Jim Pascoe & Tom Fassbender on Collaboration: Part 3

In the early 1990s, Jim Pascoe and Tom Fassbender joined forces to form the LA-based hardboiled publishing company, UglyTown. The company was fueled by youthful adrenaline, big ambitions, and darkly-toned ideas. It launched with the cult classic novel, By the Balls, which they cowrote under the noir-inspired pen name, Dashiell Loveless. Jim and Tom went on to publish then-newcomers Sean Doolittle, Victor Gischler, Curt Colbert, and Rodney Johnson as well as veterans Eddie Muller, Gary Phillips, and Nathan Walpow. And, in parallel, their own careers as authors, designers, and graphic novelists have made them a fixture in the Los Angeles literary scene.

This April, in celebration of the 15th anniversary of the book’s release, Akashic is publishing By the Balls: The Complete Collection, which assembles all their early writing–including By the Balls and its follow-up, Five Shots and a Funeral, along with two brand-new short stories, a new introduction, illustrations by Paul Pope, and over a dozen short essays by industry luminaries.

Their brilliant introduction to the collection tells a must-read tale into the nature of collaboration, and the triumphs and pitfalls of running an independent publishing company. We appreciate their insights so much that we’ve asked them to tell us more in a three-part video conversation shot in the abandoned ruins of the original Los Angeles Zoo in the hills of Griffith Park. We’re not sure if the bourbon’s real, but the fedoras are.

The conversation began with Part One on March 26:

And continues with Part Two on April 2:

And finishes here with Part Three:

Posted: Mar 27, 2013

Category: Akashic Insider | Tags: By the Balls, Jim Pascoe, Paul Pope, Tom Fassbender, UglyTown