Today, we’d like to introduce you to Johnny Worthen.
Johnny, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’m an author twelve years into my ten-year plan to be an overnight success. I have written two dozen books, nineteen of which found paper. I’m the idiot who quit his day job to pursue his dream of letter. It’s not recommended, but I’ve been lucky.
I’ve published in many genres: horror, young adult, science fiction, comedy, and mystery. I write what I want to read, which guarantees me at least one fan. This plan, however, has its drawbacks in that I often have to remake my audience for each new project. Keeps life interesting.
When not writing, editing, or promoting, I teach creative writing with the University of Utah and travel around the West speaking at conferences.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
A career in the arts has more the hallmarks of a hobby than a job. The work is as taxing as any—you work for yourself, so you never have a day off, but the compensation, at least financially, doesn’t justify it. Success is measured in other ways, and any creative needs other more material means to survive.
That being said, there is a wall of rejection waiting once a work is brought into the marketplace. Finding agents, editors, publishers, and readers is a challenge few writers are ready for. We tend to be introverted and sensitive, which works for writing but not for commerce, which is publishing. Art is subjective and the gates to the big publishers are guarded by many people who have their own narrow tastes and ideologies. What would be snatched up last year is nothing new. Timing is everything. There is more than a little bit of luck involved.
Should some of these gatekeepers be overcome, there’s still more rejection waiting — poor sales, bad reviews, typos that got through somehow. They say a thick skin is necessary, but it’s not an easy thing to develop when, by definition, we have made ourselves as sensitive as possible to observe the world and report back.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I write from the inside out. Instead of starting with character, plot, or setting, I start with a theme. This is an artifact of my liberal arts education and English Lit degree. When reading, I approach stories by what they’re trying to say. When writing, I turn it around —what do I want to explore? Love? Society? The nature of promises? I then form a story around it. This is why I consistently jump between genres. Genres mean only the shelf the bookstore will put your book to sell. It’s a poor measure, but it’s there.
I write upmarket fiction, which means that though the books fall into genre roles, mystery, science fiction, and horror, there are literary elements within them. Not just writing style, but ideas. It’s the glue that holds them all together. I try to explore big ideas in a way accessible and interesting to everyone.
I once said that every book I write could be taught successfully in an English class. That’s true, but it’s also the worst tagline in the history of book sales. Just read my books, and you’ll feel the connective lines of philosophy and theme while you laugh out loud with Tony Flaner and his mystery series, shiver in dread in WHAT IMMORTAL HAND, and get drawn into a rich future setting of CORONAM. Most of the work is done subconsciously. You’re welcome.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Luck is huge in this business. It’s why I like the writing part of being a writer the best. Once you share your work with anyone, you’re vulnerable, but once you try to sell it or market words in the age of the LED computer screen, you might as well cover yourself in A1 sauce and go on a safari. It’s brutal
Against the demoralizing aspect of this comes truism, which I think was originally attributed to Thomas Jefferson, that the harder I work, the luckier I am. That’s very true here. Another quote comes back to me now, too, and that is from Woody Allen: “80% of success is just showing up.” Lastly, one from Richard Bacon says, “A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.” These aphorisms are my armor against the vicissitude of the future.
What is the role of luck in writing? NONE.
What is the role of luck in publishing? OFF THE SCALE.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.johnnyworthen.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JohnnyWorthenBooks/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/johnnyworthen
- Other: https://www.amazon.com/Johnny-Worthen/e/B00GMZ6ACY/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1
Image Credits
Johnny Worthen and Dandelion Ink
