Why CNET is now publishing fiction

Alexandra Alter of the New York Times writes about how tech news site CNET is now publishing fiction as long as it pertains to technology.

Alter writes, “In an era when many general interest magazines have abandoned publishing short fiction, CNET is entering the literary arena with a new monthly series, Technically Literate, which will feature short stories about technology and how it shapes our lives. For its first stories, CNET has recruited several prominent Bay Area authors, including Ms. Richmond, the novelist Nayomi Munaweera; Cristina Garcia, author of ‘Dreaming in Cuban’; and Anthony Marra, author of ‘The Tsar of Love and Techno.’

“The fiction series grew out of an effort to attract new audiences to CNET, which has more than 33 million monthly visitors. When the site was introduced about 20 years ago, technology was still a niche subject. Now, technology saturates practically every facet of daily life and takes center stage in movies, television and fiction, including in the HBO show ‘Silicon Valley’ and recent novels by Dave Eggers, Jonathan Franzen and Joshua Cohen.

“‘We hope it will help us expand our brand,’ Connie Guglielmo, CNET News’s editor in chief, said of the series. ‘If you don’t experiment, you stay in place, and that’s kind of counter to the culture here.’

“To shepherd the stories, CNET brought in the novelist Janis Cooke Newman, who will serve as editor at large for Technically Literate.”

Read more here.