is really worth chasing.
Miriam — 28 July at 09:32AM
Erica, loved this SPLOG piece! I’m really keen to see how the ‘Single’ thing goes – as extempore has moved from bi-annual journal to annual book format, we’re getting pieces submitted that it would be nice to publish now, without waiting for our next anthology. Nice to see that at least a few of us are thinking along the same lines, and I just hope readers like it too :–) I’ll make sure our singles are called something else !
Bronwyn Mehan — 30 July at 10:17AM
Thanks for including Spineless Wonders in this fine literary list, Erica. ‘Singles’ sounds like a brilliant idea. I’ll be looking out for it.