Meet Clark Chamberlain, Your Friendly Neighborhood Book Publisher - East Idaho News
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Meet Clark Chamberlain, Your Friendly Neighborhood Book Publisher

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Who are the people in your neighborhood? You know, the people that you meet while you’re walking down the street each day? I’m sure you’ll meet teachers and bankers. You’ll also probably run across a few farmers maybe even a doctor or two.

But, a book publisher? Here, in Idaho Falls? Isn’t publishing a big city game?

Allow me to introduce you to Clark Chamberlain. He owns Raven International Publishing, a small company that not only publishes novels, but also provides services to assist writers. If you’re a writer looking to get your novel published, edited or marketed, he’s a guy you want to get to know.

Chamberlain was born in northern Idaho, and bounced around the state until he left home at 16 and set off on his own adventure through several states. He returned to Idaho to attend university, with intentions of joining the film industry.

“I’d started as a kid in comic books and drawing”, he said. “I tried my hand at novel writing and was terrible at it as a teenager. So, I was like ‘I can do this film thing. That should be really cool.”

As no local schools offered film programs, he studied broadcasting. This led him to direct local television news programs. He was working himself to death but didn’t make much money.

Drawing inspiration from the 40's.
Drawing inspiration from the 40’s.

Frustrated by his lack of financial success in broadcasting, Chamberlain tried construction and selling cars before joining the military and being sent to the Middle East.

“It was when I was in Iraq that I was really trying to sort through feelings, so I started writing stories,” he said. This experience helped him relight his fire as a writer.

These days, Chamberlain writes his own fiction. His “Killer, Candor, Liar, Lover” series, is a 1940s-style pulp tale. Chamberlain drew inspiration from things he took from his father growing up. “I’m only 39, but I feel much older, because I grew up listening to big band music and watching these old movies and everything”, he said.

Knocking me out with a 40's pulp novel-style punch.
Knocking me out with a 40’s pulp novel-style punch.

“I got kind of sucked into the whole thing. Like the Fedora hat, the black and white, and the darkness that’s cast on things. I loved that and I love the idea of characters who don’t come off as clean.”

Chamberlain also draws inspiration from the area he calls home. He sets some of his stories in Eagle Rock, a fictional town which combines the conservative social attitudes of Rexburg with the size of Idaho Falls. He also injects bits and pieces of the Upper Valley’s religious and secular history into his work as way to give his writing flavor and authenticity.

Clark and the Eagle Rock Eagle
Clark and the Eagle Rock Eagle

Much of Chamberlain’s time is spent running Raven International Publishing. Most of its efforts are expended helping writers ready their works and improve their chops. Such services include editing and designing covers for novels. Chamberlain also does several instructional podcasts designed to help authors stoke their creative fires.

”I love working with people on their books and trying to help them create the best work possible”, Chamberlain said. “I think most authors are looking for that arrow to point them in the right direction.”

Chamberlain has big plans for the future of Raven. He has two more installments in the “Killer, Candor, Liar, Lover” series planned. The company also is putting out an anthology of dystopian sci-fi stories on September 24. Chamberlain even has a booth at the Salt Lake Comic Con next weekend.

”My ultimate goal is to get into animation,” Chamberlain said. “That storytelling medium is one of the most accessible because of things like Youtube.” He loves books but wants to explore other avenues available in hopes of enlarging his audience.

The man and his work.
The man and his work.

After years of working with other authors and on his own projects, Chamberlain intimately understands what drives the storyteller to tell stories. “We tell stories to help explain the world around us”, explains. “If there’s someone out there who shares the same viewpoint as you, and you share that story with them, maybe that helps them out in their life.”

”A lot of people have that story inside of them that they want to get out”, concludes Chamberlain. “Don’t wait. The world deserves to have those stories.”

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