Lit Blogs in the press

The Village Voice has a brief piece about literary blogs, with mentions of worthy blogs like Maudnewton, the Elegant Variation, Beatrice, Bookslut, and several others, as well as movements within the blogging community, such as the Virtual Book Tour and the Lit Blog Co-Op.

Michael Orthofer offers up a critique of the article, as do Scott Esposito and Bud Parr. In general, I feel like the journalist (the aptly named–or perhaps pseudonymous?–Joy Press) is trying to raise opposition where there might not be any.

I was a tad surprised, upon reading the article, to find out that the VBT is a rather costly service (rates start at $1,500 for one-day coverage on the blogs). Ed has some interesting comments about this pay-for-placement service, much of which I agree with. I’d also like to state, for the record, that the authors who’ve guested on Moorishgirl in the past have done so entirely free of charge (and yes, it means I’ve read their work and like it enough to invite them over for a day.)