Kevin Smokler Interview

MF: I like Dan Kennedy's perception of writing as a blue collar job, something you just pick up and do, as opposed to the oft-held notion of inspiration. What's your relationship to writing on a daily basis?

KS: A daily task of existence like brushing my teeth or meditating. Except it feels wrong when I don't do it and liberating when I do.

MF: Two of the essays in "Bookmark Now" are concerned with collaborative writing. You've made a career of collaboration on the Virtual Book Tour. How else have you found collaboration of value in your career?

KS: My head, as important as it is to me, can be a scarely, lonely place. I'm certainly not interested in spending 8 hours a day there which is why I probably will never write fiction. Also, I like George Plimpton's example of writing being a passport to the wonderous places you can go and the people you can meet. To me, that's half the fun.

MF: Tara Bray Smith writes about "marginalia," the act of writing in one's books. For most of my life I never would have dreamt of vandalizing my books in this way, but I've recently come over to the dark side on this one and now scribble in my books with abandon. Where do you fall on this issue?

KS: I like when books contain some kind of record that I've been there or else, why keep them? They could belong to anybody! But I don't read with a pencil behind my ear unless I'm reading H.L Mencken or Joan Didion or someone I want to learn from professionally instead of just enjoy. So I guess somewhere in between.

MF: In "Lying to the Optician," Tracy Chevalier says, "asking someone what his or her Top Ten books are is a very twenty-first-century question." So how bout it? A top ten?

KS: I can maybe do an unordered 5. "And the Band Played On" by Randy Shilts, "Trumpet of the Swan" by E.B. White, "Dandelion Wine" by Ray Bradbury, "Slouching Towards Bethlehem" by Joan Didion, and "The Corner" By David Simon.

MF: How about what's currently on your night stand / reading list?

KS: "Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation" by Jeff Chang, "The Jane Austen Book Club" by Karen Joy Fowler, a biography of the Berenstain Bears and the McSweeney's Comic Book Issue

MF: How often do you read?

KS: 10 minutes in the morning, on the toilet, on the sudway, maybe a half hour at night and a few hours on the weekends. All the time.

MF: Douglas Rushkoff brings up internet self-publishing outfits like iUniverse as an oft-preferable alternative to traditional publishing. What's your take on the iUniverse phenomenon?

KS: It's great that it exists but it won't change anything until we teach self-published authors how to market effectively and not nurture wild half-baked expectations.

MF: The Virtual Book Tour is your brainchild. Can you tell us a little bit about how you hit upon the idea?

KS: Yentaing (traditional jewish matchmaking). I loved blogs and I loved traditional publishing. So I wanted to do a project with both of them together.

MF: What defines a VBT's success and what are the ingredients that make a VBT successful?

KS: Traffic, exposure, enthusiasm. I define success by the number of visitors and the uniqueness of the audience that author reached.

MF: What' been your most successful VBT to date?

KS: MJ Rose's. 150,000 visitors

MF: Publishers are finding themselves in the same position as record industry executives during the early Napster days, and there's no doubt the paradigm for the distribution of literature is changing. What do you think the face of publishing will look like in 5 / 10 / 50 years?

KS: Every author will have a website. Many will blog and podcast. POD will make books both ubiquitous and highly disposable to the point where there will be several price points and quality levels of books instead of just 3. Books will come packaged with CDs, DVD, wireless transmittors. Books will be raided for storylines for video games, short films. Books will
have soundtracks. Writers will partner with comedians, animators, radio documentarians and theatrical directors with wild abandon. That's my hope anyway.

MF: What's next for Kevin Smokler?

KS: A summer's worth of touring for "Bookmark Now" which I'm super excited about. Festivals and university visits in the fall. Beginning work on my second book, a vacation in August. A few more VBT's this year and somewhere in there, a good night's sleep.

MF: Thank you, Kevin.