It’s time to stop being wishy-washy about our value assessments. A few years ago, someone convinced me to drop the title “Best Blogs” from this annual list and change it to “Most Notable” blogs of the year. It made sense at the time, when the medium was still figuring itself out: chiefs were being chosen, voice still being refined. But as I began to assemble this year’s list, it became clear that, no, these blogs actually were my favorites, not merely the most interesting.

My plan was to allow anyone who wanted to read an advance copy of the book the opportunity to do so, provided they forwarded the book within a week to the next reader. I didn’t realize it at the time, but what I was doing played right into the new publishing environment, an environment that is still uncharted and mysterious. A brave new democratic book world where everyone is a potential reviewer.

Last week I published an interview with Jill Sobule on the website I edit, The Rumpus. Jill’s biggest song was the 1995 hit “I Kissed A Girl.” Katy Perry’s biggest song is also titled “I Kissed A Girl” and was written with the help of her manager, the same guy who originally signed Jill to her label. In the interview Jill Sobule called Katy Perry a “title thieving little slut”. What happened next taught me something new about the Internet: theft spreads.