electronic book review - an online literary review, but also a retrospective "view" of the book - promotes innovation on the Internet and criticism that addresses the electronic future of fiction, poetry, criticism, and the visual arts.

ebr has been the academic/critical wing of the Alt-X site since 1995. ebr is both a literary and new media art journal and a research and development platform that investigates creative uses of applied technology in print and electronic media.

ebr continues to seek critical writing not only on, but in, hypertext. We are interested especially in exploring narratives whose logic is as much visual as verbal, and we prefer thoughtful overviews, polemics, and review essays to evaluations of single works.

DESIGN

The current design of ebr is a visual ordering of an editorial project that evolved haphazardly over the first five issues. Rather than reject the design elements and signature themes that emerged from the staff's untutored experiments in issues 1-5, we have preserved the early templates and combined them into a graphic style that harmonizes with the journal's initial editorial vision. Thematic threads are keyed to the background colors that now serve to identify topics of continuing concern: electropoetics, ecocriticism (green and gray), selling out (on public intellectuals), postfeminist writing, webarts, and writing under (medial) constraint.

The emerging design of ebr (scheduled for the summer of 2001) will be a constantly changing dynamic interface that should allow ebr to do away with periodical publication altogether. The new design develops the textile metaphor of the current site by making each individual essay a thread that interweaves with other essays and themes. The interface will become a fabric comprised of these threads, visually mapping connections between essays determined by the editors, and patterns of use and interest determined by the readers.

REVIEW PROCESS

Every ebr essay is reviewed by editor Joseph Tabbi, publisher Mark Amerika, and designer Anne Burdick. In addition, each issue is guest edited, and that editor serves as the first reader for new submissions. Once the editor's work on an issue is complete, that editor is listed as an editorial board member and remains available to review future submissions. The editorial board includes past guest editors Jan Baetans (Univ. of Maastricht and Univ. of Leuven), Elizabeth Joyce (Carnegie Mellon), Michael Bérubé (Univ. of Illinois), Cary Wolfe (SUNY Albany), Steve Tomasula (Notre Dame), and Daniel Wenk (Stuttgart); contributing editors Linda Brigham (Kansas State University) and Paul Harris (Loyola Marymount) are also available for consultation.

ebr is a forum in which critical discussion is staged. Therefore the editors reserve the right, upon acceptance, to circulate manuscripts among selected outside readers for commentary. This continuing process extends the traditional concept of academic peer review *past* publication and brings the review process into the open. Suitable commentaries may be published along with the original submission in our riPOSTe section, and authors are welcome to respond in turn. Contributors who do not want a manuscript to be circulated should indicate their wishes upon submission. Contributor email addresses are published on the ebrINFO pages, unless a contributor asks us to withold this information.

SUBMISSIONS

All contributions should be titled. Each essay will be listed with its date of release. Except for copy corrections, once an essay is placed onsite, it is final. In the new design, publication will continue to be regular, but no longer will an essay or riposte be tied to a periodical issue. All submissions should carry full publication information about the book or books under discussion; also, please provide publisher’s mailing address or website for small press titles.

We expect formatted e-copy, in an attachment that is Windows-compatible; or, you may mark up your own copy in conformance with our templates; or we will gladly download the finished text from your website.

Shortly before publication, essays will be placed at the ebr worksite. Authors will then be asked to proofread their work and send all corrections (c/o ebr@uic.edu) before the final file transfer to the ebr site.

While we welcome unsolicited reviews, we prefer to make assignments that include understandings about length and due date, so it’s best to query first. Contact editor Joseph Tabbi (c/o ebr@uic.edu).