Smith Magazine
Encyclopedia
Smith Magazine is a U.S.-based online magazine
devoted to storytelling in all its forms. Smiths content is participatory in nature, and the magazine welcomes contributions from all its readers. The magazine has made a name for itself with its original graphic novel projects Shooting War, A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge, and Next Door Neighbor; and with its series of Six-Word Memoirs
projects. Most of these projects have since gone from web to print publication, from such publishers as HarperCollins
, Pantheon
, and Grand Central Publishing.
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
.
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,” “a gigantic cocktail party to which everyone is invited to come, listen, and contribute their own personal stories," and “the pulse of today’s cultural narrative."
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 A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge
. New chapters appeared monthly on Smith through the summer of 2008. A.D. 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 August 2009.
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."
and Rachel Fershleiser's six-word memoirs are, respectively, "Big hair, big heart, big hurry" and "Bespectacled, besneakered, read and ran around."
In an interview with Adam Phillips of VOA News and the online audio program "Wordmaster," Rachel Fershleiser defines a "memoir" as the following:
Larry Smith followed up by defining "memoir" in his words:
This project spawned a book collection of Six-Word Memoirs. The book, Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure is the first in the Six-Word Memoir series.
Editors Smith & Fershleiser traveled around the country in 2008 on a Six-Word Memoir book and promotional tour.
Similar to the first six-word reader project, the Six-Word Memoirs on Love & Heartbreak project asked readers to reveal their most intimate six words on the loves of their lives.
The Love & Heartbreak projected culminated in a book which SMITH Magazine touted as a "roller-coaster ride through the complexities of the human heart." The book launched a book tour, and in 2009, Smith and Fershleiser traveled around the country promoting the new, second book and the Six-Word Memoir phenomenon. SMITH Magazine created a video to illustrate the memoirs collected for the Love & Heartbreak book. The video was played on the book tour and can also be found online.
, Found Magazine
, Mortified, and Cassette From My Ex joined SMITH for an evening of storytelling, singing, and multimedia projects.
The Smith Teens site has several features that are regularly used by SMITH teen-readers. The WordCloud, which is a collection of words on one page that link to a list of Six-Word Memoirs that reference the clicked word. Featured entries, which highlights the best of the teen Six-Word Memoirs. Lastly, the SMITH Teens site has a blog devoted to teen Six-Word Memoir news on the Internet and in the media.
, the leading media outlet dedicated to driving sustainability mainstream, to bring SMITH readers a six-word project/contest based on "The Green Life." This theme was generally interpreted as a chance to describe one's views on living green, and their experiences with this lifestyle.
The contest has ended, but the story project page is still open for submissions.
The three winning entries were: "Mommy's boobies no longer Daddy's boobies," by Jessica Blankton; "Suffered miscarriage. Daughter offered her doll," by Tara Lazar; and "Can I pee in private, please?" by Sheryl Stein.
In 2009, Smith Magazine held another Six-Word Momoir contest, this time partnering with the websites truuconfessions and Postcards from Yo Momma. Winners received signed copies of three books from the partners and SMITH; three-runners up won one book of their choice. This contest closed on May 10, 2009.
Nancy Lenox won with “Two children. Accidents, but not mistakes.” For the MOMoir About Your Own Mom, the top choice was “Screw cancer. Mom went to Paris,” by Leslie Constans.
Runners-up:
“It’s not that kind of diet.” (Alison Carey)
“Egg cream is a dirty lie.” (Marcia Gaye)
“About that fire in the kitchen…” (Lauran Strait)
“Coffee, like love, is bitterly addictive” (Laurie Schmidt)
“It’s best just to eat it.” (Patti Williams)
Winner:
"Are you going to eat that?" Nancy Elliot
inspire America. SMITH asked readers to use six words to give him guidance, offer ideas for his inaugural address, or share six memorable words for January 20 and beyond.
Six contest winners were chosen and won a Six-Word Memoir book, and a one year's membership to the National Constitution Center. One grand-prize winner also won a leather bound volume of the United States Constitution
.
run by Smith editors and guest interviewers. Memoirville is dedicated to new memoirs by famous writers, and newly published authors.
and its aftermath from the perspective of real people still dealing with the storm each and every day. A two-part prologue sets the scene and shows the storm, almost like a silent movie. A.D. is a nonfiction graphic novel, a new approach to storytelling, and a multifaceted peek into the personal tales emerging from the storm of the century. This is a true story from Josh Neufeld
. The series was released as a book in August 2009.
In the fall of 2006, the story was acquired by Grand Central Publishing for publication as a hardcover graphic novel in North America and in the U.K. by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. The full-color 192-page hardcover graphic novel tells a story of the future of war, terrorism, and journalism.
Online magazine
An online magazine shares some features with a blog and also with online newspapers, but can usually be distinguished by its approach to editorial control...
devoted to storytelling in all its forms. Smiths content is participatory in nature, and the magazine welcomes contributions from all its readers. The magazine has made a name for itself with its original graphic novel projects Shooting War, A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge, and Next Door Neighbor; and with its series of Six-Word Memoirs
Six-Word Memoirs
Six-Word Memoirs is a project founded by the U.S.-based online storytelling magazine Smith Magazine. Like that publication, Six-Word Memoirs seek to provide a platform for storytelling in all its forms.-History:...
projects. Most of these projects have since gone from web to print publication, from such publishers as HarperCollins
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
, Pantheon
Pantheon Books
Pantheon Books is an American imprint with editorial independence that is part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.The current editor-in-chief at Pantheon Books is Dan Frank.-Overview:...
, and Grand Central Publishing.
History
Smith was founded January 6, 2006 — National Smith Day — by writer/editor Larry SmithLarry Smith (editor)
Larry Smith is an American author and editor, and publisher of SMITH Magazine. He is best-known for developing the "Six-Word Memoir" a literary subgenre that took on a life of its own in popular culture as publications began holding reader contests and publishing the results...
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
Yahoo! Internet Life
Yahoo! Internet Life was a monthly magazine published by Ziff-Davis, which licensed the name from Yahoo!, the well-known web portal and search engine website. It was created and launched by G. Barry Golson, the former executive editor of Playboy and TV Guide.It dealt with the emerging Internet and...
, and senior editor at ESPN Magazine, and a founding editor of P.O.V.
P.O.V.
POV is a Public Broadcasting Service Public television series which features independent nonfiction films. POV is a cinema term for "point of view"....
and Might
Might magazine
Might was a San Francisco-based magazine co-founded in the early 1990s by David Moodie, Marny Requa and Dave Eggers, who went on to describe the magazine's rise and fall in his bestselling memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius....
magazines. Tim Barkow is a former editor at Wired and the online general manager at Portland Monthly
Portland Monthly
Portland Monthly is a monthly news and general interest magazine which covers events and culture in Portland, Oregon. The magazine was co-founded in 2003 by siblings Nicole and Scott Vogel. Nicole had previously worked for Cendant Corporation and Time Warner, and Scott had been a journalist at The...
.
The site focuses on "personal media": blogs
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
, memoirs
Memoir
A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
, 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,” “a gigantic cocktail party to which everyone is invited to come, listen, and contribute their own personal stories," and “the pulse of today’s cultural narrative."
In the spring of 2006, Smith launched the critically acclaimed webcomic
Webcomic
Webcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are comics published on a website. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers or often in self-published books....
Shooting War
Shooting War
Shooting War is a webcomic and graphic novel by writer Anthony Lappé and artist Dan Goldman. It originated on SMITH Magazine, a web magazine about storytelling in all its forms. The story is set in the year 2011 with John McCain as the American president. It tells the story of a video-blogger named...
, 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
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
called A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge
A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge
A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge is a non-fiction graphic novel by cartoonist Josh Neufeld. It tells the stories of a handful of real-life New Orleans residents and their experiences during and after Hurricane Katrina. A.D. was a New York Times best-seller and was nominated for a 2010 Eisner...
. New chapters appeared monthly on Smith through the summer of 2008. A.D. 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
Pantheon Books
Pantheon Books is an American imprint with editorial independence that is part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.The current editor-in-chief at Pantheon Books is Dan Frank.-Overview:...
in August 2009.
In February 2008, Harper Perennial
Harper Perennial
Harper Perennial is a paperback imprint of the publishing house HarperCollins Publishers. Harper Perennial has divisions located in New York, London, Toronto, and Sydney. The imprint is descended from the Perennial Library imprint founded by Harper & Row in 1964...
published the New York Times bestseller Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs
Six-Word Memoirs
Six-Word Memoirs is a project founded by the U.S.-based online storytelling magazine Smith Magazine. Like that publication, Six-Word Memoirs seek to provide a platform for storytelling in all its forms.-History:...
By Writers Famous and Obscure, which came from a six-word memoir contest held on Smith (and co-sponsored by Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
) in 2007. Not Quite What I Was Planning collects almost 1,000 six-word memoirs, including pieces from celebrities like Stephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Tyrone Colbert is an American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor. He is the host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, a satirical news show in which Colbert portrays a caricatured version of conservative political pundits.Colbert originally studied to be an...
, Jane Goodall
Jane Goodall
Dame Jane Morris Goodall, DBE , is a British primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist, and UN Messenger of Peace. Considered to be the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best known for her 45-year study of social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National...
, Dave Eggers
Dave Eggers
Dave Eggers is an American writer, editor, and publisher. He is known for the best-selling memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and for his more recent work as a screenwriter. He is also the co-founder of the literacy project 826 Valencia.-Life:Eggers was born in Boston, Massachusetts,...
, and more. Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
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."
Six-Word Memoirs
The Six-Word Memoir project was the first in a series of several "Six-Word" reader driven projects on the SMITH Magazine website. Six-Word Memoirs are simple stories told in six words (no more, no less) that describe anything from the mundane details of someone's childhood to the most private events in a romantic relationship. For example, Six-Word Memoirs book series editors Larry Smith (editor)Larry Smith (editor)
Larry Smith is an American author and editor, and publisher of SMITH Magazine. He is best-known for developing the "Six-Word Memoir" a literary subgenre that took on a life of its own in popular culture as publications began holding reader contests and publishing the results...
and Rachel Fershleiser's six-word memoirs are, respectively, "Big hair, big heart, big hurry" and "Bespectacled, besneakered, read and ran around."
Larry Smith followed up by defining "memoir" in his words:
This project spawned a book collection of Six-Word Memoirs. The book, Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure is the first in the Six-Word Memoir series.
Editors Smith & Fershleiser traveled around the country in 2008 on a Six-Word Memoir book and promotional tour.
Six-Word Memoirs on Love & Heartbreak
The Love & Heartbreak projected culminated in a book which SMITH Magazine touted as a "roller-coaster ride through the complexities of the human heart." The book launched a book tour, and in 2009, Smith and Fershleiser traveled around the country promoting the new, second book and the Six-Word Memoir phenomenon. SMITH Magazine created a video to illustrate the memoirs collected for the Love & Heartbreak book. The video was played on the book tour and can also be found online.
Love & Heartbreak event
In February 2009, Smith Magazine, along with several other websites/magazines, hosted a special event: “The Valentine’s Day Personal Media Mixer & Confessional Culture Variety Show.” PostSecretPostSecret
PostSecret is an ongoing community mail art project, created by Frank Warren, in which people mail their secrets anonymously on a homemade postcard...
, Found Magazine
Found Magazine
Found Magazine, created by Davy Rothbart and Jason Bitner and based in Ann Arbor, Michigan and New York City, collects and catalogs found notes, photos, and other interesting items, publishing them in an irregularly-issued magazine, in books, and on its website...
, Mortified, and Cassette From My Ex joined SMITH for an evening of storytelling, singing, and multimedia projects.
Six-Word Memoirs for Teens
In 2008, Smith Magazine launched SMITH Teens, the only Six-Word project with a devoted website which provides heightened reader interaction and Six-Word Memoir creation. Like the other Six-Word Memoir projects, SMITH Teens transformed into a collection of Six-Word Memoirs; this time all by teens (ages 13–19), and will be released as a book in late 2009.The Smith Teens site has several features that are regularly used by SMITH teen-readers. The WordCloud, which is a collection of words on one page that link to a list of Six-Word Memoirs that reference the clicked word. Featured entries, which highlights the best of the teen Six-Word Memoirs. Lastly, the SMITH Teens site has a blog devoted to teen Six-Word Memoir news on the Internet and in the media.
Six Words on The Green Life
Six Words on The Green Life was a SMITH six-word story contest. Smith partnered with eco-website TreeHuggerTreeHugger
TreeHugger is a prominent sustainability website. It was rated the top sustainability blog of 2007 by Nielsen Netratings,and was included in Time Magazine's 2009 blog index as one of the top twenty-five blogs....
, the leading media outlet dedicated to driving sustainability mainstream, to bring SMITH readers a six-word project/contest based on "The Green Life." This theme was generally interpreted as a chance to describe one's views on living green, and their experiences with this lifestyle.
The contest has ended, but the story project page is still open for submissions.
Six-Word Memoirs
In 2008, Smith Magazine held a Six-Word Momoir contest leading up to Mother's Day. Smith partnered with shopping site Delight.com to offer a $50 gift certificate for each of the three winners.The three winning entries were: "Mommy's boobies no longer Daddy's boobies," by Jessica Blankton; "Suffered miscarriage. Daughter offered her doll," by Tara Lazar; and "Can I pee in private, please?" by Sheryl Stein.
In 2009, Smith Magazine held another Six-Word Momoir contest, this time partnering with the websites truuconfessions and Postcards from Yo Momma. Winners received signed copies of three books from the partners and SMITH; three-runners up won one book of their choice. This contest closed on May 10, 2009.
Nancy Lenox won with “Two children. Accidents, but not mistakes.” For the MOMoir About Your Own Mom, the top choice was “Screw cancer. Mom went to Paris,” by Leslie Constans.
Six-Word Memoirs on The Food Life
Smith Magazine and food media website Chow challenged readers to define their food life in the Six-Word Memoir format. Winners of this contest won a Six-Word Memoir book, and a personalized iPod nano.Runners-up:
“It’s not that kind of diet.” (Alison Carey)
“Egg cream is a dirty lie.” (Marcia Gaye)
“About that fire in the kitchen…” (Lauran Strait)
“Coffee, like love, is bitterly addictive” (Laurie Schmidt)
“It’s best just to eat it.” (Patti Williams)
Winner:
"Are you going to eat that?" Nancy Elliot
Six Words for America
In 2008, Smith Magazine and the National Constitution Center asked readers to help ten-President-elect Barack ObamaBarack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
inspire America. SMITH asked readers to use six words to give him guidance, offer ideas for his inaugural address, or share six memorable words for January 20 and beyond.
Six contest winners were chosen and won a Six-Word Memoir book, and a one year's membership to the National Constitution Center. One grand-prize winner also won a leather bound volume of the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
.
My Life So Far
This is an ongoing Smith reader project that invites writers to share their memoirs-in-progress or a personal essay.My Ex
This is an ongoing Smith reader project that invites writers to share their stories about ex-boyfriends/girlfriends/lovers.Brushes With Fame
This is an ongoing Smith reader project that invites writers to share their stories about unexpectedly running into celebrities.Editor's Blog
This is a Smith team run blog. The Editor's Blog is a place for the Smith team to post Smith news and other miscellaneous information about the writing world.Memoirville
This is a blogBlog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
run by Smith editors and guest interviewers. Memoirville is dedicated to new memoirs by famous writers, and newly published authors.
My Home Birth
This Smith graphic memoir was created by Christen Clifford and drawn by David Heatley. The graphic memoir documents Clifford's experience with giving birth to her daughter, Vera, at home.Graphic Therapy
Graphic Therapy: Notes from the Gap Years is the illustrated diary of single Jewish artist Emily Steinberg making her own way through life, work, and psychoanalysis.A.D. New Orleans After the Deluge
A.D. tells the story of Hurricane KatrinaHurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
and its aftermath from the perspective of real people still dealing with the storm each and every day. A two-part prologue sets the scene and shows the storm, almost like a silent movie. A.D. is a nonfiction graphic novel, a new approach to storytelling, and a multifaceted peek into the personal tales emerging from the storm of the century. This is a true story from Josh Neufeld
Josh Neufeld
Josh Neufeld is an alternative cartoonist known for his nonfiction comics on subjects like Hurricane Katrina, international travel, and finance, as well as his collaborations with writers like Harvey Pekar and Brooke Gladstone...
. The series was released as a book in August 2009.
Shooting War
Shooting War began as a serialized web comic here Smith in May 2006. It was released online as a short series, but eventually turned into an 11 bi-weekly chapters as reader and media interest grew.In the fall of 2006, the story was acquired by Grand Central Publishing for publication as a hardcover graphic novel in North America and in the U.K. by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. The full-color 192-page hardcover graphic novel tells a story of the future of war, terrorism, and journalism.
Books published
- 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.
- Smith, Larry, and Fershleiser, Rachel. Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure—Deluxe Edition. Harper Perennial, 2008. ISBN 978-0061713712.
- Smith, Larry, and Fershleiser, Rachel. Six Word Memoirs on Love & Heartbreak: by Writers Famous and Obscure. Harper Perennial, January 2009. ISBN 978-0061714627.
- Neufeld, JoshJosh NeufeldJosh Neufeld is an alternative cartoonist known for his nonfiction comics on subjects like Hurricane Katrina, international travel, and finance, as well as his collaborations with writers like Harvey Pekar and Brooke Gladstone...
. A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge Pantheon Graphic NovelsPantheon BooksPantheon Books is an American imprint with editorial independence that is part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.The current editor-in-chief at Pantheon Books is Dan Frank.-Overview:...
, August 2009. ISBN 978-0307378149. - Smith, Larry, and Fershleiser, Rachel. I Can't Keep My Own Secrets: Six-Word Memoirs by Teens Famous & Obscure. Harper Teen, September 2009. ISBN 978-0061726842.