Find the Right Conference for You

by Sharon and Bill Hopkins

Our guests this week are husband and wife writers Bill Hopkins and Sharon Woods Hopkins. Sharon is the author of Killerwatt, Killerfind, and the just-published Killertrust. Bill is the author of Courting Murder and River Mourn, also a new release.

We have gone to many writers’ conferences for the last five years. There are different kinds of conferences and good ways and bad ways to attend them.

Let’s start with the different kinds of conferences. Some do not allow independent writers to sell their books or appear on panels. If you fall into that category, check the information about the conference carefully before you spend your time and money.

 

 Fan conferences (such as Malice Domestic and Bouchercon) are great fun because you get to meet your readers! Usually these gatherings have a bevy of famous authors who are interesting to chat with and listen to.

Workshop conferences (such as Sleuthfest and Mystery Writers of America University) are mainly for writers. You’ll be doing workshops, exercises, and perhaps receiving critiques or talking to agents or pitching to publishers.

At study conferences (such as Killer Nashville and Writers Police Academy) the lessons and information are so intense and exciting that you’ll wonder how you ever did without such a source.
 
State or local literary or book festivals are mostly oriented toward authors selling their books. Some are friendly to self-publishers (Missouri Writers Guild and Mississippi Writers Guild, for example), and some prohibit self-publishers altogether.


 
Regardless of what conference you want to go to, we suggest you go to at least one per year. At every kind of conference, you must not be shy! Writers from the most famous to the brand new ones are friendly and interested in talking with you. We always attempt to make several new friends whenever we go to a conference.

A final note of encouragement. We heard at one conference that mystery writers could benefit from participating in Romance Writers of America activities. Neither of us writes anything remotely romantic, but that group is probably the strongest writing group in the whole country. Those people know how to market and how to teach writing.

Jodie Renner has compiled a list of gatherings that you should go through:
http://crimefictioncollective.blogspot.com/2013/08/writers-conferences-book-festivals-july.html
If you know of a conference that should be on there, please let Jodie know AND thank her for the hard work she did in compiling this.

Please write us if you have any questions:
Sharon Woods Hopkins
www.sharonwoodshopkins.com
and
Bill Hopkins
www.judgebillhopkins.com

Killer Nashville . . .

By Lonnie Cruse

Last weekend I attended the Killer Nashville mystery conference where I spoke on two panels and worked as a volunteer under the direction of Beth Terrell (who did a fantastic job of keeping things up and running!) And I schmoozed with the other authors and readers, always fun. Maggie Toussaint and I were "room hostesses" which meant we spent time sprinting up and down the hallway with name plates and water for the authors. She's faster than me, but then, she's younger. I also manned (womaned?) the registration table and info table and hung out with the authors there. Allan Ansorge kept me laughing the entire time. It's all his fault I'm this sick.

Let me just set the record straight here and now. I was falsly accused of dragging people in off the street to check out the book room, forcing them to buy books. Anybody's books. The truth is I only kidnapped two ladies who were headed down the hallway anyhow, to another conference. They were mystery fans who didn't know we were scheduled to be there, and they seemed thrilled to meet authors and buy books. Really.

I'd been battling the sniffles for several days and the hotel was REALLY COLD but I still had a great time. And, more to the point, sold and signed books!

One of the highlights of the conference was lunch with my friend and chauffeur, Debby, and friend and author, Mary Saums (THISTLE AND TWIG, her first in this series, and her newest, which I bought and had her sign, MIGHTY OLD BONES.) We ate at a place with outdoor seating and spent most of the time talking about audio books we each love listening to. I'm the proud owner of a new iPod (bright pink, thank you very much, which color apparently makes my grandson gag) and just learning how to use it.

Another highlight of the conference for me was waltzing into the book room Saturday morning to find an older man hunched over a table in the corner, furiously signing a huge stack of books. On inquiring who he was, I found myself in worshipful distance of Dr. Bill Bass, he of the famous body farm in Tennessee. I've heard of the farm, admired its work, but never thought I'd meet HIM in person. The second he stepped away from the table, I swooped in and yanked his first book about the farm, DEATH'S ACRE off the gigantic stack and dashed to the cash register. Barnes and Noble's CRM, Robbie Bryan, asked if I wanted the book personalized to me. Of course I did, I assured him, but I didn't want to disturb the great man. The great man, on overhearing this, insisted on personalizing it for me. He really is great! And I'm loving the book. Not a dry, dusty, "how to" by any means, it's written with candor and humor. Can't wait to read the second. Dr. Bass also has a mystery series written with Jon Jefferson (Jefferson is also co-author of the non-fictions) under the pen name Jefferson Bass.

Friday morning Forensic Anthropoligist Hugh Berryman gave a facinating program on ancient burial grounds in the Nashville area. As you can see, I'm into this kind of thing. Hog heaven.

Killer Nashville is a terrific small conference (growing each year) so if you have the opportunity, plan to attend next year. And spend time in the book room. You never know who you'll meet there. Bring a jacket . . . in case the temp in the hotel drops below freezing. Again.

Solitary writers? I don't know any

Sandra Parshall

Mystery writers, as much as any other authors, like to play up the image of the solitary wordsmith pecking away (preferably in an unheated attic), writing about imaginary people but shunning contact with the real kind.

Attend a mystery conference and you’ll see how absurd that notion is. Mystery writers are the friendliest people I’ve ever met, and many are likely to give you a big hug even if your previous acquaintance has been limited to online exchanges. (I’ve gotten used to people I’ve never met throwing their arms around me, but I'll admit it was startling at first.) In between conferences, those online chats keep everybody in touch, but there’s nothing like a mystery con to make a writer feel like part of a huge community of authors.

I’m only going to two conferences this year, and the first, Malice Domestic, is now past, leaving behind a lingering nostalgia for the energy and enthusiasm of a big crowd of writers and fans. Okay, I’ll admit Malice Domestic was more exciting last year, when I was an Agatha nominee (and winner). But this year was great in its own way because four friends from the Guppies Chapter of Sisters in Crime were nominated.

Liz Zelvin, my blog sister, was nominated for Best Short Story, as was Nan Higginson. Beth Groundwater was nominated for Best First Novel for A Real Basket Case. Hank Phillippi Ryan won the prize for her first novel, Prime Time. Here they are: Liz, Beth, Hank, and Nan.


They’re all terrific writers, and you’ll be hearing a lot more from and about them in the future.

The personal highlight of Malice this year came when a woman in the audience at my panel (“After the Agatha: You’ve won! What’s next?”) revealed that she is one of Poisoned Pen Press’s manuscript screeners and was delighted to have played a part in getting my first book, The Heat of the Moon, published. I wanted to find her and thank her afterward, but she had vanished. I hope she knows her words gave me a warm glow that's going to last a while.

So far everything I’ve done at Malice has been tied to The Heat of the Moon. In 2006, the book had just been published and my only goal was to make people aware of it. In 2007, I was on the Best First Novel nominees panel and feeling a little anxious that THOTM would overshadow the newly-released Disturbing the Dead. This year, I was on a panel of past Agatha winners, having fun but regretting that I didn't have another brand-new book in hand to talk about.

What’s in store for me next spring? Even I’m not sure yet. But I know I’ll be at Malice, getting and giving hugs, exhausting my cheek muscles with nonstop smiling, and enjoying the great company.

More of my Malice Domestic photos are posted at: www.flickr.com/photos/guppies/

The First Time Comes Only Once

Sandra Parshall

Attending Malice Domestic last spring as a first novelist was just about the most nerve-wracking experience of my life up to that point. I had been warned that if I did or said anything foolish, the other writers present would never forgive or forget. I was too terrified to approach anyone and hardly dared to open my mouth. I wanted to find a big potted palm and hide behind it all weekend.

Why, then, do I feel nostalgic about that conference? Why do I wish I could do it all over again?

Because it was incredibly exciting, and because now I know that I didn't have to be so scared. I've learned that most mystery writers are generous souls who will forgive a beginner almost anything short of arrogance and deliberate insults. They were beginners once too, and they understand that newbies are frantic and need a helping hand.

Despite the fear factor, I did pretty well at my first conference — I didn’t embarrass myself or anyone else, I met a lot of online friends in person for the first time, I moderated a panel that all present seemed to enjoy (the panelists get the credit for that; I was just the verbal traffic cop), and by the end of it I felt like A Real Writer at last.

Malice Domestic 2007 starts Friday, May 4 and runs through Sunday. I don’t have to travel, thank heaven, because it’s held in Northern Virginia, where I live. This time around, I’ll be a veteran, with my second book, Disturbing the Dead, already out. And I’ll be watching with a mixture of pride and envy as several friends make their Malice debuts as published, or about to be published, mystery novelists and short story writers: Terry Hoover, Deb Baker, June Shaw, Beth Groundwater, Elizabeth Zelvin, Kaye George (aka Judy Egner). During the wild and crazy literary equivalent of speed-dating called Malice-Go-Round, I get to sit at a table and listen as the first-timers race about the room, giving their pitches over and over and talking themselves hoarse. I know I’ll be itching to get up and run around with them, but at the same time I’m grateful that I don’t ever have to do that again.

I’m not completely finished with firsts, though. The Heat of the Moon is a nominee for Best First Novel, and I’ll attend the Agatha Awards banquet on Saturday for the first time. A year ago, I could not have imagined this happening. To tell the truth, I’m still more than a little amazed by the nomination, so I doubt I’ll be crushed if I don’t win. Hey, it’s enough that I get to be on the New Kids on the Block panel, which is fantastic for two reasons: Margaret Maron will moderate, and I’ll be called a kid again for the first time in numerous decades.

The journey from pure terror last spring to relative ease this year hasn’t always been smooth. I’ve stumbled here and there, but I’ve learned a lot (such as: only your dearest friends will want ballpoint pens with your title and name on them), and gained more confidence as a speaker than I ever thought possible. Being an old hand has its rewards.

I still envy the first-timers, though. The experience feels like jumping off a tall building with no safety net below, but that first major conference as a published writer is also one of the most exhilarating events of a mystery writer’s life. My friends are going to shine, and I’ll be grinning like a proud sister in crime all weekend.

One sad note to this year’s Malice will be the absence of the talented and charming Elaine Viets, who was scheduled to act as toastmaster. As most in the mystery community know, Elaine suffered a stroke several weeks ago and has been forced to cancel all appearances for the foreseeable future. She’s doing remarkably well, though, and there’s reason to hope for a full recovery. Murder With Reservations, her new entry in the Dead-End Job series, is out now and available at any mystery or general bookstore, and a number of writers on tour this spring will be talking about her book as well as their own. Elaine will be missed at Malice this weekend, but we all believe she’ll be back among us soon.