Crime Fiction Dossier

CraftFest Talk: What Editors Do After Your Book Is Perfect

Here are my notes on a second talk at CraftFest, part of the ThrillerFest conference put on by ITW. It was given by Neil Nyren, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of Putnam. The topic of his discussion was "What Editors Do After Your Book Is Perfect."

Nyren broke down into three main areas what your editor will do for you: Timing, Packaging and Marketing.

Timing:

• It's the responsibility of the editor to ensure that the book is published at the right time.
• A book must be published at the right time in order to be successful.
• For example: a lot of books by big name authors are released in September-November in order to capitalize on the Christmas buying season. As a result, many books are moved up to August or back to January to avoid the juggernauts.
• Timing affects how many books are likely to be bought, how much co-op space is available and how much review space is available.

Packaging:

• Packaging includes the book's size, title, jacket (including color, image, size and style of the author's name and the book's title, author photo, etc.), etc.
• The editor oversees all of these.
• (Note: Neil discussed this point using a lot of visual examples, showing different jacket covers and explaining the different aspects of them and why they were done that way. But you'll just have to trust me on that one, as I can't replicate what he said.)

Marketing:

• The marketing for an author can't be allowed to grow stale. The formula must be updated with every book. What you did last time isn't necessarily what you should do this time.
• Some considerations are things like: the book tour (bigger or smaller), the type of media opportunities that you pursue, the types of advertising, the outreach to online booksellers or B&M booksellers.
• If you did it one way last time, you should do it a different way this time.
• The goal is to make the author appear fresh; make it new/different each time.
• Co-op (co-operative advertising, where publishers pay bookstores to promote their books) is the great "hidden" cost of publishing. It is very expensive and it is also essential to the success of a book.

Further thoughts:

• The dark secret of publishing is that even the professionals are surprised every day. Great books fail while crap succeeds and there's no way to tell when that will happen. Conversely, some sure bestsellers flop while real art flourishes.
• Book sales are tepid. The current state of publishing is described by the quip: "Flat is the new up."

Advice to authors:

• Work with your editor. Your editor is your connection to the rest of the publishing company and you need to work on having a good relationship with him/her.
• Do your homework, learn the business. Educate yourself.
• Then ask questions. Inform yourself and always communicate with your editor.
• But don't be neurotic. Don't be a pain in the ass. And don't harass your beleaguered publicist.

What do you bring to the table? (factors that influence what a publisher can do for you and your book)

• Do you or the book have an interesting hook? (E.g., FBI agent, topical story)
• Do you have an in with a magazine or newspaper or book review editor or media people?
• Do you know any booksellers?
• Are you TV friendly?
• Are you outgoing and a good speaker?
• What's your sales history like?

(I know this is disjointed -- my notes weren't great and Neil's talk was complicated. But maybe you'll find some of this interesting.)

A good reason to go to ThrillerFest -- free books!

A couple of these are books that authors gave me, but the rest were just being handed out. It was ARC city! As I was picking them up, I kept reminding myself: "They'll send these to you at home, Dave. You don't need to schlep them around." But it was nice to get several of them signed.

I've already read the first 100 pages of Sean Chercover's Trigger City (the sequel to Big City, Bad Blood) and it's excellent.

CraftFest/ThrillerFest

I've got posts on a couple more things from CraftFest and ThrillerFest planned. I haven't had a chance to type up my notes yet. But I hope to get to them soon.

The event has been very nice so far. Things are running smoothly and the attendance seems pretty good (although the attendance at some of the panels hasn't been as good as it could be).

I've found it to be an interesting and quite entertaining conference thus far. I was on a panel this afternoon about "How Do Books Get Attention," focused mainly on reviews. It was very well attended and had some good, spirited discussion.

So I give it positive marks. We'll see how the awards banquet goes this evening -- hopefully that won't eliminate all my good will.

CraftFest Talk: The Six Biggest Mistakes Even Bestselling Writers Make

I'm attending CraftFest, part of the ThrillerFest conference put on by ITW this weekend in New York. This morning I sat in on a talk given by bestselling thriller writer Joseph Finder, the topic of which was "The Six Biggest Mistakes Even Bestselling Writers Make."

It's been a long time since I was in school, so my note-taking skills have atrophied...But here's what Finder discussed.

MISTAKE #1: The Passive Hero

• Too many thrillers have heroes who don't act; they remain passive while events take place around them.
• The hero must advance the plot; s/he must take action.
• The hero can't simply investigate what's going on -- he must do something about it.

MISTAKE #2: The Long Setup

• The story takes too long to get moving.
• Authors shouldn't just dump story on the reader; they should reveal it through action.
• Too many books start with a good opening, but then slow down to a crawl.
• One way to avoid this is to start the story as late as possible. If necessary, you can then go back and fill in details later on.

MISTAKE #3: The Weak Second Act

• Too many books bog down in the middle, degenerating into repetitive conflict and simply regurgitating the same plot points over and over. The characters aren't progressing and changing.
• The conflict of a plot must progress and escalate; the plot points must change and vary throughout the narrative.
• This escalation of conflict, as well as variance of conflict, will not only keep the reader's interest, but help to develop and reveal character as well.
• The introduction of subplots will also help keep the second act moving.
• Whenever things start to get dull, remember: REVERSE, REVEAL, SURPRISE.
• Every scene must advance the plot.

MISTAKE #4: Predictability

• Authors should never underestimate their readers, most of whom have read a lot of books and seen even more movies and TV shows.
• Readers know the tropes and cliches of the genre. If the story is predictable, they'll see where it's going a long way off and get bored.
• The key is to surprise them. Veer off from the expected course.
• If the obvious development is to take the plot in a certain direction, consider taking it in a different direction instead.
• One way to avoid this trap is not to over-outline. Be spontaneous in your writing. Allow the characters and the plot to surprise you.

MISTAKE #5: The Lousy Ending

• Too many books send the reader off on a sour note by finishing with a lousy ending.
• A great ending is second only to a great beginning in importance.
• The ending should not consist of explaining everything that happened before or tying up all the loose ends.
• You should explain as little as possible; let the reader figure out the smaller details on his/her own.
• Great endings off have symmetry to the beginning.
• Twists can be good, but they must be earned. They must be set up earlier in the book and prepared for.
• When you finish the book, get out of there ASAP. Don't draw things out.

MISTAKE #6: Showing Off

• Too many writers make the mistake of: "I've done the research; I'm going to cram it all in there."
• You should tell the reader the minimum they need in order to understand the plot; just the tip of the iceberg.
• Pare it down, leaving only the juiciest nuggets behind.
• Too much info will only slow down the story.

BONUS MISTAKE #1: Overly Explicit Dialogue

• People don't narrate a story when they speak; they don't dump details and information.
• People speak elliptically. Watch out for expository dialogue.

BONUS MISTAKE #2: All Plot, No People

• The story won't matter if we don't care about the characters.
• On its own, the plot is abstract; it requires the characters to make it real and make it matter to the reader.
• Also, the stakes of the plot must matter to the characters in order for us to care as readers.

BONUS MISTAKE #3: Action Is Boring

• Unlike in film where action scenes can be exciting, in books they too often are boring.
• What is interesting to the reader is how the characters react to the action and how they interact with each other.
• There should also be variety in your scenes; don't follow an action scene with another action scene and another action scene. Vary the pace, vary the types of scenes, slow down and speed up in order to give the reader a break and keep them interested.

BONUS MISTAKE #4: Backstory Dump

• Don't make the mistake of dumping the characters' backstory on the reader all at once. It will bring your plot to a halt and bore the reader.
• Reveal the backstory slowly, in pieces, as necessary.
• Drop references in here and there; include mentions in dialogue; intersperse little details throughout the plot.
• There is always a trade-off of CHARACTER vs. PACE.
• It's importance to find the balance of revealing enough about the characters in order to make them interesting and make the reader care about them, versus the need to keep the plot moving.

It was a very interesting talk. I hope you find this shorthand version useful.

First half of 2008

It's hard to believe that the first half of 2008 is already in the bag. Time flies, huh? I read 66 books during the first 6 months of the year. I was going to say that's off my usual pace, but I just looked and saw that I also read 66 books the first half of last year.

It seems like a so-so year thus far. I've read some good books, but nothing that's blown me away. If I had to pick, I suppose the best thing I've read in 2008 is Michael Connelly's The Brass Verdict, a book I enjoyed a lot. But it's not one of those books that makes you jump out of your chair.

Now that I think about it, I haven't jumped out of my chair in a long time. I was talking with a friend recently and he said the best book he'd read so far in 2008 was a book that came out almost ten years ago, that he'd already read a couple times before. I know how he felt. Either I'm getting pickier or the crime novels being published these days just aren't the best.

Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of good stuff out there (emphasis on good, not great). A lot of competent books with good writing and good stories. But the greatness factor seems to be lacking. Surely during a six-month stretch of time there should be at least one great crime novel published -- but if there was, I didn't read it.

What do you think? Have you read anything great so far this year? What am I missing?

Book of the Week: Victor Gischler's "Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse"

Best known for writing hard-boiled, darkly-comic crime novels, Victor Gischler now turns his hand to hard-boiled, darkly-comic science fiction with the fast, funny and action-packed Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse. Go-Go Girls takes place nine years after the end of the world when Mortimer Tate emerges from the cave he's been hiding in for the past decade to see what's left of society. What he finds is a world dominated by chaos, barbarism -- and a chain of strip clubs known as Joey Armageddon's Sassy-A-Go-Go. Mortimer hooks up with the Joey Armageddon crowd and winds up going to war to help them defend truth, justice and the American way. Or something like that. Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse is sometimes serious, sometimes funny and always good fun.

Recommended review: Patrick Anderson on Robert Crais' "Chasing Darkness"

I like to point out when other reviewers do nice work and Patrick Anderson's critique of the new Elvis Cole novel is worth your time. I don't know if I'll be reviewing it myself, but Anderson's piece makes many of the same points that I probably would.

Chasing Darkness is a fine book -- definitely recommended.

Book of the Week: Kent Harrington's "The Good Physician"

Kent Harrington is one of the undiscovered talents of the crime genre, a gifted writer who has produced half a dozen excellent novels, most recently the superb Red Jungle. Now he's published an up-to-the-moment literary thriller with a plot featuring the War on Terror as seen through the eyes of a jaded young American doctor working for the CIA. The Good Physician doesn't move with the pacing of the typical thriller, but by reading more closely, we're able to enjoy the beauty of the language and the nuanced twists of the characters. The Good Physician avoids easy observations or answers, causing the reader to think while being entertained. Harrington's work is worth seeking out.

Latest Chicago Sun-Times roundup column

At long last, I have a new roundup column in this morning's Chicago Sun-Times. It includes brief critiques of the following books:

• Lawrence Block - Hit and Run
• James Rollins - The Last Oracle
• Julia Spencer-Fleming - I Shall Not Want
• Janet Evanovich - Fearless Fourteen
• Jon Land - The Seven Sins

Enjoy!

Book of the Week: James Rollins' "The Last Oracle"

James Rollins' latest Sigma Force novel is another smart and suspenseful thrill ride. Some Russian scientists are working on a project to harness the savant-like abilities of autistic children. Their goal is to unleash the hidden powers of the human brain in order to further their plans for world domination -- and it’s up to the men and women of Sigma to stop them. Rollins combines real-world science with high-octane action to create rousing stories of adventure that are sure to please. The Last Oracle takes a little while to get going, but once it does, there’s no stopping it.