Jason Howell asked Mark Victor Young:

Have you ever worried that your work isn't "literary" or "smart" enough? and/or "Marketable" or "accessible" enough? Are these necessary concerns? Or do you find them stifling? When concepts like these start closing in, do you work around or through them?

Mark Victor Young Based on my experiences trying to make it in traditional publishing, specifically in Canada, I have concluded that my work isn't literary enough. In saying that, I'll admit that I don't truly know what I mean by it, I only have a sense that there is something about literary publishing in Canada that my work doesn't share. On the flip side (or is it some alternate section of the same side?), I think my work is accessible and marketable. I once had an agent turn down one of my novels after saying he had enjoyed it and my submission was very professional, but couldn't take it on because it was too commercial. (Isn't that a good thing for a commercial enterprise? Does he only work with non-profits?) As you can see, I'm not bitter about this at all. :)

I don't allow these concepts to close in because I made my peace with them long ago. I write what I write partly because it is what I'd want to read, I guess. And I never worry that something I'm ready is too "this" or too "that." I just know whether or not I'm enjoying it.

Thanks for another great question!

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