Fear Not, Fictionaut

Web site brings together writers for some lit crit

By Laura Castellano
Published: July 8th, 2009 | 9:50am

Literary magazine editors accept or reject but rarely comment. Often,writers are left without feedback and readers without a say. Even online magazines are words locked on a page. Thankfully, Jürgen Fauth is ready to liberate the lit magazine.

Fictionaut.com, the new “literary social networking website,” is devoid of editorial “gatekeepers,” as Fauth calls them. After requesting a password, users post and comment
on stories (some previously published) with the click of a mouse. An author’s note can explain the piece of writing and ask for critiques on particular section. It is fresh, short fiction (and a sprinkling of creative nonfiction, essays and poetry) in a noncompetitive atmosphere, where writers don’t feel compelled to impress editors, but rather “adventurous readers and writers.”

As an editor at one of the first online German language literary magazines, Fauth saw the need for a less hierarchical, more accessible forum. He kept expecting a user-driven, literary site to appear, but when one didn’t he recruited a programmer and went to work to create his own.

“The readers and writers on the site guide each other in this open community to find what’s good and what’s worth reading,” says Fauth.

Favorited stories are shown as links on a member’s main profile page, which are without flourish, sort of like Facebook. Self expression does not extend beyond the member’s original stories and comments—there are no fancy fonts or flashing videos. Black or blue font sits on a grey and white background. There are places for a photo, favorite authors, website information, and occupation (to which most participants answered “writer”).

Overall, the caliber of writing on the site is high, but this is most likely due to the fact that self-described writers make up the community and regulate it by being either encouraging or discouraging with their comments.

While the members guide, the site computes. The most-read, most-favorited, and most-commented upon stories are put into the “Fictionaut Recommends” box. And as the site gets larger, “popular tags,” like those on Flickr or YouTube, will help lead members to stories of a certain length (flash-fiction) or with particular keywords (pregnancy, New Orleans).

Newer stories appear on the front page, so these are immediately read. They’re not lost in the mix, which leaves the possibility for new talent to rise up, and those writers usually get the encouragement to do so.

“By removing the gatekeepers, we're giving anybody the chance to get discovered by the community and find a large audience,” says Fauth.

Right now the site is in beta testing phase, so it is still a rather small group of 700 members. When the site will go public in the next month, Fauth expects to do a little more policing on comments, but he hopes the friendly atmosphere will remain. But even while aware of the site's collegial air, Fauth found it difficult to post his own story.Unlike when he mailed stories in to literary magazines, he knew he could expect immediate feedback from Fictionaut.

“You have to be ready to step in and duke it out,” says Fauth. “There’s nobody in between you and your audience, and that’s a little scary.”

Pia Erhardt, a seasoned writer from New Orleans who recently had the“most favorited” story, “Ambulance,” agrees that it’s sometimes “terrifying” to post her unedited work, mostly because she respects what her fellow members are writing.

“Fictionaut seems fueled by support and good cheer rather than by workshoppy criticism,” says Ehrhardt. “I try to post work I think is as strong as what I'm reading on the site. Peer pressure.”

But even if, in the future, the comments may sting a little, at least members will have that “printed receipt” of co-writer commentary. And Fauth says he will be perfectly happy to fade into the background as the community grows, creating its own common interest groups, its own rules and, ultimately, its own talent.