Scalzi Supersizes “Big Idea”

“Big Idea,” a regular feature on John Scalzi’s Whatever blog, has proven so successful that it’s getting a whole new platform of its own, reported GalleyCat on February 11.

BigIdeaAuthors.com will debut April 20, 2009. A preview tells visitors that in these “Big Idea” pieces,

…authors explain in a short essay a major or motivating idea for their latest works.

BigIdeaAuthors.com will use that idea as the cornerstone of an online literary site designed to inform readers about new books, entertain them through author essays, appearances and interviews, and motivate them to buy new books and discuss them with friends and acquaintances.

Of course, the best place to get news about Scalzi is from Scalzi. GalleyCat also interviewed him about the project:

Scalzi was quick to note the decline of book coverage in the mainstream media in recent years. “As an author, that concerns me,” he acknowledged. “As a person who wants to tell people about books, it concerns me… [Newspapers] are cutting back on the things that their readers actually want to see, and it’s stupid.”

The new site’s leadership team is Publisher William Schafer, of Subterranean Press, Executive Editor John Scalzi, and Editor Yanni Kuznia, Director of Production at Subterranean Press.

[Thanks to Andrew Porter for the link.]