[3] He attended high school alongside Justin Vernon, frontman of indie folk band Bon Iver.

[5] Butler graduated with a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2002, and received an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop in 2012.

[6] Prior to publishing Shotgun Lovesongs, Butler worked in coffee roasting, office management, meat packing, telemarketing, maintenance at Burger King, and as an author escort, liquor store clerk, hot-dog vendor, and bed-and-breakfast manager.

[9] In March 2013, Deadline Hollywood reported that Fox Searchlight Pictures acquired the film rights to Shotgun Lovesongs.

He sought to replace the retiring incumbent Warren Petryk, a Republican, in the 93rd district, which includes part of the west and south sides of the City of Eau Claire as well as rural portions of Eau Claire, Dunn, and Trempealeau counties.