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Monday
Aug172009

Thank You!

Thanks so much to everyone who came and read The The Collagist's debut over the weekend! I wanted to take some time and thank some of the people who helped spread the word in these first few post-launch days. The Collagist received over 2000 unique visitors in the first 48 hours it was available, and that wouldn't have been possible without your help.

To begin, here's a sampling of what was said about the magazine so far:
The Collagist features plenty of big hitters right out of the dugout, including Chris Bachelder, Kim Chinquee, and Kevin Wilson... [covering] everything from router anxiety to sinkhole champions; from snowman-inspired carnality to Eastern Oregon; from thoughtful video reviews to thoughtful verbal reviews (including a review of Brian Evenson’s Fugue State by our own Ryan Call); from an essay about being in some dude’s workshop by David McLendon to a story by the dude who ran that workshop, some dude named Gordon Lish, this Lish dude, dude Lish, Gordotron, named a story, ran a shop, worked... There is also, of course, the clean-as-a-jeweler’s-glasses presentation that we’ve come to expect from DZANC.

--Mike Young, HTML GIANT



Editor Matt Bell, in his welcome letter, explains “Dzanc was created to publish and promote literary writing, and, to me, The Collagist is in some ways a recognition of the fact that while their book publishing arm necessarily deals in full manuscripts, there is still a calling for Dzanc to find ways to publish and promote individual pieces by a wider population of emerging and established writers.” I think this speaks well to online literature in general–it’s not the bastard stepchild of print journals, as some traditionalists still believe, but rather gives literature a wider berth, a louder voice with which to reach a more diverse and widespread audience.

--Jill D'Urso, Fringe Magazine




The Collagist opened today, and it looks great and has great writing (I particularly liked the particular poem Autumn Scene as Lullaby, by Oliver de la Paz), which is all well and good.



--Cami Park, Mungo



I’m really looking forward to reading Dzanc’s newly launched online literary magazine this weekend... I’m especially interested in the inclusion of a novel excerpt, acknowledged as such; this issue’s extract comes from Laird Hunt’s fourth novel Ray of the Star (forthcoming this September from Coffee House Press).

--Anne Stameshkin, Fiction Writer's Review



We’ll actually be running eleven reviews in our September issue... and hope to continue to see a wide spread in terms of type and style, with concentration on independent publishers... This month’s reviews include books published by Rager Media, Beacon Press, Dalkey Archive, and Coffee House Press.  Next month’s will have been published by:  Press 53, Two Dollar Radio, Raw Dog Screaming Press, Fairy Tale Press, Grove, New Directions, Soft Skull, Dalkey Archive and the University of Nebraska Press.

--Dan Wickett, talking to Jane Ciabattari, Critical Mass




I love the proliferation of lit journals – online, in print, handmade, etc. But I feel like there’s something a little more special about the debut of The Collagist.



--John Dermot Woods




The people over at Dzanc always put together amazing projects and this is no exception.



--Jensen Beach




Been chewing on The Collagist. What an issue! But what else would you expect from Dzanc? I will blog more later as I digest but what an argument for quality... Here we have a mag simply barreling out of the gate.



--Sean Lovelace




Dzanc Books, who I think should receive an award for being the "most everywhere" new indie publisher, has yet another endeavor to entice readers and writers: The Collagist online literary journal... Really you guys, what's next? Why am I envisioning something in outer space?



--Denise Hill, NewPages



I'd also like to thank all the other blogs that linked to us in their posts over the weekend. It means a lot to us to have had so many writers and bloggers support our launch, including Largehearted Boy, Perpetual Folly, CondalmoA Salted, Mark Woods, Andrew Roe, Ravi Mangla, Hannah Pass, Nicolle Elizabeth, Hungry Like the Woolf, Katrina Denza, J.A. Tyler, Linera Lucas, Gabe Durham, Motown Writers Network, The Mark on the Wall, DOGZPLOT, Audri Sousa, and I'm sure more that I've missed here but am no less thankful for. (If I have missed you, please let me know and I'll add you to this post ASAP.)

Thanks also to everyone who posted on Twitter about the issue. Lots of good people to follow, if you're not already: @swinglet, @almostdorothy, @fictionaut, @offendingadam, @barrelhouse, @lunaparkreview, @potash, @keyholemag, @SamRasnake, @Orangealert, @mmechevrolet, @3ammagazine, @vpnychon, @RobertSwartwood, @fourteenletters, @todd_keisling, @nanoed, @pankmagazine, @kaolinfire, @TeresaHoule, @SScushing, @FredRamey, @teresesaplys, @janeciab, @cindywathen, @fadetheory, @sylviahubbard1, @BiblioFilmes, @caketrainpress, @bookfox, @Lvandenberg, @readandbreathe, @StacyBierlin, @berlingfish, @htmlgiant, and @13stitches. The word really got out about the issue via Twitter, and these are some of the people who made it possible. Once again, if I've missed you, please let me know.

More than anything I just want to again express my gratitude to everyone who helped make this launch into such a special event, whether it was through a blog post or a friendly Facebook message or e-mail, or just by stopping by and enjoying one of the included works. We've got a lot more great content coming your way through the next month, including interviews and podcasts, the latter beginning with Wednesday's Apostrophecast episode (featuring Kevin Wilson, Kim Chinquee, and Charles Jensen) before continuing here at this blog. Be sure to tune in Wednesday night, and be sure to keep coming back here for more new content supporting our first issue!

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Reader Comments (3)

Oh, excellent. You're welcome, and congratulations on a great launch.

August 18, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterCami

Congratulations on The Collagist, Matt! It seems a worthy effort and I look forward to what's to come.

Craig Snyder
(Rumble Magazine)

August 20, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterCraig Snyder

Thanks, Cami! Thanks, Craig!

August 25, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterMatt Bell

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