Too good to throw away: the drama of literary funding
Wednesday, November 24th, 2010
Jacinda Woodhead, Associate editor, Overland journal
There is an unsolved mystery connected to Overland’s past: it’s the regularity of ‘aluminium can’ advertising that was featured throughout the 70s. Who can say how it started, or why Overland editors or aluminium can manufacturers thought literary journal readers would be so stirred by the can? Yet it’s a classic example of the extraordinary lengths a journal goes to to secure funding.
Overland still runs a few adverts, though they tend to be limited to fellow journals and RRR. Older issues of Overland, however, feature numerous ads for publishing houses, the Times Literary Supplement and editor bio commercials – presumably to attract new writers and underscore the literary credibility of said publishing house. (Perhaps this is no longer fashionable because the value of editor has depreciated since it became an overwhelmingly female profession?)
The Australian Book Review and Kill Your Darlings advertise on their websites and in their print counterparts, which must only go a fraction of the way to alleviating costs. Arena, which has never applied for any government funding, runs ads in their print publication, but only for politically aligned businesses. (more…)
