A Conversation with Matt Staggs, Creative Enabler

Matt Staggs is a relatively new friend of ours, but someone Ann and I immediately bonded with. Our tastes in books, music, movies, and much else are similar, and Matt has a dual quality of essential niceness and commonsense that doesn't hurt, either. Not to mention that he's one of the hardest working people we know, and that's saying something. In addition to his new (and brilliant) Enter the Octopus blog and his own creative endeavors in fiction and art, Matt is an amazing creative enabler. He has a deep understanding of the human aspects of public relations, putting like-minded people in touch and making connections that lesser brains wouldn't even think of. (You may also remember him from his great guest blogging right here at Ecstatic Days a couple of months ago.)Recently, Matt started his own creative agency, Deep Eight, for which he's taking on a few select clients at the moment. It seemed like a good time to talk to him about not only Deep Eight but his overall philosophy. If you don't know Matt already, you should! I don't know a stronger advocate for books and book culture. And he's the best publicist I've ever met, in part because there's not a fake bone in his body. Feel free to drop him a line at: mattormeg at gmail.com.What’s the philosophy behind Deep Eight?My philosophy is that books are important. Books change lives. Far from simple entertainment, well-crafted fiction can serve as the catalyst to personal and even global change. My role--the role of Deep Eight--is to ensure that as many people as possible have the opportunity to experience the author’s work, and the best way to do that is by combining both “traditional” and “nontraditional” methods of reaching out to reviewers and the reading public. By that, I mean including the old guard book reviewers and print media, while embracing emerging technologies in social media and user-generated content. I also believe very strongly in building and strengthening relationships within the author’s community of readers, acknowledging the role that they play in his or her success and enabling that role to grow.What do you see as the single most important thing for authors to do in this post-modern age of book publicity?One of the most important things to do is to identify and support your true-blue fans. Every successful artist has a core group of patrons who will follow him or her through the ups and downs of his or her career, and a good author should attempt to identify these people and enable their patronage. By this I mean that perhaps your true fans should get a little more access to the author and also exclusive offerings that casual readers might not. It’s worth it. These people, the ones who really understand your work and appreciate it, will see you through the best and worst of times. I know you asked for one thing only, but if I could offer a second bit of advice, it would be to take advantage of nontraditional routes of communication and salesmanship: don’t be afraid to try podcasting, blogging and other free ways of reaching your audience. Things have changed out there: the means of communication have been democratized, and you’d be foolish not to take advantage of them.You’ve got a new blog. How is it different from the old blog?My new blog is substantially different from Skullring.org in a number of ways. First and foremost, while skullring was a collaborative project involving my own efforts as well as that of almost a dozen other people, The Octopus began, and will remain, as my personal site. As a result of this, you’re going to see things that are far closer to my own heart, and hopefully those of my readers. I plan on focusing on book reviews, author interviews (both mostly in the literary fantasy/science fiction genre), strange and beautiful art, the natural world and other things I enjoy. Skullring was--and still is to some degrees--about venting spleen for me, and much of the content reflects that. While Skullring was birthed in horror, The Octopus was born out of beauty, and an appreciation for the things that make the world a more pleasant place. To that effect, I don’t plan on using any of my time or resources to blog about things I either dislike or don’t care about, a luxury that I never felt able to indulge at Skullring for various reasons.When you’re not working, what do you do for fun?Honestly, it seems like I’m always working these days, but when I’m determined to wind down I enjoy spending time with my wife Meg, wandering bookstores, drinking coffee and reading. I also enjoy meeting up with friends for good beer and the occasional cigar, as well as catching the occasional movie now and again. Otherwise, you can find me online nearly all the time. I’m on Twitter a lot (follow “MattStaggs”) and am constantly emailing friends and business contacts. Speaking of that, I love corresponding with other people who enjoy books, so readers and writers should feel free to drop me a line.