Crime Fiction Dossier

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.