Q&A with Joe Zagets

  

 

 

Joe Zagets is the author of the new novel #AuthorLife. Joe Zagets is the pen name of the author Zoje Stage. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write #AuthorLife, and what do you think the book says about the publishing industry?

 

A: In truth, I started #AuthorLife during a period when I was depressed. There are a lot of ups and downs in publishing and I was trying to wrap my head around everything.

 

For me, writing is often a therapeutic exercise, and while it was ultimately Wellbutrin that helped me shake my depression, getting to laugh at some of the absurdities of being an author definitely had its benefits.

 

I think what the book says most clearly about publishing is that even dream jobs involve work and setbacks; it's an imperfect industry full of smart, creative people who have to deal with the oftentimes frustrating realities of a money-driven society.

 

Q: Why did you decide to write the book under a pseudonym?

 

A: Numerous reasons. As a bestselling author, I had some concerns about who would hear "satire about publishing" and think it was a hit job. But the novel emphatically isn't mean-spirited. Yes, it confronts some brutal truths, but in the spirit of a satire there is also a great deal of ridiculousness at play.

 

And that was another reason I used a pseudonym: I thought it was funny—especially for it to appear that the novel was written by a man, lol.

 

Q: How did you create your character Mack Lane?

 

A: Mack was a fun character to create. I've written plenty of "unlikeable" characters, but none with the foolishness of Mack's insecurities. Honestly, there's a kind of freedom in writing a character who's a jerk—he can go a couple of steps further than any of the rest of us would go, and manifest thoughts that are both valid and cringe.

 

But I also think he's at least somewhat sympathetic: most of us have felt a little desperate at some point in our lives.

 

Q: You’ve said that you hope the book helps writers “feel less alone”--can you say more about that?

 

A: Not only is writing a job done alone—mentally, and sometimes physically—but the strange silences that surround publishing can feel even more isolating. And yet, every time authors have the opportunity to swap stories about their journey there's an instant sense of "Ohhhh, you've felt this way too!"

 

Social media encourages the presentation of All Good Things, but being an author can feel very precarious. Living that double life of public good news and private bad news wrecks with your head even more.

 

I think a lot of authors will relate to Mack, while simultaneously feeling a sense of relief that at least they aren't that bad.

 

Q: What are you working on now? Will you be writing more novels as Joe Zagets?

 

A: Joe Zagets is on hiatus as of now. I'm not sure if he'll be writing any more books.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: The majority of the women in the book are lesbians…? I'm not sure how that happened—maybe it was a subconscious need to balance out all of Mack's male hubris.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Zoje Stage.