"Great True Stories." A Chat With Matthew Pearl, Editor of Truly*Adventurous

Editor of longform nonfiction magazine takes us behind the scenes

Friends, another interview is in the books!

Today I had the pleasure of speaking with Matthew Pearl, co-Founder and Editor of Truly*Adventurous. This magazine “is a digital magazine built with reckless faith in the power of true storytelling.”

Matthew started the magazine with Greg Nichols over a cup of coffee and a shared desire to see more high-quality longform nonfiction in print. A common problem with contemporary mainstream magazine publishing, Matthew explained, is that much of the nonfiction that gets published is either tied to the news cycle or with an eye toward appealing to a magazine’s advertisers. Thus deep, rigorous and exploratory true stories either get continually shelved or else they never get written at all.

Matthew described this world of publishing as “a closed ecosystem.” The aim of Truly*Adventurous, on the other hand, is to publish work that is not tied to any particular agenda or news cycle, and which does not attempt to meet the demands of a particular business model.

So what kind of work are they interested in? Matthew shared some truly interesting true stories that the magazine has published. There is a piece about a woman in California who tried to murder her twin sister. There is also a little-known story about a teenage Julias Ceasar getting kidnapped; a story about exorcisms; a story about a young girl who accidentally stumbled upon an oil rig under her land; a piece about the origins of karaoke. And much more.

In all of these stories, character is essential. Matthew’s background is as a novelist (he’s published six novels). We talked about how fictional elements transfer to nonfiction writing, at what point in the editing and writing process a story’s true nature emerges, and how these editors go about finding stories. “Storyhunting,” Matthew called it, which may occasionally include something so simple as asking people you know, “What is the craziest thing that has ever happened to you?”

Truly*Adventurous does not charge reading fees. And all the content on their site is free. How, then, do they make money? Matthew described a hunger for true stories in the world and thus the connection these editors have been able to forge among podcasters, filmmakers, TV producers, theater directors and more. One of the stories from Truly*Adventurous is currently under production at Amazon. Another is in development through an outfit associated with a little-known person named Steven Spielberg.

To say I found Matthew’s work here fascinating would be the understatement of the year. He shared so many insights about the business of nonfiction writing, the development of true stories, the craft of fiction, finding the story inside the story, and more. For all of it, you will have to watch the video!

Truly* Adventurous is open now for pitches from writers. They welcome writers from a range of experiences who simply have an important, interesting, undiscovered treasure of a story to tell. If your pitch is not accepted, Matthew says to keep trying.

To our lovely guest who attended the conversation, thank you for tuning in!

And, of course, thank you to Matthew for taking the time to peel back the curtain of this excitingly adventurous magazine.

Happy viewing!