The Rumpus
February 22, 2009 3:03 PM Subscribe
The Rumpus
The Rumpus is fully live and launched. We're a month old now. We officially launched on January 20. We were in Beta for six weeks before launch and I announced The Rumpus here during that phase. The idea behind The Rumpus is to create a frequently updated culture magazine (as opposed to a pop culture magazine) that takes art, literature, music, and film seriously. Also, a place that publishes good writing. We're not driven by the news cycle or marketing. For example, we consider any book out less than a year to be a new book and will review it that way (here's a manifesto from the books editor). The Rumpus is divided into three sections, Around The Web, Rumpus Originals (usually reviews and interviews but also some personal essays), and blogs. The blogs are only updated like once a week and each one is about something. Like Rick Moody has a blog that's only about hard to find, generally self-published indie-music, and Brian Schwartz has a literary sports blog. I'd appreciate any feedback people might have.
The Rumpus is fully live and launched. We're a month old now. We officially launched on January 20. We were in Beta for six weeks before launch and I announced The Rumpus here during that phase. The idea behind The Rumpus is to create a frequently updated culture magazine (as opposed to a pop culture magazine) that takes art, literature, music, and film seriously. Also, a place that publishes good writing. We're not driven by the news cycle or marketing. For example, we consider any book out less than a year to be a new book and will review it that way (here's a manifesto from the books editor). The Rumpus is divided into three sections, Around The Web, Rumpus Originals (usually reviews and interviews but also some personal essays), and blogs. The blogs are only updated like once a week and each one is about something. Like Rick Moody has a blog that's only about hard to find, generally self-published indie-music, and Brian Schwartz has a literary sports blog. I'd appreciate any feedback people might have.
I learned about this site when I stumbled onto the Michael Showalter interview, which I loved. I would love to see more of that - wide-ranging interviews with people who are only slightly famous but very interesting and aren't just talking to you because they have something new to shill.
posted by UsernameFilter at 4:11 AM on March 5, 2009
posted by UsernameFilter at 4:11 AM on March 5, 2009
Thanks!
posted by Stephen Elliott at 7:23 AM on March 5, 2009
posted by Stephen Elliott at 7:23 AM on March 5, 2009
We're doing really well, but one thing that kills me is sometimes we'll run a particularly awesome story, like this oral history of The Butthole Surfers coming to Trenton, New Jersey, and no one will link to it and there will be hardly any traffic for that piece. Any advice from anyone about how to get the word out? The site itself is seeing a slow, but steady increase in traffic.
posted by Stephen Elliott at 9:33 AM on March 6, 2009
posted by Stephen Elliott at 9:33 AM on March 6, 2009
I understand the conundrum. Some of the best content we've written at the Bureau has gone relatively unnoticed, while a few of the articles that I don't think are all that strong take off.
Anyway, try sending some of your best content to bloggers you like who might be interested. People like suggestions, even if it is self-promotion. The success rate isn't all that high, but if you hit the right blogger, articles can quickly go viral.
posted by knguyen at 9:11 PM on March 12, 2009
Anyway, try sending some of your best content to bloggers you like who might be interested. People like suggestions, even if it is self-promotion. The success rate isn't all that high, but if you hit the right blogger, articles can quickly go viral.
posted by knguyen at 9:11 PM on March 12, 2009
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posted by knguyen at 12:19 PM on February 23, 2009