Rachel Kramer Bussel talks with Steve Mockus from Chronicle books, an "eclectic pop culture publisher [that] lets its editors experiment."

Mediabistro: Can you describe Chronicle's publishing mission?

Mockus: I'd wanted to work here for years, in part because I could tell a Chronicle book just by looking at it before checking to see who'd published it. I think what we try to do is publish books that may intuitively surprise in some way, in the content, or the design, or the production, but that feel right. The staff is representative of what we imagine is our audience, and we try to acquire books that we ourselves—that we want to spend long book-nerd hours of our lives bringing out, presumably then that someone will want to bring home.

Mediabistro: What kinds of books do you work on/are you looking for? Conversely, what kinds of books don't you want to see at all?

Mockus: My list is predominantly pop culture, a bit of art, and licensing. I have specific interests but I like to be surprised out of them. I love the slush pile.

More here.