Robin asked Ben Marcus:

Hello Ben, Not many writers can knock me off my feet with a short sentence; you're one of the few that can. Do you have an opinion on whether self-publishing is a viable route for the "experimental" writer? Or on smart strategies for a writer situated a long, long way from academia (MFA's, writing courses etc)? At times it can seem like a cloistered (and well-defended) world...

Ben Marcus Hey Robin, it's a really good question. I think it's a great time for new forms of distribution. But is it a great time for sheer interest in writing as an art form? So hard to say. The people who do care about it care as if their lives depended on it. Maybe it's easier than ever for us to find our few readers, but the harder question is how to connect to those readers who don't explicitly know that they'll like something unusual or innovative. Self-publishing has come a long way from its vain roots, but curation of some kind still seems to offer a sense of assurance to a lot of people. Can these forces be combined?

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