A Book No One Wants(?!)
A conversation with Jabber editor and comedic novelist Vincent Francone
My next post will include more information, but briefly sharing here that I’m leading a writing retreat in Bordeaux, France, May 18-24, 2025, hosted by Foreword Retreats. Capped at 8 writers, all genres and levels of experience are welcome. Lodging is in a chateau north of the city, with all meals prepared by a private chef. Registration deadline is Jan. 10, 2025. Please apply soon if you’re interested, since space is limited.
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You probably know that the corporate publishing industry, aka the Big Five (Penguin Random House, Macmillan, Hachette, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster), has experienced major changes over the last few decades due in no small part to consolidation and the encroachment of conglomerates (Dan Sinykin’s Big Fiction: How Conglomeration Changed the Publishing Industry and American Literature provides in-depth context if you’re interested in learning more).
Among the conflicting messages I hear often: Take the biggest advance you can get and run! Take a modest advance so you’ll have a shot at a career if your book doesn’t perform as expected. All the good editors are taking buyouts. All the new editors are interested only in romantasy and edgy YA. Self-publishing is a terrible idea. No, it’s a great idea because you’ll be able to control everything! Reviews are hugely important. Reviews don’t sell copies!
Paying too much attention to the cacophony of contradictions leads to madness. Try to ignore them and get on with writing the books you want to read.
Today’s post is an interview with writer, editor, and humorist Vincent Francone. His forthcoming book, A Book No One Wants, caught my eye in a recent email exchange and I immediately wanted to know more about it.
Before our exchange, I’ll share the jacket copy:
A book of failure. A book of irritation. A book of frustration, rumination, celebration, fumigation. A book that dares expose the worst instincts of the barely domesticated American writer treading the scorched earth of contemporary publishing. An irascible book of irredemption; part confession, part poison pen letter. Nothing is sacred and no one is saved. A book that achieves nothing. This is a book no one wants.
Christine/Bookish: Where in this wide, weird world did A Book No One Wants originate?
Vincent Francone: A Book No One Wants was born of frustrations with trying to be a writer. I have as healthy an ego as the average scribbler (read into that as you will) and never really get too upset over rejection, but still... it began to occur to me that I cannot write "normal" books, and I'm not sure I want to.
That stated, I knew I was doomed to failure, obscurity, writing for the drawer, as the Russians used to say in the old Soviet days. Then I felt like a jerk for being so arrogant as to align myself with the struggle of Stalin-era writers prevented from publishing for political reasons.
A Book No One Wants was born of frustrations with trying to be a writer. I have as healthy an ego as the average scribbler (read into that as you will) and never really get too upset over rejection, but still... it began to occur to me that I cannot write "normal" books, and I'm not sure I want to.
I was just being an entitled asshole. Then I figured I was not alone, that maybe by writing a book no one wants I could 1. Get that book out of my system, 2. Allow similarly frustrated writers a chance to feel "seen," 3. Trash any chance I ever had of being "successful." Thus, my celebration of failure was born.
CS: Would you talk a bit about what inspired you to start a press? I'm wondering if the current trend of corporate publishing's focus on quarterly earnings has something to do with it and the general narrowing of options for literary writers of fiction and nonfiction. Earning a living wage solely as a writer is impossible for most of us.
VF: Jabber was born of exactly the reasons you articulate. We know that a small press, even as small as ours, is a labor of love that won't topple the Big 5. We thought of the punk record labels like Dischord that don’t follow trends and favor allowing artists to have more control over their art and keep whatever little money they can get from their work. We thought of Jabber as a place to make small books that may only draw small attention, possibly because I’m allergic to the Silicon Valley/corporate idea of growth as an inherently positive thing.
My book is one in a series geared to raise more money so we can promote more work we like, stuff that doesn’t fit in traditional publishing models. I know, I know… a million indie presses have the same missions, so we’re not all that different. But we are at least well aware of the futility of trying, the inevitability of failure, and the absurdity of ambition.
But we also know that futile efforts, inevitable failures, and absurd ambitions are what are worth fighting for in this nightmarish hellscape we call culture, so fuck it. We’re throwing in our small effort to fight the proverbial good fight. That stated, we’re keeping our day jobs.
CS: What is your submission policy for Jabber (the magazine) and the press?
VF: People can submit to jabberthemag@gmail.com. Our submissions policy for the journal is available here: https://jabberliterary.com/submissions/ We’re opening the enterprise up for book submission as well, but the best way for now is to pitch an idea.
Vincent Francone is the author of Like a Dog, The Soft Lunacy, and the forthcoming A Book No One Wants. He has also edited the anthology Open Heart Chicago and is editor-in-chief of Jabber Literary (https://jabberliterary.com/)
Link for presale purchase of A Book No One Wants: https://jabberliterary.com/a-book-no-one-wants/
I always learn things here, CS. Thank you!