Rachel's Speech- BEA 2011
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Transcript of Rachel's Speech- BEA 2011
8/6/2019 Rachel's Speech- BEA 2011
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rachels-speech-bea-2011 1/20
Rachel’sSpeechatBookExpoAmerica,7x20x21
May24,2011
Earlierthisyearthenon-profitorganizationVida,releasedastudyofthemajor
reviewpublications,comparingcriticaltreatmentofwomentothatofmenasbothsubjectsandauthorsofcriticism.Theseresultsshouldhavebeenpredictablebut
whentheVidareporthit,itwasshocking.
AndI—wasoutraged .
8/6/2019 Rachel's Speech- BEA 2011
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rachels-speech-bea-2011 2/20
Ofcourseranmymouthaboutittoanyonewhowouldlisten—whichincludedour
hoststoday,RyanandAmi.SowhenIlearnedonAmi’sblogthatIwouldtobegiving
atalkaboutthe“currentreviewinglandscapeforwomen,”itwassafetoassumethat
AmiandRyanhopedIcouldtellyou—withalittlemoreclarity—whatVida’s
findingsmeanttome.
8/6/2019 Rachel's Speech- BEA 2011
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rachels-speech-bea-2011 3/20
Butinpreparingfortoday,IdiscoveredIdidn’tquiteknowhowtoanswerthat
question.
WhatdoestheVidareportactuallymeantome?
Togetatthatanswer,Ithinkit’simportanttoreflectonrootsofTheNewInquiry,
thebookreviewIfoundedandnowlead.
8/6/2019 Rachel's Speech- BEA 2011
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rachels-speech-bea-2011 4/20
TheformativemomentforTNIhappenedjustasIgraduatedcollege.Ihadcometo
NYforschoolexpectingthatI’donedayworkinpublishing,butbetweenmy
freshmanandsenioryear,theInternethappened,theeconomytankedandprint
startedtodie.
Theinstitutionsthatweresupposedtostructurethewould-becreativeclassofmygenerationweresuddenlyunabletoabsorbus.
8/6/2019 Rachel's Speech- BEA 2011
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rachels-speech-bea-2011 5/20
Withthefewhiringcompaniessavingoverheadbycontractingunderpaid,
uninsured,freelancerstoworkfromso-called‘virtualoffices’wewereatomized,
decentralizedandisolated.
Anditsucks,andit’slonelyanditdeprivesus—ormeanyway—withthesubstance
ofameaningfulculturallife,whichisotherpeople.
8/6/2019 Rachel's Speech- BEA 2011
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rachels-speech-bea-2011 6/20
Basically,workingpart-timedoingtheDailyBeasts’ webproductionaloneinthe
basementofyourBushwickapartmentisn’twhatbookcultureissupposedtobe
like.
Ithought,‘Dotheyreallyexpectmetojusttakeitlikeabitch?’ Infullfaiththatthesurpluscreativeclasswasouttheretobefound,IdecidedI’d
findthem.Here’sthestep-by-stepplanofhowIwasgoingtodoit.
8/6/2019 Rachel's Speech- BEA 2011
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rachels-speech-bea-2011 7/20
Step1:Createanorganizingprinciple—areasontodothings,goplacesand
engagewithothers.
IroundedupthesmartestpeopleIknewwhowerealreadymaintainingtheirown
blogsandTumblrsandIconvincedthemtokeepdoingwhattheyweredoing,only
todoitonthesamewebsite.Andwe’dcallitsomethingthatsoundedlikeitexisted.
Somethingthatpeoplewouldthinkwasreal.
Somethinglike“TheNewInquiry.”
8/6/2019 Rachel's Speech- BEA 2011
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rachels-speech-bea-2011 8/20
Step2:Developapointofviewinordertoharnessaloyalaudiencethatshares
yoursensibility.
Wedecidedtheworldneededustostartareviewpublicationaboutthingsinart
andculturethatactuallymattered,sinceotherreviewswerefoldingleftandright,and‘AmazonRecommends’isn’tanacceptablesubstitute.
8/6/2019 Rachel's Speech- BEA 2011
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rachels-speech-bea-2011 9/20
Step3:Createopportunitiesforpeopletogettogether.
Webeganinvitingfriends;andfriendsoffriends;andeventuallycontributorsand
readerstoanongoingsalonoutofmyapartment.Thecostofadmissionwas
somethingthattheycouldcontributetoTNI’swebsite,givingattendeesadeeper
senseofinvolvementandkeepingourcontentqueuefull.
8/6/2019 Rachel's Speech- BEA 2011
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rachels-speech-bea-2011 10/20
Step4:Useallavailableresources.
Ouraudiencehadgrowndramaticallybytheendofourfirstyear,butasidefromIP
addresses,wedidn’tknowwhotheywere.Webeganexperimentingwithnewways
tocreateameaningfulonlinecommunity.Noplatformwasbeneathconsideration,
butsomeprovedtobedefinitelybetterthanothers.
8/6/2019 Rachel's Speech- BEA 2011
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rachels-speech-bea-2011 11/20
Oneexperimentespeciallypaidoff:Isignedupforafreeonlinenewsletterservice
andinvitedourreaderstosignupinordertoreceiveinvitestooursalon.Butof
course,Ihadnointentionwhatsoeversendingoutanewsletterwithmyhome
addressonit.
Thesignupformwasanendinitself.
8/6/2019 Rachel's Speech- BEA 2011
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rachels-speech-bea-2011 12/20
Withit,IcouldfinallylearnaboutthepeoplewhomadeupTNI’sgrowingaudience,
andmoreimportantly—havethecontactinformationofthosewhowantedtobe
moredeeplyinvolved.
ButwhatIdidn’tanticipatewasthathundredsandeventually,thousandsofpeople
signedup.SomeofthenamesIrecognizedfromby-linesinmajormagazines,others
includedlinkstoblogsoronlineprojectsthatIhadn’tyetdiscovered,butthatblew
meaway.
8/6/2019 Rachel's Speech- BEA 2011
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rachels-speech-bea-2011 13/20
Whichbringsmetostepnumber5:Hustle.
Iquitmythenfulltimejobandbeganfreelancing,whichgavemetheflexibilityto
spendthenextyeargettingintouchwith—andmeetinginperson—virtually
everyoneintheNewYorkareawhohadsignedup.
Andthesepeoplewereamazing.Someofthemwere—andare—themostintelligent
andworthwhilepeopleI’veeverknown.
8/6/2019 Rachel's Speech- BEA 2011
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rachels-speech-bea-2011 14/20
Theycamefromallwalksoflife,buttheyhadtheimportantthingsincommon:apassionfor—anddedicationto—art,literatureandideas.Andthemosttalented
amongstthemIinvitedtobecomepartofTNI’sseedstaff.
Togetherwewereforminganalternativelifestylebyhackingurbanspaceswhere
wecouldcometogetherregularly,firstasfriends;andeventually,ascolleaguesand
collaborators.
8/6/2019 Rachel's Speech- BEA 2011
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rachels-speech-bea-2011 15/20
Today,TNIisa501(c)3non-profit,withalargeteamofoutstandingeditorsand
contributorsbyanyone’sstandards,andI’mproudtodaythatwearenowoneofthe
mosthigh-trafficbookreviewsonline.
TNIhasbeensuccessfulbecauseweputtalentfirst.Notbyseekingoutspecific
kindsoftalenttobestructuredandabsorbedbyanexistinginstitutionofculture—
butbyconstantlyreshapingourorganizationtoincludeandenablethebesttalent
outthere—whichismoreoftenthannotthekindoftalentthat’sunlookedfor.
8/6/2019 Rachel's Speech- BEA 2011
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rachels-speech-bea-2011 16/20
Moreimportantly,I’vebeenabletoretainthistalentbecauseinsteadofmanagingit,
Iofferameaningfulcommunityofpeersandahigherpurpose:Wecollectively
decidedtodedicateourmagazinetothegreatworkdonebysmallpresspublishers
whoreceivelittletonocriticaltreatmentbymainstreammagazines,yethavea
noblelegacyofchampioningnewandavant-gardewritersthatwebelieveisworth
preserving.
8/6/2019 Rachel's Speech- BEA 2011
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rachels-speech-bea-2011 17/20
Wesay:LetAmazonandBarnesandNobleandthecorporatepublishershaveeach
other.TNI’sgrowthhasindicatedtomethatthere’sacounter-movementbrewing,
andtogether—alongwithotherlike-mindedorganizations—wecancreateaself-
sustainingspikesomewherealongthelongtail.
8/6/2019 Rachel's Speech- BEA 2011
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rachels-speech-bea-2011 18/20
Andwecandoitbyseekingoutandprovidingcommunityandstructuretothe
unstructuredcreativeandintellectualsurplus—theyoungpeoplegraduating
collegetoday.
Oh,andletmealsomention:ThepeopleI’mtalkingaboutaremostlywomen.
Whichbringsmebacktomyoriginalquestion:WhatdoestheVidaReportmeanto
me?
AndIhaveanswer:Nothing.
8/6/2019 Rachel's Speech- BEA 2011
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rachels-speech-bea-2011 19/20
ThesubjectsofVida’sstudyaregreatandimportantmagazines,whohadvisionary
foundersthatdidwhatIknowisadamnhardthingtodo—whichmeansthatthey
get tomaketherules.
Soletthemhireandpublishandpayattentiontowhatevertheydeemworthy.AndI
cansaythisbecause,asfarasTheNewInquiryisconcerned--I gettomakethe
rules.
So,ladies,forgetthegoddamnedpiecharts.
8/6/2019 Rachel's Speech- BEA 2011
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rachels-speech-bea-2011 20/20
Thefutureofwomenincriticismiswomenfoundersofmagazines.AndIjustgave
youastep-by-stepguideonhowexactlytodoit.
Sostartnow.Rightnow.Lookingatthepublishinglandscapetoday,I’dsayit’sthe
besttimetodoit,becauseguesswhat?
Theglassceilingcan’tstopyouwhenthewallsarecrumbling.