Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Massive egos, expert marketing

DiGangi's been out making enemies again, when he should be writing papers for school, out drinking with publishing professionals, and reading submissions from Spencer Dew and Mike Boyle.

So there's this blog called JavaScript Warrior that's been making the rounds recently, and they have a bunch of contributors, several of whom have been published in Thieves Jargon, including their leader, who I'm going to call Tao Lin, simply as a code name.

I thought, in the idea of common interest, I'd email Tao, asking if he’d like to do a link exchange, since Thieves Jargon has, in the past, published not only him, but several of his authors. Makes a certain amount of sense.

When Tao didn’t write back, I made a post on a different contributor's blog post, one of the guys who has been published in TJ a handful of times, asking if he knew anything about how I could get an answer.

Tao responded to the blog, saying he didn’t read his email. One of his many sycophants said that I was being an asshole. Another sycophant suggested I call Tao an asshole for being disinterested in anybody who doesn't first fictionally finger his bung a little bit. A Thieves Jargon sycophant said that Thieves Jargon is dope.

To show that I was genuine and meant no offense, I offered Tao a free JavaScript Warrior ad on Thieves Jargon. I also made a post about how we’re all on the same team, and I wanted to play along, because for all of us, the championship should be the main goal. I also mentioned that it worked fine either way, because neither Thieves Jargon or JavaScript Warrior needed the other, and we could be standoffish to great benefit (see box score, later).

Tao decided that making a blog post about how everything I did was wrong would be more important than gaining a small bit of exposure for himself and all of the other JSW writers who have homes in the Thieves Jargon archives.

Something about this struck me as strange, because one of the ways he said to get a JVS link was to “do something.” Offering a free ad seems to be “doing something.”

Tao and I both realized that his particular story in the Thieves Jargon archives wasn’t as good as that of any of the other JSW writers who have been published in Thieves Jargon. This morning, I deleted his story, and everybody is happy.

Thieves Jargon has received 77 new submissions today, up from an average of 25.

I'd rather not say it, but everything bad said about TJ this afternoon should be seen as a slam on all of the fine JavaScript Warrior writers who have had their work accepted by and showcased in Thieves Jargon.

This has worked out well for everbody, except for those writers, who I respect very much, and the readers who won’t find their way to JSW because Tao decided to take his ball and go home. To all of them, I’d like to personally and sincerely apologize.

Final score:
Thieves Jargon 77, JavaScript Warrior 0.

Big egos, (mine being the biggest), suck shit.

13 comments:

Brad Green said...

I sense increasing traffic.

Anonymous said...

I'm sick of their arrogant, narcissistic ways. Sure, their narcissism makes for entertaining blog posts, but it will all wear thin sooner or later. It's kinda like getting to eavesdrop on what's going on at the cool kid's lunch table...

Anonymous said...

after a few tangos with google i was unable to find this 'javascript warrior' thing. even after linking it with 'tao lin' and 'writing'.

i suppose providing the link is against the point.

fuck tao. i hear he's a baby.

Anonymous said...

If he provided a link, the score would get closer.

Anonymous said...

Somthing about this all feels very unprofessional.

Matt DiGangi said...

I promise to adjust my attitude when I become a professional.

gustavo.rivera said...

oh my...

i searched around for this javawarrior thing to find nothing.

Anonymous said...

http://htmlgiant.com/?p=1869#comments

Anonymous said...

thanks for the link. it's confusing over there. i don't get it. but i do wish i was wittier had a cool blog with a nice format and strange pictures.

Anonymous said...

I don't get it either. It seems very Warhol-esk, you know, create your own scene... even if it sucks. Make a tight circle of friends, and generate a buzz. It seems to be more about "pop culture" and self-promotion than about poetry. I can wait them out...

P. H. M. said...

This post was very funny. I was so unmotivated by their bullshit, I just used the name carol novack in good timing and balled out. Note that the majority of the contributors are not like that fucking jason jordan guy, who now has the credit of attacking us both... what a pussy... what a dildo... i dunno... i am quite durnk now

P. H. M. said...

well jordan is not even his name but right now i cannot think of it

Anonymous said...

That Tao Lin actually had nothing to do with this at all strikes me as a bit hilarious.