Before Knee-Jerk debuted last summer, and as we prepare to launch our first annual print issue in a few months, we found ourselves wrestling with a number of questions regarding the nature of literature, readership, and people’s attention spans. Frankly, we were a little worried. Do people still read? What do people read, or have time to read? Where, how, and why do people read? Are people still willing to pay for a little-known magazine filled with little-known writers when they have unlimited access to free literature online? If they are willing to pay, what compels them to do so? And why—why?!—start a new publication now, when it seems as though people generally have less time, less money, and less attention to devote to reading than ever before?
In other words: What is the future of literature?
In order to help us and our faithful readers sort through these and other bewildering questions, Knee-Jerk spoke with editors from three new(ish) publications: Matt Bell of The Collagist, a wide-ranging online lit journal hosted by Dzanc Books; Zach Dodson of FeatherProof Books, which recently launched its new TripleQuick iPhone app; and Rebekah Silverman and James Tadd Adcox of Artifice magazine, an exciting print journal that debuted this month.
You can check out all three forward-focused projects online, but in the meantime, continue reading to see what their editors have to say about surviving the digital age.