The Nervous Breakdown, the Hit Online Literary Collective, Reveals New Look

"With shrinking media outlets for authors to feature their works, TheNervousBreakdown.com is a welcomed addition to the worldwide web." -- Jeff Rivera, Galley Cat

New York, NY (PRWEB) November 17, 2009

The Nervous Breakdown, the hit online literary collective known as TNB, unveils its new look and expanded content this week. Founded in 2006 by best-selling novelist Brad Listi, TNB has quintupled its readership in the first ten months of 2009 alone, now drawing almost 50,000 unique readers every month.

In addition to memoirs and essays by a stable of almost 200 published and emerging authors from Auckland to New York, TNB will now include fiction and poetry; podcasts of live TNB literary events; fiction and poetry sections; featured columns from literary blogs LitPark, WordHustler, and Three Guys One Book; a fun segment called "View From Your Phone"; and a sleek new layout and design.

"A lot of the old DIY, punk rock ethos is still intact--and this is the beauty of technology--but we're now growing into a more substantial publication, and our content and design will reflect that," says Listi, author of Attention. Deficit. Disorder..

A "strength in numbers" approach to literary communities, plus a willingness to embrace new media, has helped The Nervous Breakdown earn a devoted following.

"The new site is a quantum leap forward for us," adds Jonathan Evison, award-winning author of All About Lulu and TNB's executive editor. "The array of writers on our roll is dizzying, and every one of them has the same golden opportunity to sort out their demand the old-fashioned way: by writing great stuff, and interfacing with readers."

In addition to Listi and Evison, contributors include Alexander Chee, Jessica Anya Blau, D.R. Haney, Greg Olear, Ron Currie, Jr., Shya Scanlon, Stefan Kiesbye, Gina Frangello, Stacy Bierlein, Todd Zuniga, Eric Spitznagel, and Tao Lin.

"Five years ago, I'd barely heard of a blog," Listi recalls. "Nevertheless, I took my agent's advice and went online and started writing. A community formed around my work, much to my surprise, and it started to become apparent that this was the new thing, a new way for writers and readers to interact."

For more information or to arrange an interview with Brad Listi, please contact Kari Johnson at Healy Gates Media: (310) 213-9410.

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