Takeaways from SleuthFest 2018
This year's SleuthFest has come and gone. Lessons are in the notebook.
As always, panelists at the annual conference put on by the Florida Mystery Writers of America were gracious, generous and up front. We heard stories of success and stories of struggles.
[caption id="attachment_818" align="alignright" width="300"] Andrew Gross[/caption]
Keynote for this SleuthFest was former James Patterson co-author and now famously re-branded Andrew Gross. Guest of honor was forensic scientist Katherine Ramsland, Ph.D. Guest authors were Hallie Ephron, Kristy Montee (who writes at PJ Parrish), Hank Phillippi Ryan and James R. Benn. And the editor-in-chief was recently retired publishing guru Neil Nyren.
There are always new things to learn. For me, here is this year's list.
Key Takeaways from SleuthFest 2018
Audio books are the fastest-growing segment of book sales. Some believe this trend doesn't indicate an uptick in overall sales but merely that audio books are sucking away readers from ebooks and print books. Even though audio books are much more expenses.
People who write crime fiction for a living (or as a serious hobby) did not like and do not like the recent success trend marked by "Gone Girl," "Girl on a Train" and [name that book with the word "Gone" in the title]. The structure and styles of those novels, while they may have stricken a cord with readers or with movie-goers turned into readers, seem to have turned this group of crime writers into disbelievers.
Lengthy book tours don't work like they used to. Most published authors don't do them anymore.
Your publicist doesn't have to like your book to sell it. He or she only has to believe your book has merit in the marketplace.
Your publicist may love your book (or books) and decide not to work with you anymore because you A) don't play nice B) have out-sized expectations or C) if you aren't willing to help them do their job by following their advice.
What agents and editors want from a new novelist is to be assured they're in good hands. They can tell within the first 1,000 words if a writer knows some of the secrets of how to draw a reader in and keep them enchanted. "I can tell within the first two or three pages if this writer is doing the job. If the answer is no, I pass," Nyren said.
The phrase "best-seller" is, in a word, "bullshit." The best-seller lists -- New York Times, USA Today, Amazon, etc. -- calculate their sales in different ways, and very few track every sale.
Editors are publishing houses do have their favorite agents. That's because there's typically a track record of success among agent, editor and author, and if the agent gives an editor an exclusive look at a manuscript it's because the agent thinks this is right MS for the right agent and house.
When writing a query letter for your first book, don't say it's your first book.
At least one South Florida crime-scene investigator, if she needed equipment or staffing help on a scene, would reach out first to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms before she reached out to the FBI. But the FBI is excellent when it comes to things like 2-D and 3-D modeling of crime scenes.
Crime-scene investigators are typically one or two people who don't wear powdered gloves and who don't ever draw chalk outlines of dead bodies.
The most dangerous post-crime scenes are grow houses. Marijuana fumes can be overwhelming, and the folks who use the house for their illegal business often steal electricity from the power company by re-wiring how it come into the house. That rewire job is not always safe. Oh: And there could also be guard dogs somewhere in the house. (Tempted to ask: Wouldn't the dogs be mellowed out?)
Do use the senses, all five of them, in scenes to identify place.
Don't worry about the opening of the first scene in your first draft. It's more important to get on with the storytelling. Once you reach the end, you'll know more than enough to rewrite the start.
You don't HAVE to have a fantastic opening sentence. It helps, but remember that every sentence builds off of the previous one.
Some techniques for appealing to readers' senses:
Infuse your story with some dread. (Your character is realizing the situation is really, really bad.)
Put your regular-person character in front of earth-shaking events or seemingly unstoppable forces (think "Independence Day" or "Armageddon").
Have your character confront time elements they cannot control (ticking bomb, someone else's timeline).Use techniques that help keep your story grounded and real, such as infusing real-life people in them. (The current president, a sports event result that just happened, a major world event).
Author Reminders from SleuthFest
In addition to the new things that came up a the conference, a number of constantly heard (but never-to-forget) things were mentioned. The ones I heard:
RUE: Resist the Urge to Explain. Said another way, don't dump a character's backstory on a reader all at once. It'll slow down the pace too much. The real craft is in the slow revealing of the character over the course of a book (or even a series).
If you're at the stage where you are querying agents, editors or publishers, make sure your query sets up your manuscript accurate. Don't oversell your story. It won't help you to get in the door if, in the end, your story doesn't match your hype.
Writing with an Omniscient POV is not for everyone. In fact, it can be difficult to pull off. Hat-tip to Steve Berry. This is a lesson he teaches again and again (though he was not at SleuthFest).
When looking at potential authors as clients or partners, agents, editors and publishing house do look the writer's platform (website, social media presence, etc.).
It's not longer enough to write your best book and let it fly away. Even if you're with a major publisher -- and especially if you are not, and particularly if you are an Indie author -- you will have to handle marketing duties. That's the way of the world now.
One final observation. SleuthFest is the perfect place to be if you want to publish novels traditionally. That is, by securing an agent, a small or large publisher and play the game according to the customary publishing rules.
It is NOT optimal for Indie authors. In fact, Indie authors are encouraged, in ways small and large at SleuthFest, not to be Indies.
More on that later.
