TSR Newsletter: One Month Anniversary

Going solo

I started The Seaboard Review (TSR) on April Fool’s Day 2024 on a whim. Was it foolish of me to want to start another review site so soon after relinquishing editorial control of The Miramichi Reader (TMR)?

I was asked: “Could you still not write reviews for TMR? Or, “Are you trying to compete with your old site?”

To answer the first question, yes, I could still write reviews for TMR, and I still do. However, I liked having a website that was mine, to do with as I pleased. TMR was getting so big (and popular) that I felt the need to bend to the wishes of others and the prevailing winds of the book industry. I was uncomfortable with the entire thing and decided I had better get out as it wasn’t fun anymore. Having TSR is a fresh start for me. I decided to put it on Substack, as it keeps it simple and reduces the time needed to maintain an actual website. It lets me focus on the content. It may not be SEO-friendly, but that’s another issue.

As for the second question, about competition with TMR, I say: “there’s no competition in Canada for book review sites.” There are few venues, print or electronically that have book reviews. TMR filled a bit of that void, but there’s room for a lot more. Besides, TSR competing with TMR is a David & Goliath thing. Think of The Seaboard Review as my “solo” project. I have left the band, so to speak and have gone solo.

Today, I searched TMR for my recent reviews and found that I hadn’t written many in the last year. I was too busy maintaining the site and editing the submitted reviews that I no longer had time to read. However, I have completed four reviews here at TSR along with an interview in just one month. I may not keep up that level of productivity, but TSR is off to a promising start!

It’s fine to see the number of subscribers after one month too. As of this writing, there are 29, and a number of them are paid subscribers. I do not intend to put up a paywall here at TSR. However, paid subscribers are welcome, as the books I review here do not always come gratis from the author or publisher. I have purchased some of them, to support the author as well as the independent presses that publish their books. Plus, I am being picky about the books I review!

So, what can you look forward to from The Seaboard Review?

Reviews of:

• Making Up the Gods by Marion Agnew (Latitude 46 Publishing) DONE

• Morel by Maxime Raymond Bock (QC Fiction) DONE

• The Human Scale by Michael Lista (Vehicule Press) DONE

• A Gentleman and a Thief by Dean Jobb (HarperCollins Canada) DONE

In conclusion, I want to thank you for supporting TSR in its inaugural month. It’s great to see that many of the friends I made through my decade fronting TMR are supporting me here. Thanks for being a part of my solo venture!

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