Ask the Pros: Ben LeRoy, Former Tyrus Books Publisher, on the Joy of Discovery

Steve's Blog on Writing

As part of a recurring feature, a short Q and A with novelist Ben LeRoy, former Publisher of Bleak House Books and Publisher of Tyrus Books, also former Executive Director of the Independent Publishers Caucus. Ben lives in Madison, Wisconsin.

Wellstone Center in the Redwoods: In your work as a publisher, you always sought not only to develop manuscripts, but also to develop writers, to inspire people and to help them find a path forward. Where did that philosophy and approach come from?

Ben LeRoy: I believe that story is the most surefire way to build community. To see and hear ourselves reflected in the lives of others is a way to feel less alone in the world. I have always felt more alone in the world than I would choose to. I also know that’s true of pretty much everybody else. Story relieves that—I don’t know what word to use here that doesn’t sound angsty—sense of isolation in a world that is often too loud, too bright, too all at once. Helping others tell their stories is, at its heart, a selfish act for me. I want to feel more connected to whatever this is. If that story manifests in a book, that’s great. But I also get a lot of it from music. So much of it comes from strangers who become friends, the preponderance of which will never be for sale or widely broadcast. I treasure that.

WCR: What is your advice for aspiring writers of fiction? What are some dos and some don'ts? 

Ben: If the aspiring writer is looking to do it as a means to make a living, I would suggest managing expectations. The intersection of commerce and art is littered with wrecks. Find joy in the discovery of writing. Your first draft is not your final draft. Don’t chase trends, the publishing industry is fickle and unpredictable. View your characters as something other than chess pieces to be moved around the board. Listen to them and you might learn a lot more about your story than you originally conceived of it. I’ve been working on the same novel for eleven years. I’ve learned a lot about myself by letting my subconscious show me what my characters want and are afraid of and their flaws. It’s all these little parts of me trying to make sense of the world. Sometimes that’s scary for an author, I’d suggest embracing it as both the writer and the audience.

WCR: Related question, there is now a flood of material out there offering advice to developing writers, often contradictory advice. Are there pratfalls that an aspiring writer needs to avoid in terms of well meaning advice that might not be ideal? Or is the main point to move forward, and each writer has to find things out for themselves along the way?

Ben: There is definitely a flood of advice, much of it contradictory. I’m an extremely online person who winces when I see things being bandied about as conventional wisdom. It has to be incredibly overwhelming processing it all. It’s a long journey and each person has different forks in the road to navigate. To the best of a writer’s ability, I’d recommend focusing on understanding the story you’re trying to tell and learning the craft of how to best tell it. So much of the business side of things is like trying to buy a winning lottery ticket on the day you get struck by lightning. You can’t control the business of books, you can control the art of story.

—Steve Kettmann

OpenMic Nights in June

Let us know if you’re in the Santa Cruz (California) area and would like to attend one of our upcoming Tuesday night OpenMic readings at the Wellstone Center in the Redwoods. We’ll host people at 7 p.m. on the following dates: Tuesday, June 6, Tuesday, June 13, and Tuesday, June 20.