IT'S A CRIME! (OR A MYSTERY...)

Writing Crime Fiction: Making Crime Pay – Janet Laurence

[Second edition reprinted by Aber Publishing in 2011, first published in 2007 by Studymates.]

Without doubt, crime fiction is popular and commercially successful.  Many enjoy reading it and many harbour ambitions to write it.  If you are starting out, it’s worth taking a look at this guidance from Janet Laurence which covers the necessary basic building blocks from the writing to the selling of your completed manuscript.  Writing Crime Fiction’s chapters include areas such as plotting, settings, characterisation and motivation, dialogue, narrative style, whether or not to use outlines, specialist knowledge, research, pace, opening hooks and denouements.  Carefully, Laurence illustrates her points with examples from her own work and from those of other crime authors, as well as dropping in quotes of guidance and observation from UK names that you will recognise.  She also sets exercises to get the juices flowing.  So if you can’t afford Faber Academy or the new Guardian Masterclasses, fear not.  You can bounce around some ideas using this book and learn a few things along the way.  To her credit, Laurence also makes it very clear that this is a business and any writer with hopes of being published needs to be aware of what that means.

But there’s more.  You can also assess the business by looking at the content of the book from another angle where this book was first published a mere four years ago.  Those names I mentioned are the first key.  Ask yourself where they are today?  Are the big names still big names and if not, why not?  If yes, what is responsible for their career trajectory?  If not, who has replaced them?  What makes success and what makes enduring success?  Secondly, which names were at early stages of their careers and where are they now?  Investigate that also. 

Making the writing pay is more than just the writing, so to get the bigger picture take a look at this book.

Available on Amazon here.

Janet Laurence has written two series of crime novels: the Darina Lisle culinary mysteries and three Canaletto mysteries. She has run a number of writing workshops, including ones for the Arvon Foundation and the Cheltenham Spring Festival. She has also been a Visiting Fellow/Writer in Residence three times at Jane Franklin Hall College, part of the University of Tasmania.

Queen’s Birthday Honours 2011 - publishing-lite?

45 pages of names but publishing-lite on this occasion.  Congratulations to the two below.

 Members of the Order of the British Empire

Ms Kate ATKINSON, Author. For services to Literature.

Julia Catherine, Mrs DONALDSON, Author and Playwright. For services to Literature.

Publishing’s Digital Revolution (1)



Following that little piece I wrote for The Bookseller’s FUTUReBOOK digital blog last week, here’s more from the media on the digital world:

The Bookseller reports on an FT column from Luke Johnson, where he makes some excellent observations on the publishing trade but is savaged in the comments.  The original column can be found via here (article of 10 May).  Johnson has made some crass comments before and I am not a big fan.  However, when he says ‘…Publishers must learn to sell direct to readers and forget about saving bookstores…’, I’d say he’s right on the money.  And when he says ‘…The inevitable disappearance of the vast majority of bookshops will remove a main marketing channel…’, I assume that’s a thought developed after his experience of ownership of Borders UK.

The Daily Mail picks up on the story that Amazon is wrecking the ‘publishing trade’ in its This is Money pages and in its main pages.

From PR Newswire, the press release that Hachette, Penguin, Simon & Schuster have all joined with AOL to create a site called Bookish launching in the summer.  Odd though, that the following quote appears almost at the bottom of the press release, for this is key is creating more competition for Amazon and fighting their increasing monopoly. 

‘It will also offer readers the convenience of purchasing print and digital books directly or through other retailers.’

‘…also offer…’ suggests an added benefit. It’s not. It’s the key driver.  See that Johnson comment above.  That's in the US.  What's the UK doing, I wonder...

London Book Fair Day Two - Best Tweet

I can't find the original tweet, but this story is doing the rounds even now (from a tweet):

"It’s not often the London Fire Brigade turns up to a book launch party. Last night it was called out to bash a door down at Conville & Walsh offices in Soho as a guest had locked themself in the loo. The party was to launch S J Watson’s debut novel, Before I Go to Sleep..."

With thanks to the Evening Standard's Londoner's Diary for the quote.

The bad use of English & grammar in that quote are not mine.  (Offers for edit & proofreading gratefully accepted.)

A Seasonal Message and a Year in Books…

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that you have an excellent 2011 ahead of you.  Happy New Year!

I will resume the Books for Christmas series shortly.  Sadly, due to a nasty infection I was diverted in December and will carry on posting the collected Books for Christmas series but under a new tag of ‘2011 starts with recommendation heaven’.

You may know me by now.  I try to be a little different.  No year end top tens from me this year; just a look back on 2010’s year in books.  I hope you enjoy it.  It goes some way to explaining why there were fewer posts on this blog during the past year.

January saw the launch of the TV Book Club in the UK.  Bookworms across the country were crying out for this: a book show on terrestrial TV.  Hopes were high as it involved Amanda Ross who had set up the Richard & Judy Book Club.  But readers don’t go that deeply into backroom organisation and don’t really care.  ‘Richard & Judy’ was the brand and it was their word, their recommendations that mattered.  Criticism started early, as soon as the panel was announced.  Hopes were dashed, but bookworms retained patience and gave it time.  Low notes: celebrity central for bragging up a biography; most of the panel and guests; the wrong location, location, location for Jo Brand’s brand of humour.  High notes: Joan Bakewell as a guest; Ian McMillan on Ted Hughes, making poetry accessible; the books selected.  The series returns to our screens in January 2011.

Want to write crime and be published? Want to learn from the professionals?

And want to have fun while you do so?  Well if you do, you'll pleased to know of the second authonomy workshop from HarperCollins coming on Saturday, 11 December.  The information communiqué is reproduced below.  And do click on the link for more information.  You'll find of bags of it to assist in your decision-making and plans.  As Oscar Wilde said, the only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it, so book soon before it's too late!

INTRODUCING THE SECOND AUTHONOMY WRITERS WORKSHOP:
CRIME AND THRILLER WRITING

On Saturday 11th December 2010, authonomy.com will go live once again for the next in its fantastic series of writing workshops.

The first workshop ran in July and was hugely successful and enjoyable, with great feedback across the board from the attendees. This time around, the day will focus on Crime and Thriller Writing, offering writers in those genres expert advice and guidance from authors, agents and publishing industry professionals.

The day will cover topics such as characterisation, plot and suspense, as well as a Q&A session in which attendees can find out everything they want to know about publishing in general.

With exclusive access inside one of the UK’s biggest publishing houses, the authonomy workshop series is one of the most exciting and interesting around, not least because it offers the best value, with tickets priced at just £150.

Tutors for the Crime and Thriller workshop include:
- bestselling authors Meg Gardiner and Claire Seeber
- literary agent Camilla Wray from the Darley Anderson agency
- HarperCollins Publishing Director (not to mention Agatha Christie’s publisher) David Brawn
- HarperCollins editors Kate Bradley and Rachel Rayner (who is also an editor on the Killer Reads website)

Tickets are selling fast, but there is time to book your place. Click here to find out more.

CWA 2010 Dagger Finalists for the Gold, Steel and John Creasey (New Blood)

We have the lists on the ITV3 Crime Thriller Site, but here they are:

Gold Dagger

Blacklands, Belinda Bauer (Corgi)
Blood Harvest, S J Bolton (Bantam Press)
Shadowplay, Karen Campbell (Hodder & Stoughton)
The Way Home, George Pelecanos (Orion)

Ian Fleming Steel Dagger

A Loyal Spy, Simon Conway (Hodder & Stoughton)
The Dying Light, Henry Porter (Orion)
Innocent, Scott Turow (Macmillan)
The Gentlemen’s Hour, Don Winslow (Heinemann)

John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger

Acts of Violence, Ryan David Jahn (Pan)
Rupture, Simon Lelic (Picador)
The Holy Thief, William Ryan (Mantle )
The Pull of the Moon, Diane Janes (Robinson)

Congratulations to those who have made it to the finalists/nominations stage!

Queen’s Birthday Honours in the Publishing World

Here are the publishing (and related) honours of 11 June:

Knighthoods

(Theodore) Wilson HARRIS Author. For services to Literature.
Ronald HARWOOD, CBE Playwright and Screenwriter. For services to Drama.

Commanders of the Order of the British Empire

Simon ARMITAGE Poet. For services to Literature.
Dr Michael LONGLEY Poet. For services to Literature.
Marguerite, Mrs PATTEN, OBE Cookery Writer. For services to the Food Industry.
Susan Carroll, Lady SAINSBURY For services to the Royal Shakespeare Company and to the Arts.

Officers of the Order of the British Empire

Ms Susan BRADBURY Lately Editor-in-Chief, Folio Society. For services to the Publishing Industry.
Brian CLEMENS Screenwriter. For services to Broadcasting and to Drama.
Ms Wendy COPE Poet. For services to Literature.
Barry CUNNINGHAM Chief Publisher and Managing Director, Chicken House Books. For services to the Publishing Industry.
Ms Bonnie GREER Playwright, Author and Critic. For services to the Arts.
James HERBERT Author. For services to Literature.
Julian PETTIFER For services to Journalism and to Wildlife Conservation.
Professor Rodney Paul STURGES For services to Libraries in the UK and Overseas.

Members of the Order of the British Empire

Miss Moira Elizabeth ARTHUR Lately Managing Director, Peters Bookselling Services. For services to Children's Libraries.
Jeremy Robert COWHIG Managing Director, Institute of Physics Publishing. For services to Science.
John Alexander FULLERTON For services to Sports Journalism and to the community in Northern Ireland.
Philip WALTERS For services to the Educational Publishing Industry.

Crime Fiction Week 14-20 June 2010

The UK's Crime Writers' Assocation is holding a Crime Fiction Week during 14-20 June and has set up a dedicated site for it.  The site lists all the events taking place during the week, by date schedule and by location so you can see what's going on.  Whether author, an aspiring writer, in publishing, a bookseller, a blogger or anything else, you can also load up your contribution to the week.  To date, I have two contributions on there:

1. Along with Roger (R.N.) Morris, I have agreed to judge the Meldrum Writers' Group's Short Story Competition.
2. During the week, I am planning to run an auction on this blog for a collectible book.  As Crime Fiction Week immediately follows The Book Trade Charity's Action Week, the purpose of the auction is to raise money for The Book Trade Charity.  I am working on getting a real beauty for the auction right now, so please return for more information.

How good to have a Crime Fiction Week to celebrate the best in crime fiction in the UK.  There are already plenty of events posted up the site, so do take a look!

The TV Book Club - UK

The TV Book Club starts on Sunday 17 Jan on More4 at 19:30, to be repeated on Monday 18 Jan on Channel 4 @ 12:05.  It is, of course, produced by Cactus TV who introduced the Richard & Judy Book Club, and producer Amanda Ross remains the book selector.  Week 1 looks at The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters and week 2 brings a crime novel with Blacklands by Belinda Bauer.

On celebrities, Ross recently said "As broadcasters we were being forced into forking out ridiculous amounts of money. What kind of a person can literally be worth £50,000 for an afternoon of their time? It's wrong – it really is wrong."  But it is celebrities to whom Ross has turned for presenting the show:

• Jo Brand (comedian, actress and writer)
• Nathaniel Parker (actor who participated in the R&J Book Club)
• Gok Wan (has written books on styling)
• Laila Rouass (actress)
• Dave Spikey (comedian).