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Monday, September 25, 2006
Lev Grossman v Edward Champion
A nice little Blogger v MSM boy battle breaks out, as Lev Grossman writes in Time magazine, in a piece dramatically titled "My Mortal Enemy," about Edward Champion, who writes at edrants.com. Why is Grossman upset at Champion? "[E]very few months he calls me an idiot on his website," writes Grossman. "I do know that in the past Edward Champion has called me a 'chickenhead' and 'the Uwe Boll of the book reviewing world,'" he says. "Champion has also tossed out 'preposterous,' 'irrelevant' and 'malarkey.'"
So Levrants a bit in his piece, and then ends with this:
Every single visitor to edrants comes there purely to read Champion; there is a certain confidence he can draw from that readership. Grossman's reviews, on the other hand, get their readership courtesy of appearing in MSM publications like Time and NYT. I'm not making a value judgement on either of their work, but I wonder whether Grossman would be able to build up a readership of his own independent of MSM support. Champion has done just that, and respect is due for at least that reason. He may earn less than Grossman -- just as I earn less in a year than some of my MSM peers on a traditional career path do in a quarter -- but to me, his readership has greater intrinsic value.
Perhaps one day some of that value will translate to revenues. Champion already does earn enough, though, to be able to send fruits to Grossman. That's the way to building a healthy relationship!
So Levrants a bit in his piece, and then ends with this:
Let's take each other seriously and respond in good faith. Let's not bandy words around thoughtlessly or maliciously--there's enough of that going on already, what with Uwe Boll and MoFlo4Sho out there. After all, at the end of the day, we're not so different, you and I.Amusing, that last line. As Champion points out here, he does get paid for his review coverage, but there is one unrelated point I'd like to make here that the smug Grossman should ponder on.
Except that I'm getting paid for this.
Every single visitor to edrants comes there purely to read Champion; there is a certain confidence he can draw from that readership. Grossman's reviews, on the other hand, get their readership courtesy of appearing in MSM publications like Time and NYT. I'm not making a value judgement on either of their work, but I wonder whether Grossman would be able to build up a readership of his own independent of MSM support. Champion has done just that, and respect is due for at least that reason. He may earn less than Grossman -- just as I earn less in a year than some of my MSM peers on a traditional career path do in a quarter -- but to me, his readership has greater intrinsic value.
Perhaps one day some of that value will translate to revenues. Champion already does earn enough, though, to be able to send fruits to Grossman. That's the way to building a healthy relationship!
