In a recent interview novelist Jackson Taylor explained how he nearly ended up stocking his book at Walmart, but was dropped by the megastore at the last minute.
His book touches on some controversial themes, but nevertheless, the author hopes to someday return to the store. Here’s more from the Gay City News interview: “As the novel moved into production, Walmart indicated it might have an interest in carrying the book, something that excited Taylor. ‘I wrote this book for average, middle-class Americans, for the people I grew up with,’ he explained. However, after making key decisions in order to make the title more attractive to the megastore–including a shift from hardcover to trade-paperback–the book was declined. Taylor hopes the chain might some day reconsider; it is, he said, a book about America, one that people from all walks of life can access and comprehend.”
Earlier this year, GalleyCat interviewed Taylor, the novelist and Mediabistro teacher who has directed PEN’s Prison Writing Program for the last 20 years.
Click here to listen to the interview.