This past week I was in Chicago for the annual Love is Murder book conference. As a crime writer, once you get your first deal and start to make contacts in the industry, you soon begin to realize just how many different conferences and conventions there are, how many industry groups want you to join, and it’s going to be up to you to decide what to attend and which groups to join without either going broke or devoting so much of your time to travel that you forget the most important part of all: writing.
When THE MARK sold, I soon joined International Thriller Writers and Mystery Writers of American (see my earlier post on Mystery vs. Thriller). ITW was a new organization, whose members had over one billion copies of their books in print. Several friends and authors also published by my publisher recommended it, and so a few months later I was in Arizona for the first ITW conference. Since then the conference has been held in New York City, and I’ve lucked out in that being from New York I’ve been able to stay at my apartment rather than pay “discounted” New York hotel rates (discounted rate: $27,849/night). Joining ITW has been good for my career, as I’ve made innumerable contacts through the organization, met a lot of fans, and ITW also helped get our organization ‘Killer Year’ off the ground. (for more about Killer Year, check out www.killeryear.com).
I’d always wanted to be a member of Mystery Writers of America, the longest-running and most prestigious of the crime writer organizations. It’s members and winners are a who’s-who of the most influential, successful and critically acclaimed writers in the field, and to think that I could consider myself a ‘fellow member’ of an organization which included people like Michael Connelly was just a wonderful thing. Of course it also made me wonder just why this organization would accept someone like me, but who am I to argue since the check cleared?
Anyway, my next book, THE FURY, was scheduled to be in stores in March but it was pushed back until the fall. Because of this, and the 14-month window between books 3 and 4 in my series, I really wanted to get more active on the conference circuit. I wanted to make sure readers were aware of when the next book was coming out, and make sure booksellers and librarians knew that the lull was for a good reason.
Going to conferences is not the easiest thing for me. I’m not a naturally outgoing person (I believe my parents, in fact, always refer to me as an introvert), and plugging my books in person always feels like I’m trying to get someone to buy life insurance. But I have to do it. Meeting fans and supporters of my work is a part of the writing life, and it’s my job to come to them if they aren’t aware of my stuff yet.
But often the best moments at these conventions occur at–surprise, surprise–the bar. This is where authors, editors and agents let their hair down, talk shop without censoring themselves. It’s where the best stories are told and old and new friends can really hang out.
It’s also a place where aspiring writers can learn the most about the world of publishing. Most writers are, in fact, incredibly nice and approachable. And while we don’t like being accosted in the bathroom (if you’re an aspiring writer, DO NOT slip your manuscript until the bathroom stall while an author is in the can), we do love talking to people who are in the same position all of us were at one time.
Now that I’ve been to about a dozen conferences, been on twenty five or so panels, I have a reasonable expectation for how these things work. But the best part of going to conferences isn’t the panels or the banquet ceremonies–it’s what happens in between the panels. When you can talk to fellow writers–published and aspiring–and tell them the real dirt about what being a writer is all about. Conferences are all about what happens after the ceremonies end. That when the real joy of being a writer comes out, and it’s when aspiring writers are apt to learn the most.
