Crime Fiction Dossier

Are writers conferences worth the money?

One of the perennial topics that mystery/thriller writers talk about is: Are writers conferences worth the money? It just came up in two conversations I had with authors last week.

I used to be a firm advocate of conference-going. I saw it as an efficient and relatively easy way for authors to interact with a large number of fans all in one place. And that's still true -- a well attended conference will provide that opportunity.

But is it worth the cost, both in terms of time and money? That's not as clear-cut as I once thought it was. If you count up the financial cost -- ballpark figures: $300 airfare, $600 hotel, $200 registration fee, $200 food -- you're looking at easily spending over $1000 for a 3- to 4-day long conference.

Now, a grand isn't a huge amount of money. Most of us can afford it. But does it make sense to spend it when you're only getting a $10,000 advance? Even if you're get $50k per book, is it advisable to spend $1k of it all in one place?

I don't know. Maybe -- maybe not. Those are the kinds of questions authors have to ask for themselves. But it's important to weigh the positive benefits against the financial costs (and certainly the opportunity costs) before deciding to sign up.

I love attending writers conferences. I always have a good time. But I don't look at them as promotional opportunities. (I don't really have anything to promote.) So if I looked at them in terms of the career benefit they provided me, they wouldn't be worth the money.

But they can be worth it for other reasons. Writers conferences are a chance to get together with friends, socialize, network, talk about the business, learn more about the craft, etc. That is what, for me, makes them worthwhile. Writing is an isolated and isolating endeavor. Many of us go weeks if not months without talking to other writers except through email. Conferences can be a valuable social activity -- kinda like playdates for home-schooled kids.

If that's the case, though, how many of these things should you attend? Do you need to go to ThrillerFest and Bouchercon and Love Is Murder and Left Coast Crime and Dave's Backyard Hootenanny? Probably not. Maybe one a year is worthwhile -- and which one that is will depend on a lot of factors, like location, what type of books you write, who's putting the conference on, who the guests of honor are, who else is going to be there, etc.

I do think conferences provide valuable promotional opportunities, especially for newer writers. You can meet influential people in the business, talk to fans, hopefully generate word of mouth. For more established authors, I think it's probably a good idea to make an appearance at least every couple of years, or else people will start to suspect that you're dead.

But should you attend every one? Or even attend every year? Only if you enjoy going to them a lot -- enough to offset the costs. Otherwise, you're probably better off spending your promotional dollars elsewhere.

Friends of Dave photo

We did a panel last weekend at Love Is Murder that was called Friends of Dave. It was Lee Child, Barry Eisler, Paul Guyot and I talking about books, publishing, Hollywood and other topics of great importance. Here's a picture. (We dragged Tess Gerritsen up from the audience to pose with us. We needed something to class the photo up a little.)

PLBW

What is PLBW? Damned if I know, but it's all the buzz this weekend at Love Is Murder. People are wearing buttons (including me for some reason) with these 4 cryptic letters. But nobody will tell me what it means.

So spill the beans, if you know.

Ask the Critic: Attending writers conferences

Anonymous writes:

Is it worth it to attend a conference mostly to pitch a book or are the publishers present really there to sell books not to buy new ones?

I think most writers conferences, especially the larger ones like Bouchercon and ThrillerFest, probably aren't much use when it comes to pitching publishers. You can make contacts at them -- they're a good place to meet agents, for example -- but the hectic, frenetic nature of such conferences really doesn't lend itself to any kind of formal pitching. Also, editors generally attend to support their authors; they're not really looking for someone to hand them a manuscript.

Some of the smaller conferences, however, do schedule pitch meetings with representatives from publishers. They do that at Love Is Murder, for example, where attendees can register for pitch sessions with Bleak House Books, Tekno/Five Star Books and Echelon Press. If you're interested in one of those publishers, then attending the conference might prove to be a great deal of help.

I think that, for aspiring writers, conferences are most useful for making contacts, learning more about the craft and the business of publishing, talking shop and just enjoying the camaraderie of fellow writers. For that, they can be invaluable.

If you've got a question for Ask the Critic, please send it in.

Lessons learned from the industry panel at ThrillerFest

These are things that people on my panel brought up. I wasn't taking notes, so this is all from memory.

Co-op is everything. Co-op is the industry term for cooperative advertising money. This is money paid by the publisher to booksellers in order to stock their books (in the case of airports and similar) and to give their books prime placement (in the case of bookstores). If you see a book in the front of B&N, it's likely that the publisher paid them to put it there. Co-op is the most expensive and the most important part of advertising that any book will receive. It is crucial for a book's success.

It's almost impossible to say how many books it takes to make the New York Times bestseller list. It varies wildly from week to week, depending on the competition. It's possible that you might make the list with as few as 7000 books sold in a week. But other weeks a book might sell many more than that and not even get close. (I did hear from a trusted source, not on the panel, that it takes a minimum of 35,000 books shipped in order to have a chance to make the list.)

Although making the New York Times list is important, it's more important to sell a lot of books. More books sold is always better than a higher ranking. It also doesn't matter if the book gets all its sales up-front, or if it gets them over the course of months. The total sales is what matters in the end.

Timing is very important to a book's success. (And that's why there are hardly any books being published this week -- everyone is staying away from Harry Potter.) The competition a book faces, especially in the initial weeks, can determine its fate. Thus the publishers track when everyone is publishing their books and schedule their own releases accordingly. The late fall is an especially busy time for big-name books.

Be nice to your editor. It's not her fault if the book does poorly. Also, be nice to your editor's assistant. They will often give authors information they aren't supposed to have, especially if the editor is on vacation.

BookScan numbers can be unreliable, but there is disagreement as to how unreliable. They probably track around 60-70% of sales, but this can vary depending on the type of book. (A subscription to BookScan, by the way, runs 6 figures annually.)

Online sales aren't very important for bestsellers. For someone like Tess Gerritsen, Amazon only represents 3% of total books sold. Also, Amazon rankings don't mean much. A book can jump significantly with only minimal sales.

The big box stores (price clubs, WalMart, etc.) are extremely important for mass success. If a book isn't sold in those stores, it's unlikely to be a bestseller. Sales through those outlets amount to as much as 40% of a bestseller's total sales. However, for first-time or unknown authors, the chance of your books being sold there is very small. So don't expect it.

The cover of a book is the single most important factor in closing customer sales. Covers are often a contentious topic between publishers and authors, and publishers don't do much in the way of market testing to find out what works. (The publishing industry in general doesn't do much market research.) If an author is going to complain about a cover, it's best to have specific areas of objection, and suggestions for improvements. Bestselling authors like Gerritsen can get cover approval, but new authors cannot.

It's hard to get your book reviewed if you're a first-time author. It's hard to get your book reviewed if you're an unknown author. It's hard to get your book reviewed no matter what! (It's not impossible, though. And it helps if the book is interesting and fresh.)

The best way to get your book reviewed, and the best way to have it be a success, is to write the best book you possibly can. And that is the one area of the process over which an author actually has control.

Back from ThrillerFest

I'm home and recovering from ThrillerFest. I had a great time, and thought the conference was very good, but it was a long weekend. I'm not complaining, though, as it's nice to spend some time with grownups for a change.

I spoke to scores of interesting people, including writers, publishing people and fans, which is the reason to go to these things. The panels are fine, but what goes on the corridors, bars and restaurants is what I'm really interested in.

I'll only drop one name from the weekend: James Patterson. I didn't talk to him, though, so it's not much of a namedrop. We were at a cocktail party and I was going to go say hi (we were on a panel together at BEA last year), but by the time I got around to doing it, he was gone. At the same party, I did talk to Jeffrey Trachtenberg (who writes about publishing for the Wall Street Journal) and he was a nice, interesting guy.

I have to say that I thought the panel I was on was fascinating. (And not just because I was on it, as I didn't even talk that much.) It was the only industry-oriented panel of the conference, so there was great turnout and a lot of interest from the attendees. I enjoyed it a lot just sitting up there listening to the other panelists, and the folks in the audience seemed to as well. We could easily have kept going for another hour or two.

The only part of the weekend that I didn't enjoy was the banquet. That's 6 months of my life I'll never get back.

Obviously attending conferences like this can be expensive, but I still think they're an invaluable experience for authors, aspiring writers and superfans. There's just no other way to see so many of the people from our industry together in one place.

(Not many details, I know, but if anyone has any questions, I'll try to answer them.)

ThrillerFest this weekend

ThrillerFest, the world's numero uno gathering of thriller writers, readers, fans and professionals, is going to be held this weekend in NYC. It's not too late to make plans to attend.

You'll have the chance to see dozens of your favorite writers in action (James Patterson, Clive Cussler,  Jeffery Deaver, Lee Child, Heather Graham, Vince Flynn, etc.), plus many top industry professionals, including agents, editors, critics and more.

Check the link for details.

My panel should be very interesting:

Sunday, July 15 @ 10:00am:
The Snare of the Hunter: How writers and publishers work to get you to buy their books

Jason Pinter, Author/Editor at St. Martin's Press
Tess Gerritsen, Author
M.J. Rose, Author/Marketing guru
David Montgomery, Critic
Matthew Baldacci, Director of Marketing at St. Martin's Press
Neil Nyren (Panel Master), Publisher and Editor in Chief of Putnam

I hope to see some of you there!

If you're looking for me: check the bar first.

ThrillerFest 2007

ThrillerFest 2007 is coming up next month in New York City. There will be a fine line-up of guests attending, including moi.

They've just posted the full schedule online. Here's my panel:

Sunday, July 15 @ 10:00am:
The Snare of the Hunter: How writers and publishers work to get you to buy their books

Jason Pinter, Author/Editor at St. Martin's Press
Tess Gerritsen, Author
M.J. Rose, Author/Marketing guru
David Montgomery, Critic
Matthew Baldacci, Director of Marketing at St. Martin's Press
Neil Nyren (Panel Master), Publisher and Editor in Chief of Putnam

Not a great time slot, but it should be an interesting panel. Looking over the schedule, this appears to be the main panel discussing the business end of the industry.

I hope some of you will be able to attend.

Top Ten Reasons to Go to Thrillerfest

ThrillerFest is only 3 months away -- are you excited yet? Dave White has shared his "Top Ten Reasons to Go to ThrillerFest" and asked others to do the same. So here goes.

1. Have a chance to buy me a drink. Who knows, maybe I'll review your next book.

2. Touch Barry Eisler's hair. He really doesn't mind if you run your fingers through it. It's quite silky.

3. Ask M.J. Rose if she's really tried out all those kinky sex things she writes about in her books. (Hint: the answer is yes.)

4. Steal ARCs. Many authors in attendance will have ARCs of their new books with them. Those same authors can frequently be found in the bar, three sheets to the wind. You do the math.

5. Meet James Patterson. I hear he's looking for another co-writer. Maybe it could be you!

6. Ask Lee Child how his last-place Yankees are doing. Oh, that's right. They're in last place.

7. See New York, one of the world's finest cities. Admittedly, I won't leave the hotel the entire time...but you could.

8. Follow agents into the bathroom and pitch them your manuscript. I've heard this is how most writers got an agent, so it should work for you, too.

9. Ask Jim Born if you can touch his gun. He'll know what you mean.

10. Did I mention you could buy me a drink?

I hope to see many of you there!

PSA: ITW's Brunch & Bullets

The following is a public service announcement.

International Thriller Writers (ITW) presents Brunch & Bullets on May 5th in Greenwich CT at 11AM.

Where readers (young and not so young) break bread with thriller writers and live to tell the tale!

On May 5th, International Thriller Writers is honoring ITW's own R.L. Stine with a Silver Bullet Award for the amazing contribution he has made to fostering the love of reading in tens of millions of young people over the course of his wondrous career.

Special kids' meals will be available and, more importantly, so will R.L. Stine himself!

Authors in attendance for the adults in the group, will be Michael Palmer, Doug Preston, Joseph Finder, Stephen Coonts, Lincoln Child, F. Paul Wilson, Jim Fusilli, Wendi Corsi Staub, Peter Spiegelman, Peter Blauner, Chris Grabenstein, Jon Land, Carla Negers, Lawrence Light, M.J. Rose and Linda Fairstein (tentative).

Where: The Hyatt Regency Greenwich in Greenwich, Connecticut.
When: May 5th @ 11:00am - 2:30pm.
Why: To entertain and help raise money for Reading is Fundamental. 25% of the event's net proceeds will be donated to local chapters of Reading Is Fundamental.
Plus: The registration fee includes a $25 voucher good at the book signing that will close the event at 2:30.

Register here:
http://www.regonline.com/Checkin.asp?EventId=116819

Virginia Festival of the Book

Once again this year, I'll be participating in the Virginia Festival of the Book, one of the country's best-run and most entertaining literary festivals. I attended last year for the first time and really enjoyed myself. The Festival is interesting, it's eclectic and it's free! You can't beat that.

I'm moderating two panels this year, both on Saturday, March 24th:

10:00am - Murder in the Mid-Atlantic

Mystery writers Raymond Austin (Your Turn to Die), John Billheimer (Stonewall Jackson's Elbow), Ellen Crosby (The Merlot Murders), John Lamb (The Mournful Teddy), and Vicki Lane (Art's Blood) discuss their fiction set in this region.

4:00pm - Sex, Lies, and Violence

With mystery and thriller writers Barry Eisler (The Last Assassin), Matthew F. Jones (Boot Tracks), Lisa Unger (Twice), M.J. Rose (The Venus Fix), and Robert Walker (City for Ransom).

They both look like they should be interesting panels, so I'm looking forward to them. The second panel, in particular, looks good...'cause, you know, we'll have the chance to talk dirty.

Among the other crime authors in attendance will be Lee Child, Tess Gerritsen, Laura Lippman, George Pelecanos, John Hart, Bob Morris, David Simon and many more. If that doesn't get you excited, you must not like crime fiction.

If any of you are going to be in Charlottesville, or live anywhere near there, it's definitely worth a trip. Please stop by and say hello.

Virginia Festival of the Book

It's just been announced that Lee Child will be the featured speaker at the Virginia Festival of the Book's Crime Wave program, to be held next March in Charlottesville.

The VA Book Festival is a wonderful five day-long festival devoted to authors, books and publishing. On Saturday, they have a whole day devoted to crime fiction. I went last year for the first time and really enjoyed myself.

You get a chance to meet a lot of great writers, readers, publishing people, librarians and other people who love books -- and, best of all, it's free!

You do have to buy the tickets to the luncheon that Lee is speaking at, but most of the other events, including the panels, have no charge. You just show up.

Last year's line-up included people like Michael Connelly, Jeff Deaver, John Lescroart, Karin Slaughter, Michele Martinez, Bob Morris, Nancy Martin, Susan McBride, and a bunch of other people I can't remember off the top of my head.

I will probably be there again next year, moderating a couple of panels. So if you've always wanted to heckle me, here's your chance.

If you live anywhere near Charlottesville, or are interested in making the trip, I highly recommend it. (And if you plan to go, I suggest buying tickets to the Crime Wave luncheon early -- it's sure to sell out.)

Hope to see some of you there!

A new mystery writer confab

Bob Morris, the excellent Florida crime novelist and all-around terrific guy, has a blog. Okay, that's not much of a surprise, since the only person left on earth without a blog is my sainted mother.

But Bob has made an announcement on his blog that should be of interest to a lot of folks: He's helping put together an author gathering in Eustis, Florida (near Orlando) called Murder and Music by the Lake, featuring a passel of Florida mystery writers, including Randy Wayne White, Jim Born, Jon King and more.

(Separate thought: Why is it that so many damn fine crime writers live in Florida? Is it the humidity? The swamps? The flying cockroaches? What??)

Murder and Music by the Lake will be held next February and it sounds like a lot of fun. I wish I could be there! Unfortunately, now that I'm a papa, I'm not allowed to go anywhere.

I hope it all goes well. Best of luck to those involved.

ThrillerFest 2007

This just in... Next year's ThrillerFest will be held at the Grand Hyatt in New York City on July 12-15, 2007.

Be there or be square!

ThrillerFest Marketing Panel

M.J. Rose, David J. Montgomery, Sarie Morrell (photo credit: J.T. Ellison)

I was on the Marketing Panel at ThrillerFest, along with author/marketing guru M.J. Rose and publicist Sarie Morrell.

Here is some of the information that came out during the panel:

• No single strategy works for everyone. There is no magic bullet. Lots of little things can add up to success.
• Authors need to spend a portion of their advance (at least $5000) on marketing themselves and their book.
• Authors need to become marketing partners with their publishers.
• When talking to your publisher, don't demand. Offer.
• Advertising can help, but you need to be careful about how you spend your money. If you're going to invest in ads, you really need to know what you're doing.
• A one-time ad in the New York Times is not going to do much for you. Something like AuthorBuzz is a better investment.
• A professional-looking website is essential. It doesn't have to be fancy or expensive, though. Don't spend all your money on this.
• Authors should do everything within reason to make sure reviewers receive their book. Never assume that your publisher will take care of this, even if they tell you they will.
• Your in-house publicist is incredibly busy and is likely working on dozens of books simultaneously.
• Find out who the reviewers are who write the most about your genre. Get them your book, even if you have to send it yourself.
• Independent publicists can help, but you need to make sure you get a reputable one.
• Authors must be realistic about what a publicist can do for them, and understand where they are in their career and what they can expect. There are no guarantees.
• Don't feel bad if you can't do as much as J.A. Konrath!

Above all, I would advise every writer to educate themselves as much as they can about this business. Ignorance is a sure path to failure.

ThrillerFest Round-up

Like Jason and Sarah, I'm just going with the bullet points for my ThrillerFest round-up:

• The program was a smashing success and I was very proud of the hard work that everyone did. I didn't get to see all the panels, of course, but the ones I did see were good.
• The Readers Panel -- featuring Rae Helmsworth, Janine Wilson, Paul Turner and Nancy Slusar, and moderated by Gregg Hurwitz -- was one of the best panels I've seen at a conference. I'd like to see more of that in the future.
• ITW took the time to recognize my outstanding service to the organization. They gave me a beautiful award. Everyone applauded. I was not there.
• You know you're someplace cool when Jeffery Deaver just happens to be stopping by to say hello, even though he's not attending the conference.
• Reed Coleman, a true gentleman and a fine writer, put to rest any nonsense about a feud between ITW and MWA. It simply isn't true.
• My copy of the Thriller anthology has been signed by 26 of the 32 contributors. Unfortunately, I missed Alex Kava at the conference, but I got everyone else who was there.
• R.L. Stine is a very funny guy who tells a good story.
• Brad Meltzer is also a funny guy who tells a good story -- and I didn't believe a word of it.
• Clive Cussler had great stories as well. I don't know if they were true or not.
• It really is that hot in Phoenix. I lived in Bakersfield for 20 years, where it often breaks 100 degrees in the summer, and Phoenix is even worse. You never do get used to it.
• The Killer Year folks -- a group of debut authors with books out in 2007 -- are nice people and have excellent taste in critics.
• The Arizona Biltmore is a great hotel/resort, but they need better air conditioning in the main building. My gorgeous room, on the other hand, was like a meat locker. And I loved it. I woke up in the morning and the ice in my ice bucket was still frozen, even though I left the lid off.
• Having editors ask you, "So, what's your book about?" is a guaranteed tongue-tying moment.
• Several thriller writers have wives who are much better looking than they are. Since I am one of them, I can't complain.
• Lee Child, Joseph Finder, Barry Eisler and M.J. Rose make wonderful dinner companions. Talking with them was like getting a master's class in publishing.
• When Jim Born shouts, "Police! Don't move!," you don't move.
• Michele Martinez must have been one helluva good prosecutor. I'm glad that I never committed a crime in her district.
• Even Lee Child admitted that Jack Reacher was guilty. I still voted to acquit, however, as I'm a contrarian at heart.
• The Awards Banquet wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. And Michael Palmer and his son Daniel are actually talented musicians.
• A Tanqueray and Tonic still tastes damn good when it costs $8. But it tastes even better when someone buys it for you.
• You know how people are always saying, "I owe you a beer"? Apparently they don't mean it. I have made the appropriate notations on my Naughty List.
• Everyone was so kind, both about the book and the baby... I was blown away.
• I'm already looking forward to ThrillerFest 2007 in NYC!

ThrillerFest photo

I stole this off of Tess Gerritsen's site.

Left to right: Michael Palmer, Chris Mooney, me, Gregg Hurwitz, Tess Gerritsen

I thought that was a pretty good picture of me, so I wanted to share it.

ThrillerFest feedback

For those of you who attended ThrillerFest, if you have any comments on the programming that you'd like to share -- positive, negative, whatever -- or any suggestions for next year, please feel free to contact me. I welcome your feedback.

I'm not doing the programming for 2007, but I can share suggestions with those who are.

Also, since I'm posting, let me extend a hearty congratulations to the winners of the first annual Thriller Awards:

Best Novel - THE PATRIOT'S CLUB by Christopher Reich (Delacorte Press)

Best First Novel - IMPROBABLE by Adam Fawer (William Morrow)

Best Paperback Original - PRIDE RUNS DEEP by R. Cameron Cooke (Jove)

Best Screenplay - CACHE (Hidden), screenplay by Michael Haneke

Also, the first ThrillerMaster Award went to Clive Cussler.

I was one of the judges for the Best First Novel award, and I found it to be a very rewarding experience. Improbable is a terrific debut novel and I look forward to reading more from Fawer in the future.

Back from ThrillerFest

I arrived home early this morning (late last night? What is 2 am?) after catching an afternoon flight out of Phoenix. ThrillerFest was a big success and people really seemed to enjoy themselves. I thought the programming turned out quite well (Yes, I'm patting my own back) and the writers in attendance were great. I also had a chance to meet some readers who really know their stuff. (Even I'm impressed when I meet a fan and she says she reads 200 books a year!)

I think conferences like this are a great opportunity for people, whether they're writers or readers. If you're a writer, it's a wonderful chance to meet knowledgeable readers, learn about the business, and enjoy the camaraderie of fellow writers. If you're a reader, it's a rare chance to meet and talk to some of the biggest names in the business, and learn more about these books we love.

I might post something more about the conference later, but I don't feel very well right now and I'm exhausted. In the meantime, Sarah Weinman's written some about it, as has Lee Goldberg.

Writers Conferences

I'm off to Phoenix next week for ThrillerFest, the inaugural conference for ITW (International Thriller Writers).

Writers conferences are a lot of fun and a wonderful opportunity to meet interesting people and talk about the crazy business of writing and publishing.

If it's your first conference, prepare to be overwhelmed. Don't let that discourage you, though, from jumping in feet first.

A few suggestions for getting the most out of the conference:

• Don't forget to sleep & eat! It's easy to neglect the essentials during one of these whirlwind, non-stop conferences, so take some time to take care of yourself.
• Introduce yourself to people, even if you're intimidated. Authors come to these things to meet readers, so they want to talk to you.
• Keep your ears open. You can learn a lot at conferences, so make sure to listen.
• Drink lots of water. You can't survive on gin & tonics alone for a whole weekend. I've tried.
• If you're looking for someone and can't find them, check the bar. Most people are in the bar.
• Even if you don't drink, you can still hang out in the bar. Nobody will think you're weird.
• Don't introduce yourself to people as a "pre-published writer." They will laugh at you.
• Don't tell people you hated their book. And definitely don't explain in detail why you hated their book. It's rude.
• If you're looking for Lee Child, check outside. He loves the heat and they won't let him smoke inside.
• Attend any panel that I'm on. My panels are always interesting and informative. And if you can't attend my panel, don't miss Barry Eisler's. If nothing else, you can admire his hair.
• Always buy the critic a drink. S/he's probably the most interesting person in the room.
• Pace yourself. Always pace yourself. Otherwise, you might be dead by the end of the weekend.

Above all, remember to have a blast!

BookExpo America

I spent the weekend at BEA (BookExpo America), the publishing industry's incredibly large trade show, and thought I'd write something about it. The truth is, that I'm exhausted, but I'll write as much as I can.

You've never seen so many books or so many people that work with books. It truly boggles the mind. Walking around, staring at the thousands upon thousands of titles, you can't help but wonder "Who reads all these things?" (And, of course, the answer in many cases is: no one.)

But I had a wonderful time, picked up a few new books, and talked to a lot of very interesting people. My panel on The State of the Thriller went well. I don't think my rambling response to one of David Morrell's questions made any sense, but I'm not sure it mattered. (I wasn't at my most articulate during that panel.)

James Patterson was one of my fellow panelists and we talked for a while afterwards. He's an extremely friendly guy and has a lot of very interesting (and smart) things to say about the publishing world. Same thing goes for Dan Conaway, a big shot editor at Putnam. Bright guy, really knows books.

I saw a lot of fine mystery and thriller writers over the course of the two days. (Don't worry: I won't do a massive name drop.) One person I want to mention, though, is Nelson DeMille. Joe Finder introduced us and it was a pleasure to meet a true legend of this business. One of the very first thrillers I read, back when I was a teenager, was DeMille's Word of Honor. He was quite a friendly and gracious man.

Same thing goes for Eric Van Lustbader, whose book The Ninja I read when I was 14 or 15. I spoke to him briefly and he was also very nice. Eric has a new book coming out soon, so it's great to see him publishing again.

Last night I went to a party that Mira threw to celebrate the release of Thriller, the new anthology of thriller stories put together by International Thriller Writers. (Check the book's website to see the list of authors. It's an incredible line-up.) The party was a who's who of thriller writers, including David Morrell, Gayle Lynds, van Lustbader, M.J. Rose, Chris Mooney, Katherine Neville, Steve Berry, James Rollins, Heather Graham, Denise Hamilton, M. Diane Vogt and Robert Liparulo.

I got my copy of Thriller (coming to bookstores soon) signed by all of them, then added F. Paul Wilson and James Grippando today. Eventually, I'd like to get signatures from all the contributors. I'll have a chance to get more this summer at ThrillerFest.

(Okay, that was a big name drop. I hope that satisfies the urge, if you had one.)

BEA is something really extraordinary for people who love books. It's for industry people, not fans, but it's definitely something worth attending if you ever have the chance.

ThrillerFest Panel Assignments

The panel assignments for ThrillerFest are starting to go out, so there will probably be an official announcement of the line-up soon.

In the meantime, if you're pleased with your panel, I take all the credit. If not...well, let's just say the board overruled me.

ThrillerFest Sneak Peek

As regular readers of this blog know, I have been intimately involved in the planning for ITW's inaugural ThrillerFest writers and readers conference. News of what you can expect during the weekend (June 29-July 2) is starting to trickle out, so here's what I can share at this point:

The event kicks off on Thursday afternoon with the writer's craft workshops. There will be eight sessions (two tracks, four sessions each), all taught by top-name thriller authors. Classes include "Writing the Big Thriller," "Common Mistakes Writers Make In Dialogue" and "Writing the Thriller Screenplay."

Following the craft workshops will be Doug Preston's Spotlight Interview with Jim Fusilli. After that, there will be a Welcome Reception sponsored by MIRA and featuring a signing of the Thriller anthology.

Friday features a ton of panels (four tracks worth, running simultaneously). Among them will be Tess Gerritsen's "Crime Scene Extravaganza" and "The Jack Reacher Trial" (starring Lee Child.)

Friday also has the RL Stine lunch, and the evening features David Morrell's presentation on his novel, First Blood, with a special screening of the film.

Saturday will start with Sandra Brown's Spotlight Interview, followed by a series of Special Ops workshops (seminars on Knife Fighting, Delta Force, Street Fighting, the CIA, etc.). There will also be a slew of panels running most of the day.

The afternoon will feature a Spotlight Interview with Brad Meltzer, followed by the star-studded charity auction. Saturday night will be the Thriller Awards Banquet.

Clive Cussler will receive the first ever ITW Lifetime Achievement award. Clive will give a talk, mingle with fans and sign books.

Sunday concludes with the final panel presentations, followed by Brunch with John Lescroart.

So far I haven't been able to confirm it, but I've heard a rumor that there will also be a lot of drinking done. I'll keep you posted on that one.

The line-up of panels won't be announced until late-April, but you can see the authors who will be in attendance on the conference website. (There are some very cool panels planned, rest assured.)

All in all, I think it's going to be a blast! I hope you'll be able to join us.

BookExpo America

BookExpo America (BEA) is the largest publishing event in the country, an annual gathering of thousands of authors, booksellers, librarians and publishing pros. I'm not entirely sure what they all do once they get together, as I've never been before. This year's convention is in Washington, D.C., though, so I'll be there.

I'll be participating on a panel that should be very interesting:

State of The Thriller
Friday, May, 19 @ 2:30PM

"Featuring industry participants from author to bookseller, thriller specialists will dissect the industry’s hottest selling genre. Panelists will attempt to answer where the Thriller genre is headed, which authors are emerging, why thrillers dominate bestseller lists and what we might expect in the near future."

Participants:

• David Morrell - Author [Moderator]
• James Patterson - Author
• David J. Montgomery - Critic, Chicago Sun Times
• Margaret O'Neil Marbury, Executive Editor, MiraBooks
• Simon Lipskar, agent, Writerer's House
• Dan Conaway, Executive Editor, Putnam

If you're wondering what I'm doing on there... Well, I am, too! But at least this is a topic that I can speak intelligently about.

So if you're going to be at BEA, please try to stop by the panel. It should be a good one. And definitely find me to say hello.

VA Festival Redux

Following up on my previous post about the Virginia Festival of the Book, I have a couple more things to add.

First off, the Daily Progress, Charlottesville's local newspaper, covered the festival, including an article on my Publishing Day panel. (Hat tip to Ron Hogan for the link.) The reporter wisely quoted the only interesting thing I said during the entire panel, so kudos to her.

The other thing is that several authors have written to ask whether or not I think the Festival would be worthwhile for them to attend. I think that it would be useful for a variety of reasons:

1) The Festival has writers and readers from all different fields and genres, so you have a chance to interact with people who may not ordinarily read crime.

2) There is a large crime presence at the conference (with several dedicated panels), so there's a lot of readers from our genre. Most of the writers seemed to be getting a good number of fans in their signing lines, and the bookseller on location had a good selection. So it appeared that folks were doing business.

3) The conference is free and is almost exclusively fans/readers, not writers and aspiring writers. So you can talk to people who might actually buy books. (Just to prove this point...  the whole time I was there, nobody came up and asked me to review their book. The only book I was given was by one of my panelists. This is much different from, say, Bouchercon, where I'm inundated.)

So, bottom line, if the organizers invite you to participate, I would strongly consider accepting.

For those of you who are fans and readers, I would definitely urge you to attend the Festival if you ever have the opportunity. It's a great chance to meet some of your favorite authors, and best of all, it's free!

Panel suggestion?

I need one more panel idea for ThrillerFest. If you have a suggestion for a topic that you'd be interested in hearing thriller writers discuss, please pass it along.

The conference is shaping up to be very exciting. There's the Jack Reacher trial (starring Lee Child), the mock autopsy (led by Tess Gerritsen), spotlight talks with Douglas Preston, RL Stine, Sandra Brown, John Lescroart and Brad Meltzer, a slew of exciting panels featuring top thriller writers, Special Ops demonstrations led by real pros from the covert world, writing workshops led by bestselling authors, and more!

If that sounds interesting to you, you should consider attending. There's still time to sign-up. And even if you can't attend, you can still send me a panel suggestion.

Virginia Festival of the Book

I spent the weekend down in Charlottesville at the Virginia Festival of the Book. Although I only live about 2 hours north of there, I'd never made it down for the festival before. This year they invited me to participate, and I was glad I did. It's a fun and interesting conference with a wide diversity of both authors and readers, which made for an intriguing mix of people.

I moderated two panels that were part of the Crime Wave program. As I've mentioned before, I generally prefer to participate on panels rather than moderate them -- I'd much rather just sit there and spout my opinions than do the hard work of running the show -- but I've gotten a rep as being a good moderator, so that's what I usually get asked to do.

Both of the panels I moderated had a terrific line-up of authors, which certainly made my job a lot easier. It's always fun to moderate a panel when the participants are gregarious and interesting and willing to loosen up a little and enjoy themselves (while still giving serious and interesting responses).

The two panels were:

Keeping Up Appearances: Cozy Mysteries
with Nancy Martin, Laura Durham, Susan McBride, Emyl Jenkins and Ellen Byerrum

Pressing Charges: Crime Wave Panel
with Paula L. Woods, Pat MacEnulty, Michele Martinez and Karin Slaughter

The turn-out for both panels was quite good, and the audiences seemed to really enjoy the talks. I got some great feedback from people who attended, including author Joseph Kanon who was at the Cozy Panel. I'd never met him before, so I didn't spot him in the audience, but we spoke afterwards and he said he had a lot of fun.

The other panel I was on was one I did as a participant, as part of the Publishing Day program:

Who’s Reading and How?
with Ron Hogan (Beatrice.com), David Kipen (NEA), me, Gene Schwartz (ForeWord Magazine) and moderator Carol Fitzgerald (Bookreporter.com).

I thought that panel was interesting for the most part, but I didn't feel like I had a lot to contribute. The topic probably would have benefited from a little bit of fine-tuning, although I'm not sure what the programmers were going for. It seemed to me a little too amorphous to really sink our teeth into.

The best part of these conferences is always meeting the interesting people in attendance, and I had some great conversations about books, publishing and writing. The line-up at the conference was truly a distinguished one. (I had dinner one night with a group of writers whose combined book sales who probably circle the globe.)

I'm not going to start dropping names, but I do want to mention that I had the chance to hang out with Digby Diehl, legendary critic from Playboy Magazine, and the inaugural editor of the L.A. Times Book Review. Digby was one of the people who first inspired me to become a critic, so it was an honor to meet him. He's a fascinating and very friendly man.

One of the things that I heard repeated several times by various authors is how well their books are doing overseas, and how much attention crime fiction is getting internationally. It really has become a global market, which is very encouraging for writers. It was also the consensus that the U.S. is the only place where we have this hang-up about genre fiction not being "literary," while elsewhere it's commonly accepted that it is.

In addition to the authors, there were also a great many fans in attendance; most of the audience, in fact was composed of readers. It was really inspiring to see so many people who love books and love to read. Unlike most of the mystery conferences (like Bouchercon), this one wasn't dominated by aspiring writers, so it was fun to get a different perspective from people.

I hope to be back next year!

Love is Murder 2006

I spent the weekend in Chicago at the Love is Murder conference, along with a couple hundred other writers, reviewers, editors and fans. This is the second time I've been to this particular conference, and both times it has been a very good experience.

Among the authors in attendance were David Morrell, Judith Guest, Barry Eisler, William Kent Krueger, Libby Fischer Hellmann, J.A. Konrath, Kevin Guilfoile, David Ellis, Barb d'Amato and a whole slew of other folks.

Love is Murder is geared more towards writers and aspiring writers than Bouchercon, so there are always a lot of panels and discussions focused on the business and craft of writing. And plenty of shoptalk, too, of course.

David Morrell offered a 3-hour workshop in writing, which I found to be particularly enlightening. He also gave the conference's keynote address, discussing "The Hidden Curriculum of Publishing."

I moderated one panel (on Writing Violence) and participated on three others, all of which seemed to go over well with the audience.

I usually enjoy these smaller conferences a lot, as you have the chance to talk to people in a more intimate way. So often at Bouchercon, it's all just nodding and waving from across the room. (Granted, you do get to wave at a lot more people.)

But at Love is Murder, I was actually able to talk to several good writers and friends, including most of the people mentioned above. I also met some very interesting new writers like Sean Chercover, Steve Mandel and Marcus Sakey. They are all terrific guys and now I'm excited to read their books. I also had a great talk with Dave Case, a sergeant with the Chicago PD, who is a new writer I've already read. (His book Out of Cabrini is awesome.)

John and Ruth Jordan (of CrimeSpree Magazine) where there, continuing the admirable work they do on behalf of the genre. They were great to see, as always. I finally met Ben LeRoy and Alison Janssen of Bleak House Books. I was appalled to see how young they are, but invigorated to see how passionate they are. With people like them in this business, there's still hope out there.

This is starting to be just a big name-drop, so I'm going to stop. The point is, if you go to a conference like this, you can meet and talk to a lot of fine writers, both famous and unknown, and other industry pros. Doing so can be fun and entertaining, and it can also be informative and inspiring.

So I definitely urge people to give one of these smaller conferences (Love is Murder, Left Coast Crime, Sleuthfest, Murder in the Magic City, etc.) a try. The big conventions are great, too, but the smaller ones have a charm of their own.

Love is Murder 2006

Love is Murder, Chicago's annual mystery writers and readers conference, is coming up next February 3-5 at the Wyndham Hotel out by O'Hare Airport.

This is an excellent gathering for anyone interested in mysteries and thrillers, either writing them or reading them. Love is Murder has the advantage of being small enough that you can actually meet and talk to the people in attendance, but still large enough that they attract an interesting crowd.

They have an excellent line-up of guests scheduled, including David Morrell, Judith Guest, William Kent Krueger, Barry Eisler, Kevin Guilfoile, Libby Hellmann, J.A. Konrath, Robert Walker and others.

I attended the conference in 2004 and will be there again in 2006. Hopefully I'll be seeing many of you folks there as well.

ThrillerFest -- calling all Superfans

Regular readers of this blog know that I'm in charge of programming for the ThrillerFest writers and readers conference to be held next June in Phoenix. This will be the inaugural conference of the International Thriller Writers and will feature a lot of interesting activities, including the presentation of the Thriller awards.

It looks like it's going to be a very interesting conference, with some great writers, including several who don't ordinarily attend conventions like Bouchercon. So I think there will be a lot of opportunities for fans to meet writers they might not ordinarily see. The hotel (The Arizona Biltmore) is also supposed to be great, which might partially offset the unappealing prospect of visiting Phoenix in the middle of the summer.

As I mentioned a while back, I'm interested in involving readers in some of the programming. So this is where you come in! I'm looking for 4 people to be part of a panel where fans (you know, the people who actually buy and read all those books) are the stars.

Instead of listening to authors talk about their books, this will be a chance for the readers to talk about what they like and don't like, what impresses them or turns them off, what makes them buy books, who they're reading and why, and a whole host of related topics. The moderator will be an author, hopefully somebody fun and cool, although I don't know who yet.

If you're planning to attend ThrillerFest and that sounds like the kind of thing you'd like to do, please email me and let me know. (Note: You do NOT need to be a member of ITW to be on this panel.) There aren't really any qualifications for inclusion, other than a love of books, reasonable knowledge about the thriller genre, and the willingness to share your opinions about both.

On the other hand, if that sounds dreadful, but you have a cool idea for what you'd like to see, you can email that to me, too.

You can visit the ThrillerFest website for more information.