Lithub, a new web endeavor from Electric Literature with partnerships between publishers, magazines, journals, and existing websites, launched yesterday with the aim of becoming a portal at the center of the literary world. The Guardian caught up with site editor Jonny Diamond who explained how the website hopes to operate:

“The very basic quid pro quo is an ad in exchange for a feature or excerpt. With booksellers, we’ll be doing curated reading lists (old, new, iconic, obscure), digital staff recommendation shelves (“my first stop at any new bookstore”) and more. Our hope is that by creating a smart, engaging site devoted to literary culture, we’ll be able to catalyse the kinds of conversations about books that are good for the entire literary community.”