Reader Meet Author: Stephen Markley

One of the hardest aspects of being a writer is the rejection. Well, it's not just rejection, but it the form-letter, cold rejection, mixed with extended periods of silence that really drive writers insane. However, from that insanity has come two things. First there is the new book from Chicago's Steven Markley called Publish This Book, and the second is the very cool thing that his publisher Sourcebooks is doing to promote the book. Markley's book tells the story of the frustrated writer, and Sourcebooks tries to give some constructive feedback to writers.

Sourcebooks promotion, Tearing Down The Walls, runs through May 9th and is guaranteed feedback on your manuscript. Here is how Markley explains the promotion, "you have a novel or a non-fiction book proposal, right? Well all you have to do is buy a copy of "Publish This Book" (because they are not doing this solely out of the goodness of their hearts), and send in the receipt or order confirmation along with your proposal. Then, in a few months (depending on how many people take them up on this), you will get back a critique written by a Sourcebooks editor or my agent, Julie. The promotion is set to run through May 9th (so get cracking)."

Recently, Stephen was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): Publish This Book feels like a story that wasn't your original story, but a story about promoting or selling that story. Where did this idea originate?
Stephen Markley (SM): “Publish This Book” was basically a bizarre post-post-modern concept born of my frustration at trying to get a novel or non-fiction book published. I felt as if I’d been banging my head against the wall for awhile trying to get a writing career off the ground, and so it was my way of venting some of that frustration. Or at least, at first it was because it grew into something far different. It’s a book not only for writers but anyone who has ever found him or herself at a juncture in life (especially when you’re young) that made no sense--where every route looks iffy at best. I feel as if it’s a deeply hopeful book masquerading as a cynic’s rant—which incidentally is the sanest way to approach life.

OA: What Sourcebooks is doing to promote the book with their Tearing Down The Walls promotion is revolutionary. Was this their idea or yours and as a writer how valuable is that type of feedback?
SM: This idea was all Sourcebooks. I'm lucky in that my editor, Peter Lynch, and agent, Julie Hill, have both been phenomenally excited about the book ever since I turned it in last year. Peter basically told me if he was ever going to do something insane to help promote a book, it would this one, and you can’t really ask for more support or enthusiasm than that. Aspiring writers would do well to note how seldom editors or agents actually write anything helpful on rejected proposals.

OA: The promotion ends May 9th. Do you have any idea what the response has been so far?
SM: As far as the response, anything short of every unpublished author in the country sending in a proposal will be something of a disappointment. Unpublished authors should definitely understand: to get any kind of personalized feedback from someone in the industry is a pretty once-in-a-blue-moon proposition. It's certiantly something I would have jumped all over when I was muddling through a few years ago.

OA: You also have a blog on Chicago Now. Do you enjoying blogging for Chicago Now/RedEye?
SM: It’s great to have a platform like RedEye/ChicagoNow when you’re starting out as an author. Beyond that, I find it fun to belt out 400 word posts on whatever pops into my head on a given day. Any time you have a platform to vent (with a built-in audience no less), you can’t complain. My approach to that material is a lot different than the book, but it’s been a really spectacular opportunity.

OA: Do you feel that there are enough opportunities out there for Chicago writers? Is Chicago a great place to be a writer in 2010?
SM: Probably no matter where you are, there are never enough opportunities for writers. It’s a crowded field whether you’re in Chicago or Siberia, and the people with the most perseverance are going to be the ones who float to the top most of the time. Looking at it from a strictly cold-blooded calculus, though, Chicago’s fantastic because it’s a major media market that doesn’t have the built-in expenses of a New York or L.A. I moved here broke and managed to stay broke and live comfortably for a few years while I built a career (although, I admit “comfortably” is likely in the eye of the beholder; I still sleep on a floor mattress).

OA: What's next for Stephen Markley?
SM: I'll probably make a couple of attempts to write the great American novel and try to retire before I'm 30. Prior to that, I'll be pushing "Publish This Book" until my ears bleed and everyone in the country has either read it or taken out a restraining order against me.

Bonus Questions:
OA: If you could sit down to coffee with anyone (alive or dead) who would it be?
SM: Without out a doubt: Barack Obama. I already thought he was one hell of an impressive writer and a staggering intellect when I read his book "Dreams From My Father" back in '04 while he was running for Senate. As far as memoirs go, I don't think he's credited with how lucid and thoughtful that book is. Of course, as soon as he started running for president, he had to stop being as brilliant (at least publicly) because nuanced thought terrifies the electorate, but I'm looking forward to his post-presidency tomes when he just doesn't give a f*** and can write openly about all the nutty stuff going on right now. I will stalk him for the rest of my life until he agrees to have a beer with me.

OA: What type of music do you listen to and who are a few of your favorites?
SM: I'm an outsized, absurd Bruce Springsteen fan. I think I was first attracted not by his music necessarily but by the depth of his writing. Writers everywhere should listen to an album like "Nebraska" or "Ghost of Tom Joad" and see how he manages to fit in more narrative development and explanation of the human soul in a four minute song than most novelists can cram into 700 pages of prose. T.C. Boyle has a short story called "Greasy Lake," which is based off the Springsteen song "Spirit in the Night" and even though I like that story (how could I not?), it never fails to astonish me how much more the song captures about life and youth and danger than this superbly written short story. I guess what I'm saying is Bruce Springsteen is better than everyone. I'm big into Bob Dylan and 2Pac for pretty much the same reasons.

For more information on Stephen Markley please visit his website.

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