Ch-ch-Changes . . .

Let me interrupt the David Thayer show to give you an update on where things are and where they might be going around here. As I just noted, David has been doing great work in posting news, views, reviews and interviews. Yvonne has also begun to chip in with posts on a more regular basis. I appreciate their help and enjoy reading their thoughts. What I have come to realize with increasing certainty is I am not in a position to really anchor a “lit blog.” I simply don’t have the requisite knowledge, interest, or time to really make this blog an attractive place to visit on my own. Let’s face it, my melancholy moods and up-and-down reading habits, when combined with my disconnection with anything that might resemble the literary scene, prevents me from using the potential of blogging to any effect. This is relatively clear from the lack of links, hits, or comments of any significance.

What I have come to realize is that I am a book person but not necessarily a literature person. I love to read a wide range of books but I don’t have any particular expertise or background. Hence I tend to lack a voice or a hook that separates this blog from others or prevents it from denigrating into a collection of high school book reports (I am speaking only about my own contributions here and don’t mean to insinuate anything about my co-bloggers). An outgrowth of this is my growing belief that a group blog is the best road for Collected Miscellany. I don’t think I can provide the kind of daily commentary or useful links that other lit blogs provide. Instead what I think the site should reflect the “collected” part of its title and become a group blog for reviews and interviews. In this way the blog won’t be so much a conversation as a bulletin board: posters will throw out their opinion on books and authors and readers can browse and click on what interests them. I am also considering opening up the space for original short fiction. I see this as a “throw things against the Internet and see if they stick” sort of deal. To make this type of site hum, however, I think we need some more content. So I am looking to expand the number and perspectives of the sites co-bloggers.

Seeing how Collected Miscellany is still “my” website in a technical sense, I am working on recruiting bloggers and thinking about exactly what type of mix will work best in my mind. In a sort of executive editor sense, I want the sight to be interesting and informative and will use my admittedly subjective judgement to make those decisions. I will also be working on making sure the site more plainly reflects the contributions of my co-bloggers.

As always, if you have ideas about how to make the site better or what you would like to see let me know.

Kevin Holtsberry
I work in communications and public affairs. I try to squeeze in as much reading as I can while still spending time with my wife and two kids (and cheering on the Pittsburgh Steelers and Michigan Wolverines during football season).

3 Comments

  1. Good post, Kevin. You have thought this through carefully and come up with a fine solution. I regret that I have not been able to contribute more…in truth I spend many hours a week thinking about Collected Miscellany and reading yours and David’s posts, but I don’t feel that I’ve contributed to the full extent of my ability and I am determined to correct that. If you open this up to occasional short fiction, that would be great! There aren’t many places online today…that I know of…that post good short fiction. I, for one, would be delighted to share some of my fiction, literary fiction (so I like to think), mostly. Meanwhile, keep the faith. You have a terrific blog. My posts often get emails, by the way. So, people are reading.

  2. I’d like to register a dissent. Frankly, I liked your blog just fine when it was only you. I thought it had a relatively unique perspective–“conservative,” but also open-minded–that was good for the literary blogosphere. I for one will miss that perspective if you go the way you say you are.

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