Smith Magazine

Infobox Website
name = "Smith Magazine"
favicon =



caption = "Smith Magazine". Everyone has a story. Tell yours here.
url = [http://www.smithmag.net www.smithmag.net]
commercial = Yes
type = Online Magazine
registration =
political = Liberal (mostly)
owner = Magsmith, LLC
author = Larry Smith, Tim Barkow
launch date = 2006
current status =
revenue =

"Smith Magazine" is an online magazine devoted to storytelling in all its forms. "Smith"'s content is participatory in nature, and the magazine welcomes contributions from all its readers.

Content and coverage

The site focuses on "personal media": blogs, memoirs, diaries, viral videos, social networks, "the mash-up between the professional and the amateur, and art projects rooted in personal. It’s all about the highly personal take on everything." Since its 2006 launch, "Smith" has been heralded as “a vision for the future of populist storytelling, [Bussell, Rachel Kramer, "Larry Smith, Founder and Editor in Chief, "Smith Magazine"," The Gothamist, April 23, 2007. Retrieved on December 12, 2007.] ” “a gigantic cocktail party to which everyone is invited to come, listen, and contribute their own personal stories, [Frith, Susan, "Web, Take Two," "The Penn Gazzette," Sept./Oct. 2007] ” and “the pulse of today’s cultural narrative [ Kealoha, Ami, "Smith Magazine", Cool Hunting, Jan. 23, 2006. Retrieved on December 12, 2007.] .”

In the spring of 2006, "Smith" launched the critically acclaimed webcomic "Shooting War", which became a full-color graphic novel from Grand Central Publishing in the fall of 2007.

In January 2007, "Smith" launched its second webcomic, a true story of Hurricane Katrina called "". New chapters appear on "Smith" monthly. "A.D." has received coverage in the "New Orleans Times-Picayune", the "Los Angeles Times", the "Atlanta Journal-Constitution", the "Toronto Star", "Rolling Stone", AlterNet, Boing Boing, Wired.com, the "USA Today" blog "Pop Candy," and NPR, as well as hundreds of blogs. A four-color hardcover book edition of "A.D." is forthcoming from Pantheon Books in 2009. [" [http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/12535.html Pantheon to Publish "A.D.:New Orleans After the Deluge": Josh Neufeld's Real-Life Saga] ," ICv2, May 8, 2008. Retrieved on June 4, 2008.]

In February 2008, Harper Perennial published the "New York Times" bestseller "Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs By Writers Famous and Obscure," which came from a six-word memoir contest held on "Smith" (and co-sponsored by Twitter) in 2007. "Not Quite What I Was Planning" collects almost 1,000 six-word memoirs, including pieces from celebrities like Stephen Colbert, Jane Goodall, Dave Eggers, and more. "Vanity Fair" magazine wrote that "Not Quite What I Was Planning" "will thrill minimalists and inspire maximalists," while "Publisher's Weekly" said it made for "compulsive reading and prove arguably as insightful as any 300+-page biography." [" [http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6522070.html Web Exclusive Reviews: Week of 1/14] " "Publisher's Weekly", Jan. 14, 2008.]

In April 2008, "Smith" launched its third webcomic project, "Next Door Neighbor," edited by Dean Haspiel. "Next Door Neighbor" featuring true-life stories of next-door neighbors by some of the comics industry's top talents. New episode appear biweekly.

In May 2008, SMITH announced three new Six-Word Memoir book projects: "Six Word Memoirs on Love & Heartbreak" (due out February 2009), then a book of six-word memoirs by and for teens, and finally a straightforward sequel to the first book.

Contributors and recurring features

Featured bloggers on "Smith" include Larry Smith, Tim Barkow, Jeffrey Yamaguchi, Jeremy Sadowski, Katherine Sharpe, Kathy Ritchie, Rachel Fershleiser, and Douglas Rushkoff.

Storytelling "anchors" of the site include "Six Words" ("Six Words," "Six Words on Love & Heartbreak," and "A Life in Bites"), "Story Projects" ("Next Door Neighbors," "Pregnancy Stories," "Brushes With Fame," "My Ex," and "My Life So Far"), "Blogs" ("Memoirville," "Obsessions," and "The Diary Project") and Comics ("Shooting War," "A.D.", and "Next Door Neighbor").

History

"Smith" was founded January 6, 2006— [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/eastsidenews/2002142696_grin06e.html National Smith Day] —by writer/editor Larry Smith and designer Tim Barkow. Previous to launching "Smith", Larry Smith was articles editor of "Men’s Journal", and has been the executive editor of "Yahoo! Internet Life", and senior editor at "ESPN Magazine", and a founding editor of "P.O.V." and "Might" magazines. Tim Barkow is a former editor at Wired and the online general manager at "Portland Monthly".

Books published

* Neufeld, Josh. "A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge". Pantheon Graphic Novels, 2009 (forthcoming).
* Smith, Larry, and Fershleiser, Rachel. "Six Word Memoirs on Love & Heartbreak". Harper Perennial, 2009 (forthcoming).
* Lappé, Anthony, and Goldman, Dan. "Shooting War". Grand Central Publishing, 2007. ISBN 978-0446581202.
* Smith, Larry, and Fershleiser, Rachel. "Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure". Harper Perennial, 2008. ISBN 978-0061374050.

References

External links

* [http://www.Smithmag.net "Smith" website]
* [http://www.sixwordmemoir.com Official Six-Word Memoir website]
* [http://www.smithmag.net/afterthedeluge "A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge" website]
* [http://www.ShootingWar.com "Shooting War" website]
* [http://www.smithmag.net/nextdoorneighbor Next-Door Neighbor website]
* [http://gothamist.com/2007/04/23/larry_smith_fou.php Gothamist interview with editor Larry Smith]