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Rachel’sSpeechatBookExpoAmerica,7x20x21

May24,2011

 

Earlierthisyearthenon-profitorganizationVida,releasedastudyofthemajor

reviewpublications,comparingcriticaltreatmentofwomentothatofmenasbothsubjectsandauthorsofcriticism.Theseresultsshouldhavebeenpredictablebut

whentheVidareporthit,itwasshocking.

AndI—wasoutraged .

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Ofcourseranmymouthaboutittoanyonewhowouldlisten—whichincludedour

hoststoday,RyanandAmi.SowhenIlearnedonAmi’sblogthatIwouldtobegiving

atalkaboutthe“currentreviewinglandscapeforwomen,”itwassafetoassumethat

AmiandRyanhopedIcouldtellyou—withalittlemoreclarity—whatVida’s

findingsmeanttome.

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Butinpreparingfortoday,IdiscoveredIdidn’tquiteknowhowtoanswerthat

question.

WhatdoestheVidareportactuallymeantome?

Togetatthatanswer,Ithinkit’simportanttoreflectonrootsofTheNewInquiry,

thebookreviewIfoundedandnowlead.

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TheformativemomentforTNIhappenedjustasIgraduatedcollege.Ihadcometo

NYforschoolexpectingthatI’donedayworkinpublishing,butbetweenmy

freshmanandsenioryear,theInternethappened,theeconomytankedandprint

startedtodie.

Theinstitutionsthatweresupposedtostructurethewould-becreativeclassofmygenerationweresuddenlyunabletoabsorbus.

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Withthefewhiringcompaniessavingoverheadbycontractingunderpaid,

uninsured,freelancerstoworkfromso-called‘virtualoffices’wewereatomized,

decentralizedandisolated.

Anditsucks,andit’slonelyanditdeprivesus—ormeanyway—withthesubstance

ofameaningfulculturallife,whichisotherpeople.

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Basically,workingpart-timedoingtheDailyBeasts’ webproductionaloneinthe

basementofyourBushwickapartmentisn’twhatbookcultureissupposedtobe

like.

Ithought,‘Dotheyreallyexpectmetojusttakeitlikeabitch?’ Infullfaiththatthesurpluscreativeclasswasouttheretobefound,IdecidedI’d

findthem.Here’sthestep-by-stepplanofhowIwasgoingtodoit.

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Step1:Createanorganizingprinciple—areasontodothings,goplacesand

engagewithothers.

IroundedupthesmartestpeopleIknewwhowerealreadymaintainingtheirown

blogsandTumblrsandIconvincedthemtokeepdoingwhattheyweredoing,only

todoitonthesamewebsite.Andwe’dcallitsomethingthatsoundedlikeitexisted.

Somethingthatpeoplewouldthinkwasreal.

Somethinglike“TheNewInquiry.”

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Step2:Developapointofviewinordertoharnessaloyalaudiencethatshares

yoursensibility.

Wedecidedtheworldneededustostartareviewpublicationaboutthingsinart

andculturethatactuallymattered,sinceotherreviewswerefoldingleftandright,and‘AmazonRecommends’isn’tanacceptablesubstitute.

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Step3:Createopportunitiesforpeopletogettogether.

Webeganinvitingfriends;andfriendsoffriends;andeventuallycontributorsand

readerstoanongoingsalonoutofmyapartment.Thecostofadmissionwas

somethingthattheycouldcontributetoTNI’swebsite,givingattendeesadeeper

senseofinvolvementandkeepingourcontentqueuefull.

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Step4:Useallavailableresources.

Ouraudiencehadgrowndramaticallybytheendofourfirstyear,butasidefromIP

addresses,wedidn’tknowwhotheywere.Webeganexperimentingwithnewways

tocreateameaningfulonlinecommunity.Noplatformwasbeneathconsideration,

butsomeprovedtobedefinitelybetterthanothers. 

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Oneexperimentespeciallypaidoff:Isignedupforafreeonlinenewsletterservice

andinvitedourreaderstosignupinordertoreceiveinvitestooursalon.Butof

course,Ihadnointentionwhatsoeversendingoutanewsletterwithmyhome

addressonit.

Thesignupformwasanendinitself.

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Withit,IcouldfinallylearnaboutthepeoplewhomadeupTNI’sgrowingaudience,

andmoreimportantly—havethecontactinformationofthosewhowantedtobe

moredeeplyinvolved.

ButwhatIdidn’tanticipatewasthathundredsandeventually,thousandsofpeople

signedup.SomeofthenamesIrecognizedfromby-linesinmajormagazines,others

includedlinkstoblogsoronlineprojectsthatIhadn’tyetdiscovered,butthatblew

meaway. 

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Whichbringsmetostepnumber5:Hustle.

Iquitmythenfulltimejobandbeganfreelancing,whichgavemetheflexibilityto

spendthenextyeargettingintouchwith—andmeetinginperson—virtually

everyoneintheNewYorkareawhohadsignedup.

Andthesepeoplewereamazing.Someofthemwere—andare—themostintelligent

andworthwhilepeopleI’veeverknown.

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Theycamefromallwalksoflife,buttheyhadtheimportantthingsincommon:apassionfor—anddedicationto—art,literatureandideas.Andthemosttalented

amongstthemIinvitedtobecomepartofTNI’sseedstaff.

Togetherwewereforminganalternativelifestylebyhackingurbanspaceswhere

wecouldcometogetherregularly,firstasfriends;andeventually,ascolleaguesand

collaborators.

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Today,TNIisa501(c)3non-profit,withalargeteamofoutstandingeditorsand

contributorsbyanyone’sstandards,andI’mproudtodaythatwearenowoneofthe

mosthigh-trafficbookreviewsonline.

TNIhasbeensuccessfulbecauseweputtalentfirst.Notbyseekingoutspecific

kindsoftalenttobestructuredandabsorbedbyanexistinginstitutionofculture—

butbyconstantlyreshapingourorganizationtoincludeandenablethebesttalent

outthere—whichismoreoftenthannotthekindoftalentthat’sunlookedfor. 

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Moreimportantly,I’vebeenabletoretainthistalentbecauseinsteadofmanagingit,

Iofferameaningfulcommunityofpeersandahigherpurpose:Wecollectively

decidedtodedicateourmagazinetothegreatworkdonebysmallpresspublishers

whoreceivelittletonocriticaltreatmentbymainstreammagazines,yethavea

noblelegacyofchampioningnewandavant-gardewritersthatwebelieveisworth

preserving. 

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Wesay:LetAmazonandBarnesandNobleandthecorporatepublishershaveeach

other.TNI’sgrowthhasindicatedtomethatthere’sacounter-movementbrewing,

andtogether—alongwithotherlike-mindedorganizations—wecancreateaself-

sustainingspikesomewherealongthelongtail.

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Andwecandoitbyseekingoutandprovidingcommunityandstructuretothe

unstructuredcreativeandintellectualsurplus—theyoungpeoplegraduating

collegetoday.

Oh,andletmealsomention:ThepeopleI’mtalkingaboutaremostlywomen.

Whichbringsmebacktomyoriginalquestion:WhatdoestheVidaReportmeanto

me?

AndIhaveanswer:Nothing.

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ThesubjectsofVida’sstudyaregreatandimportantmagazines,whohadvisionary

foundersthatdidwhatIknowisadamnhardthingtodo—whichmeansthatthey

 get tomaketherules.

Soletthemhireandpublishandpayattentiontowhatevertheydeemworthy.AndI

cansaythisbecause,asfarasTheNewInquiryisconcerned--I gettomakethe

rules.

So,ladies,forgetthegoddamnedpiecharts.

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Thefutureofwomenincriticismiswomenfoundersofmagazines.AndIjustgave

youastep-by-stepguideonhowexactlytodoit.

Sostartnow.Rightnow.Lookingatthepublishinglandscapetoday,I’dsayit’sthe

besttimetodoit,becauseguesswhat?

Theglassceilingcan’tstopyouwhenthewallsarecrumbling.