Another Writer Who Works in Publishing
interview #3: Austin Ross
I never shared my favorite small press books from 2023—but I did want to draw particular attention to one of them: Gloria Patri by Austin Ross. I received it through the Malarkey Books book club: if you subscribe, you receive about one book per month. What first drew me to the novel were the well-drawn dead birds on the cover, and then, when I started reading, I was intrigued by the fully formed cast of characters, the propulsive plot, the setting (both in West Virginia and the Pacific Northwest), and Ross’s ability to accurately and intimately inhabit the minds of religious people. The novel chronicles two interrelated families that want to remain apart from the world, then end up embracing conspiracy theories. When I looked up Ross, I discovered that he was a nonfiction editor for a Big Five publishing company, so I asked him to participate in this series of fiction writers who work in publishing. You can find the two other interviews here and here, and you can buy Ross’s novel on Amazon or wherever you buy your books.
1. How long have you been writing fiction? What drew you to this genre?
I have been writing fiction for a long time, almost twenty years at this point. The first story I remember writing was when I was maybe eight or so. I had never been particularly interested in reading until I was around that age or maybe even a little older, but creating stories was always enjoyable. Initially, it was probably more of a desire to create something cinematic—I was honestly more influenced early on by movies than books. It wasn’t until I discovered Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn at the library (yes, a Star Wars novel—judge me all you want) when I was 9 or 10 or somewhere around there that I really connected with reading. That discovery led to more Star Wars books and then science fiction broadly and then literary fiction broadly, especially through some of those genre-adjacent writers like George Saunders, etc. He was a big influence for me early on. I hadn’t realized you could be goofy and weird. Now, I don’t really write genre fiction at all, so my reading trajectory is a little odd to me, but that’s how I ended up where I am. Nowadays, people like Denis Johnson or Dan Chaon or Zadie Smith are bigger influences for me. I love their facility with voice and even different genres or types of books. Variety is a big factor for me in writing. I tend to get bored of doing one thing over and over again.
2. How long have you been working in the publishing industry? How did you land in this profession?
I have been working as an editor for about ten years or so in various capacities, both freelance and with some smaller houses in a variety of roles. It was really kind of a surprise to me, something I didn’t really imagine for myself when I was in college. I was an English major with a creative writing emphasis, so I was set on getting an MFA somewhere prestigious and then teaching. But then I realized that MFAs are expensive, and I wasn’t totally sold on the idea of going immediately from undergrad to grad school for more debt right away. And then I got married and we eventually had kids, so I kept putting the MFA dream off until I realized I didn’t really want an MFA anymore. (Nothing at all against MFAs. It just became apparent that it wasn’t for me.) So I started working as an editor and slowly built this career that still surprises me.
3. How has your writing and/or publishing of fiction overlapped with or not overlapped with your work as a publishing professional?
I work exclusively in nonfiction at the moment in publishing, so the divide between what I do for my day job and what I write is pretty clear. I find that to be helpful in some ways. The imprints I work with at the moment with HarperCollins focus on primarily narrative nonfiction, so some of the technique and craft of writing fiction applies, but it stretches different muscles. A big part of it has been—as I’ve seen more behind-the-scenes of how the publishing world works—a realization that almost everything about publishing is outside of my control. I can control what I write, and that’s about it. It’s natural to kind of conflate writing and publishing in our minds, but they’re almost entirely separate things. So that’s given me freedom to just focus on the work and be as content as I can in that.
4. If there was one thing you could change about the publishing industry what would it be?
I would love for there to be more presses! I would love for small presses to be able to get the kind of distribution and visibility they need to survive. That’s tough to come by for anybody these days. Publishing is a tough business. And part of my journey has been realizing that publishing is a business. Even if you’re a not-for-profit publisher, the books you’re putting out have to at least make back the money it took to produce them, otherwise it’ll be a really short endeavor. And that can be difficult to achieve, which is why some of these smaller presses can find themselves in trouble and close up shop. Part of it is that maybe I wish there were more bookstores and more of a bookstore culture. There are some great ones out there all over the place that are doing this, but I want there to be more of that. Movie theaters are going through something similar, I think, with a smaller variety of films and fewer places to see them. Everything is online now, which on one hand does increase opportunity for more books or films to be discovered, but it also kind of shrinks everything, in a way. Wandering around a bookstore and seeing the books in front of you is different from scrolling online.
5. What fiction project are you working on right now, as a writer, that excites you?
I’m working on a few things. The big one is my next novel. I’m in the middle of the second big draft, so it’s still taking shape, but it’s slowly becoming something that I really like. My longer projects tend to fall into that “literary thriller” category—my first novel was, and this second one is as well. I think part of it is that I need to keep myself interested in the project all the way to the end, and having more of a driving plot helps me keep going. My stories on the other hand tend to be a little weirder and quieter. I’m taking a break from the novel at the moment to work on this new short story that arrived almost fully formed, which is rare for me. I usually tinker with and rewrite stories over and over until I feel like I’ve gotten to the end result. But this one feels, at least at the moment, like it’s all there already and I just have to write it down, so I’m excited to see how that turns out.
Please consider buying Austin Ross’s book through Amazon, Powell’s, Malarkey Book’s website, or a local bookstore near you. You can also request it at your local library.