It used to take years to move a book from the point of acceptance to the bookstore, but print-on-demand technology has changed all that. Replacement Press, Minnesota’s newest book publisher, picked its first release in the fall, and on March 15 it’ll be in bookstores. Editors Andrew and Sarah DeYoung chose John Jodzio’s short story collection “If You Lived Here You’d Already Be Home.”
There’s more than a bit of pressure to pick a first book that makes a defining statement about the identity of the house, but when they read Jodzio’s manuscript, the book’s quality superseded those concerns. “Good writing just has this quality that makes you sit up and take notice, and I knew almost immediately after reading John’s stories that they were fantastic, and that we’d be proud to publish them,” said Andrew, who originally set out hoping to find a 20-something writer who’d represent the next generation of literature. Jodzio is 38.
“The other questions came soon after: It’s good, but does it fit with who we are and want to be as a press? We decided the collection did. For me, the stories evoke a kind of disappointment with life, and sometimes even desperation. John’s characters aren’t where they expected to be in life.
“That felt very current to me. At the same time, there’s this winking tone in the stories that I think a ‘next generation’ audience can really relate to. I love the combination of humor, dark irony, and poignancy.”
The stories are all that and more, offbeat glimpses into the lives of the other people, or into the lives of offbeat people. Gay clowns, bog bodies, mail-order Russian brides, and working class antiheroes populate these 21 carefully constructed tales. Jodzio wears his heart on his sleeve for these lost souls, which lets them save face (sort of) with tough-guy stances.
Jodzio sent the manuscript to five publishers. “I was looking for a press that would match up my aesthetic more than anything. I looked over Replacement’s website and thought it might be a good fit. After I talked with them, I knew they were,” he said.
Although this is Jodzio’s first published book, he’s published several stories elsewhere, and he’s cooking new ones now, thanks to a Loft-McKnight fellowship. “Usually I’ve supported myself with various administrative jobs and then written nights and weekends,” he says. Perhaps now that he has more time, a novel is in the works?
“I’ve been messing around with one for the last month or so and (fingers crossed) we’ll see where it goes. I love writing short stories and that may be what I do forever.”
Events:
March 19, 7:30 p.m., Book Release Party, Magers and Quinn Bookstore, Minneapolis.
March 31, 7 p.m., April Fools Reading, Ritz Theatre, Minneapolis.
