Writing, Self-Publishing, Book Marketing

Justin Dimos here, reporting for duty. 

My publishing story begins (and ends, ironically) in Bloomington, where I graduated from Indiana University with a bachelor’s in Philosophy and English, perhaps the most impractical degree to date. If I wasn’t neck deep in some obscure book, usually on Existentialism or a short story anthology, then I was out gallivanting the town, stopping at dive bars and playing pool into the wee hours of the night. 

My professors encouraged me to submit some of my papers and stories to conferences, and I was fortunate enough to get some bites. The reading I enjoyed the most was the one in San Angelo, Texas, where I had the privilege of reading beside Peter Hedges, author of What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?,  in addition to attending a prescreening of his movie, Pieces of April.  

Shortly after graduation, I was accepted into University of Arizona’s fiction writing program, which overjoyed me, as you can imagine. I hopped a train to Tucson a few weeks later, found a place remarkably far from the university and began yet another stretch of schooling.  Living so near the desert never appealed to me though – I suppose I’m more a metropolitan at heart – but the writing program kept me occupied. Not to mention the fact that there were, as I quickly discovered, dive bars there as well. If you’ve been before, you know! The Grill and The Buffet were personal favorites of mine. As for filling the time that I didn’t spend writing (not often mind you!), I soon discovered my passion for the Sci-fi series Stargate (Amazing!), started buying the most obscure DIY post-punk cassettes around (Awesome!) and slowly, but surely began filling my skin with tattoos (only completing one arm so far!). 

Anyway. 

My writing ambitions must have turned a few heads because I was soon appointed the Editor-in-Chief of Sonora Review, the nationally-ranked literary magazine. To say that I was thrilled to work on the same magazine as Richard Russo, David Foster Wallace and Antonya Nelson had, just to name a few, would be a gross understatement. Fortunate for me, I became editor at a time when we had enough funding (barely!) and manpower (sometimes!) to put on an Anniversary Event at the University Bookstore, during which previous contributors and alumni read from the works we published. The word “cool” doesn’t really capture how utterly fascinating and enjoyable the experience truly was. 

Then, naturally, I turned in my thesis, a collection of short stories, and officially graduated. After a year of cooling my heels, I moved back to Bloomington and found a job working at AuthorHouse, where I quickly climbed the ladder. I started as an author assistant, answering questions and solving book problems, and then became a press release writer. After a few short months, Rooftop Publishing hired me as a publicity associate and then as their second acquisitions editor.  

Finally, at long last, Wordclay came a-knocking, and the rest is history. Now I’m writing content for our Web site, printed information sheets and this wonderful blog to boot. You could say I’m a “justin of all trades,” as long as the trades are somehow connected to writing.  

That’s the reason I’m encouraging all to post here. I love talking about this thing called writing, this other thing called publishing, and I love learning about both as well. Ask for an opinion or give yours and get connected. As you can see, our bloggers are diverse and quite approachable. Look for our postings in the coming weeks and submit your feedback – you’ll make our day at the very least. 

This is Justin, blogcasting from Wordclay, signing off.