Eoin Purcell's Blog

Bookseller Column: The Irish Blook

Published by

Eoin Purcell

on

Eoin Purcell

I’m quite pleased with how this came out in the end.

The Irish blook

29.01.08

Blogging has been brewing up a media storm in the Irish media. Two weeks ago, well known commentator, John Waters, attacked the entire blogosphere on Newstalk, one of Ireland’s talk radio stations.

Following the lead of Andrew Keen in his book The Cult of the Amateur, John Waters said that blogs were “stupid”, “entirely cynical”, “entirely negative” and equivalent to the “wall of a toilet”. He also attacked the lack of authority and suggested that much of the internet was given over to pornography and self-gratification (of which he believes blogging to be an extension).

Unsurprisingly he was rebutted and lampooned by the blogging fraternity. Eventually he came head to head with one of Ireland’s more erudite bloggers Feargal Crehan (a barrister) and the results can be heard here.

Whatever about the merits of Waters’ arguments, they do raise the question of blogging’s role in Irish publishing. There are more than a few success stories in the field.

For more go Here

(Links are a bit tricksy for some reason though!

Enjoying P&Ls (is that odd?)
Eoin

6 responses to “Bookseller Column: The Irish Blook”

  1. openpalm Avatar
    openpalm

    Eoin– i just wanted to surface from the lurkers to one of the visible fish who swim your site. As a poet, small press publisher, and 25 years employee of a major research library, and also-lover of fantasy, i often find your blog on topic and engaging. Thanks!

    Reply
  2. eoinpurcell Avatar
    eoinpurcell

    Hey openpalm,

    thanks for the message! I really appreciate it!
    Eoin

    Reply
  3. HarryPigg Avatar
    HarryPigg

    Hi Eoin,

    Just wanted to congratulate you on your well-thought out and reasoned article. As someone who has benefitted from the blog to book phenomenon (if that’s the most appropriate word!), I feel that there is still a huge untapped resource of genuine merit out there in the blogosphere that most publishers have yet to take advantage of (or indeed take a risk with). Thankfully, some of them, like Merciers and The Friday Project have seen the opportunity and are (hopefully) capitalising on it.

    Best,

    Bob

    Reply
  4. eoinpurcell Avatar
    eoinpurcell

    Thanks Bob!
    I appreciate that from the one who to my mind “got away!”
    Eoin

    Reply
  5. openpalm Avatar
    openpalm

    Eoin–
    did you see the New York Times Jan 20 2008 article on cell phone novels? here’s the link http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/world/asia/20japan.html?ref_world

    a return in some way to the days of serialized books printeed in newspapers for all and every, who would not otherwise read?

    Reply
  6. eoinpurcell Avatar
    eoinpurcell

    I did indeed!
    It’s a fascinating article not to mention phenomenon!
    Eoin

    Reply

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Hello,

I’m Eoin,

Co-founder and publisher @fullsetbooks 📚. Expect books and 🍰.

Join the mailing list

Stay updated with my latest posts