Our Pushcart Prize Nominations

What about our Pushcart Prize nominations? Did we send in for work published in 2015 any Pushcart Prize nominations?

Absolutely! This time around we sent in three nominations of work from this website, along with three nominations from our just-released-to-the-world print version, NEW POP LIT #1. (Available for sale via our Detroit blog; soon to be offered at the “Shop” feature of this our main site.)

We had an awful lot of very good work to choose from, in both cases, journal and site. We settled on a representative sampling of each. Given that the Pushcart people receive hundreds, maybe thousands, of nominations each year, our bias went slightly toward work which might get their attention, and therefore stand an outside shot at being prize worthy. We erred on the side of uniqueness, and so, went with in one case a translation; in another, a work which could be classified as either story or essay.

The nominations are–

**********

From the website:

“ENERGY” by Andrei Dichenko (translated by Andrea Gregovich).

http://newpoplit.com/portfolio/energy/

“MOO-G” by David Solórzano.

http://newpoplit.com/portfolio/moo-g/

“BASEBALL IS TRUTH, TRUTH IS BASEBALL” by Tom Tolnay.

http://newpoplit.com/portfolio/baseball-is-truth-truth-is-baseball/

**********

From the NEW POP LIT print journal:

“DICK AND LIZA” by Alex Bernstein.

“LOS ANGELES AFTER THE QUEEN” by Robin Dunn.

“DANNY BOY” by Jessie Lynn McMains.

**********

Thanks to the nominees for submitting their work to us. THANKS most to all the other excellent writers who allowed us to present their work to the world, either here or in our new journal.

Coming Soon!

Announcement

Yes, we’re pleased to announce that the long-delayed analog version of NEW POP LIT is at the printer. An actual hold-in-your-hand literary journal! We’ve corrected the mistakes made in our rushed-out prototype, and likely added new ones.

This has been a continual learning experience. We’ve gained a marked appreciation for anyone creating a print journal, because there are an endless number of things which can and will go wrong. Turning out a product with many contributors is far tougher than dealing with work of your own– there’s extra responsibility involved. We want to present great work from terrific writers, and we wish to present that work well. We keep reminding ourselves that this is our first lit product– first step in a long journey.

*******

Fans of ours will notice we’ve run with a different version of the excellent Alyssa Klash cover. (Purple replacing the green-themed prototype.) We’ve done this for several reasons.

1.) The green cover-with-colorful back was almost too good. Too pop. Too striking, so as to be a tad out of balance with the contents. The purple-and-gray version, being more muted, will stress that we’re pop but we’re also serious presenters of significant, meaningful work. We believe when you read the issue you’ll agree with this assessment. Our objective from the start has been to be pop and serious both.

2.) Presenting our “real” version with a different-colored cover frankly makes the prototype more of a collector’s item.

But all versions of NEW POP LIT #1 will be collector’s items, if we move forward as a major literary player, as is our plan.

Thanks to all concerned for their indulgence and patience.

(To pre-order your copy of NEW POP LIT, email us at newpoplit2@gmail.com.)

A Sustainable Lit Model?

Announcement

WE BELIEVE it’s a huge advantage for a lit project to be located outside New York City.

In the vicinity of New York, all mindsets are dominated by the modes of the Big 5 publishers and their attached-or-symbiotic organs. (The New Yorker et.al.) It’s nearly impossible for a literary entrepreneur to resist this– to think outside the status quo box.

Yet drastic changes in literature and publishing are occurring outside the world of the Big 5. Our goal is to A.) be at the forefront of those changes; B.) remain flexible enough to adapt to more changes; more ways of thinking and operating.

**********

We posted no new feature this past weekend because our time and energy are temporarily back focusing on the “model” for presenting new literature. Setting up the necessary blocks for future progress.

The website itself is only part of the model.

In coming days we’ll work on:

1.) Tweaking the long-delayed print version of this site– then doing another printing; the real one with barcode. Learning how to be a publisher, even in the Internet age, involves thoroughly learning the “trade” of publishing. The NPL print journal will be the first of our titles.

2.) Setting up a NEW POP LIT online boutique or “shop” for selling our products.

How does a literary project become self-sustaining?

We’ll cover this matter in future posts. Keep watching!

NEW POP LIT at the Dally!

Announcement

There will be a NEW POP LIT table at the famed Detroit “Dally in the Alley” street fair this Saturday. The Dally is one of the largest urban street fairs in the country– and because it’s in the Motor City, it’s the coolest, hippest, edgiest such fair anyplace.

What will we have for sale and on display?

-A limited number of copies of the NEW POP LIT prototype lit journal, which contains exciting writing fitting the new “Pop Lit” hybrid category. This is the most important debut of a literary periodical at least since Paris Review came out sixty-plus years ago. The difference is that our journal presents new ideas from outside the mainstream. See what the future looks like.

-Special Kathleen Crane “Aloha from Detroit” t-shirts promoting the Detroit punk-scene chronicler’s e-book collection of stories.

-A variety of zines created by the best underground writer in America, Jessie Lynn McMains. Here’s a prediction: Jessie will soon be recognized as the best short story writer in the country.

(AN ASIDE: Kathleen Crane and Jessie Lynn McMains both have stories in the NPL prototype.)

-Copies of the Dan “I’m not Picasso” Nielsen art-lit chapbook. Prose poems and amazing drawings. Talk about a collector’s item!

-Various other books and zines from terrific new “Pop Lit” writers.

All this in the setting of the colorful Dally in the Alley, THE most amazing organic-and-authentic art festival in the nation.

To top things off, I’ll be there in person. (At one time I was the most exciting and provocative literary performer anywhere to be seen– and may still be.) I’ll have my voice and possibly even my faux-craziness with me. If you’re at the Dally, stop by and say hi!

(Pictured: a past version of this editor at Jeff Potter’s ULA table during an early moment at a previous Dally.)

-Karl Wenclas

Coming Attractions

Announcement

What’s up? Been having a dynamite summer?

We have! Among the writing we’ve published here has been baseball pop, noir pop, experimental pop, creepy pop, political pop (same thing), pop poetry, plus an interview with one of North America’s best and most controversial writers.

We promise that more exciting fiction and poetry will follow. We’ve lined up many weeks of terrific work. Our only criteria is that the writing be readable and good– so sometimes we receive amazing writing which no one else will touch. That’s our mission, if truth be told.

We’re also lining up more provocative interviews. We’ll also do much more to promote pop writers and we continue to search for outstanding pop writers.

What of our publishing endeavors, you ask?

They’re moving along, at snail’s pace maybe, but they’re moving. The first real printing of NEW POP LIT The Print Version aka Issue #1 will happen. Target date is before October 1. We thank those writers and artists included for their patience. We’ll be selling the issue and other publications– and future publications– at our website and through other venues.

In the meantime we’ll have remaining copies of our “Sneak Preview” printing of NEW POP LIT #1 for sale at Detroit’s biggest street fair September 12– along with zines, t-shirts, and books. Stay tuned for more news about that.

Before all this takes place, please explore this site– especially our Coffee House page, where we have links to:

-Fun stuff at New Pop Lit Interactive. Currently we’re asking, “Who’s the Greatest Pop Personality of All Time?” (Not the biggest. The greatest.)

-Lit-world news at our News page. At the moment we ask questions regarding the promotion of Jonathan Franzen’s well-hyped new novel. Read our report and stay current!

-A Detroit literary blog which will track our attempts to build new publishing in this tough but opportunistic town. We deal here in big ideas only.

Which could be the theme of this entire project.

-Karl Wenclas

Changes

Announcement

NEW POP LIT will be undergoing a few changes due to the departure of co-editor Andrea Nolen. We’ll have an announcement soon of where we’re headed. Hopefully to new areas. Any living creation has to continually move forward. In the meantime:

-We’ll soon publish again here great new fiction and poetry.

-We’ll soon post at our house blog a report on NEW POP LIT’s appearance at the Allied Media Conference. Also about the preview of NPL “The Print Version” at that conference.

-We have terrific interviews upcoming with two of the talented writers in that issue, Alex Bernstein and Kathleen Crane.

Andrea Nolen was the driving force in creating this lit site. She brought me into this project. We wish her all success in her future endeavors. We’ll miss her ideas and her skills. The task for NEW POP LIT now is to build on this foundation– to take our quixotic attempt to revive literature to another level. Can we do that? Stay tuned!

-Karl Wenclas

A Cup of Coffee and A Smoke

Announcement

We at NPL have been very busy these last two weeks– we are now days away from launching our first print journal at the Allied Media Conference in Detroit!

New Pop Lit Volume #1 will soon be on sale through this website, too. Details to come!

In the meantime, we give you a poem that may resonate with readers who feel somewhat out-of-place in our crazy-rationalized economy… check out A Cup of Coffee and a Smoke by Matt Sandifer.

A Man Smoking A Pipe, by Paul Cezanne.

Interview with Jana DeLeon

Announcement

We continue our series of interviews with master storytellers this week with New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jana DeLeon. Her Miss Fortune Mysteries series features Fortune Redding, a CIA vixen hitwoman working the unpredictable Bayou backwoods… and looking for love!

Jana gives us the skinny on both traditional and self-publishing; her writing process; and engaging readers. Enjoy the interview here!

The best thing about indie publishing is it pays the lion’s share of profit to the artist, and that’s the way it should be. Non-compete clauses would have to be eliminated. I believe they are restraint of trade. No publisher should be able to limit an author’s ability to make a living, and the vast majority of traditionally published authors are not making enough money to support a family.

Interview with Sue-Ellen Welfonder

Announcement

NPL is excited to interview author Sue-Ellen Welfonder, who also writes under the name Allie Mackay!

Sue-Ellen is a seasoned storyteller and a USA Today Bestselling author; she’s built a following with her fun, Scottish-themed historical romances and light-hearted paranormal stories. Today she shares her insights about engaging readers and weighs in on the Amazon/Hachette debate. Enjoy!

Readers have embraced lower-priced books. Many people are struggling these days and reading is an ideal escape. Easily accessible books at reader friendly prices are the books readers want and will buy. Independent publishing allows authors to offer such titles and I love that. It’s good for writers and readers.

Interview with John A. A. Logan

Announcement

Karl and I caught up with Scottish thriller author John A. A. Logan, who offers up some thought-provoking insights to the recent skirmish between Amazon and Hachette in this week’s interview. John shares his publishing experiences, current projects, as well as reflections on what it means to be “literary” and “popular”. Enjoy!

I find authors who might be described as “literary-by-stealth” quite interesting – authors who seem to write popular genre titles, but whose style is so well-written, with a “voice” that might be called literary. Peter Straub’s Ghost Story seems to fall into this category. Or Harvest Home, by Thomas Tryon. Or Jim Thompson, known as the “dime-store Dostoyevsky”. Or James M. Cain, author of The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity etc.

With these authors the style and theme are popular and accessible, but there is a depth there that gathers in upon the reader, as the story continues.