Interview with Graig Zethner

Over the last few weeks I have been engrossed in two quiz books, which I would perhaps rank as the most useful and most enjoyable in recent memory. I actually came across them by accident whilst browsing Facebook. They are written by Graig Zethner and are pitched at a level above your standard bar trivia. The books must have taken hours to put together and they are presented in a great format with 20 questions, then 20 answers (with facts attached) meaning you don't have to scrape through the back of the book to find answers.

Anyway, I got in touch with Graig on Facebook and he kindly gave us a few words about the books themselves which you will find below. The links to the books are below too. Well worth your time!

Tell us a little bit about yourself?

I’m a computer engineer living in San Diego, California. I grew up just outside of New York City before relocating here for work at 27. I’m now 40, happily married, and enjoying life in America’s Finest City while working for one of the world’s leading technology companies. I’m a big baseball fan, and I’m really into pop culture, including movies, music, and television. When not working on my trivia website, most of my free time is spent on these activities.

 

And what is your quizzing experience?
I remember being interested in random facts as far back as I can remember. I’ve always been competitive, so I’ve always been interested in quizzing, though I only recently became an active participant. My high school did not have a quiz bowl team, and my friends weren’t really interested in trivia, so my experience for most of my life was limited to watching “Jeopardy!”. I took the online test in 2009, made the cut, and appeared on the show in 2011. My game was not very difficult, but stage fright got the best of me and I finished third; it’s very different than playing at home. I then took a break from trivia for several years before finding the Trivial Warfare podcast in 2016. This brought pub trivia to my attention, after which I found a local game which my wife and I now attend. We recently finished 5^th in San Diego and were certainly the smallest team in the finals.

What inspired you to write the book?

I enjoy asking trivia questions even more than answering them, and for years I’ve been coming up with interesting questions in my head, so in 2017 I started to write those questions down. I was always a bit frustrated that most trivia just provide answers without any supporting material, so I tried to make my book much more informative. Every answer comes with details, either explaining the answer or providing more background on the topic. If you come across a related question in the future, hopefully you’ll have the knowledge to answer it.

I began posting these questions/answers in a trivia group on Facebook, then created a website which people could play to which I added all sorts of trivia study games. My site was entirely free, but it took a lot of my time, so I tried to find a way to monetize it. This led me to assemble my questions into my first book, published in 2018. Even though I only sold a few dozen copies and made less than $200, I put together another book in 2019 and have seen more success, though I’ve made less than $800 and won’t be quitting my day job anytime soon. I also updated my site last fall with premium features for $3/month. I can currently count my subscribers on one hand, but this is an area I’d like to grow in 2020.

 

What is your favourite question from the book?

Each of my books has 1,000+ questions, so asking for my favorite is tough. I enjoy questions that can be approached from multiple angles, and those that make you raise your eyebrows when you hear the answer – either because you smack your head because you should have known the answer or because you find the it really interesting. Trying to pick one right now would be a disservice to the time and effort I put into this book… but here is an example of one that I like:
Music: According to Billboard, not including holiday songs, only two recordings have entered the Hot 100 in three separate decades. One is Prince's "1999". What is the other song to achieve this feat, charting in 1976, 1992, and again last year? (“Bohemian Rhapsody”)

How long it did it take to compose the book?

Each question/answer combo takes about 15-20 minutes to write, so for a 1,000+ question book I’d estimate I spend at least 300 hours just writing the questions and answers. Then there is probably another 50 hours of assembly, proofreading, cover design, contacting people for quotes, and promotion. It’s a labor of love more than a profitable endeavor.

I write the questions both for direct answers, as well as for multiple-choice play on my website. Often coming up with the incorrect multiple-choice answers is the most time-consuming part of the process.

 

Have you made any tv apperances on quiz shows?

I appeared on “Jeopardy!” in 2011, and I was cast on another show in 2019, but due to poor timing I was unable to film an episode. The show is being retooled and I am hoping to be invited back in 2020.

 

Are there plans for  further books?

I’m about 15% done with Volume 3, though the amount of time and effort involved has started to create a bit of stress, so this one may not be complete until 2021.