February 2nd, 2010
Hey, Tony Perona here. I just wanted to let everyone know that the reason I missed the January meeting in Chicago was because I was at the MWA Board meeting in NYC., which proved to be an incredible experience. Those of us new to the Board received excellent training from national, and it’s going to be a big help knowing the presidents in the other chapters. Already we’ve traded ideas on how to approach certain situations. MWA is a great organization, and everyone on the Board wants to make it even stronger.
We’ve got some very cool things going on right here in the Midwest chapter: Tim Broderick’s got the February meeting scheduled with a panel discussion on writers’ groups and how to get the most out of them; Board member Claire Applewhite and I are working on an outreach meeting in St. Louis for April with a panel discussion on “Ten Things Mystery Writers Should Know about Publishing in the Marketplace Today.” And Ted Hertel is working on another outreach meeting in Milwaukee for May, with Ben LeRoy and Alison Janssen of Tyrus Books. And Julie Hyzy is working on Printers Row for June. For those of you who don’t know about Printers Row, it’s a book festival in downtown Chicago where people who love books go to buy books from people who write books–people like us! So watch for more on all of these things.
The Midwest Chapter’s Board is meeting this month to talk about our goals for this year and the future, and that means figuring out how to add more value to MWA membership. We’ll be looking for new ideas, so expect to see more from us coming soon!
Categories: From our MWMWA president, Meetings |
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January 29th, 2010
Sunday, February 21
- Location: Centuries & Sleuths, Forest Park, IL
- Time: 1 p.m.
- Panel Discussion: How to Get the Most out of Writers’ Groups
- Panelists: Lee Williams and Helen Macie Osterman and more!
Sunday, March 21
- Location: Centuries & Sleuths, Forest Park, IL
- Time: 1 p.m.
- Topic: To be determined
Friday, April 16 Outreach meeting in St. Louis
- Location: Drury Plaza Hotel, 355 Chesterfield Center East, Chesterfield, MO
- Time: 5:30 Dinner ($25), 6:15 Program
- Program: Panel Discussion: Ten Things Mystery Writers Should Know about Publishing in the Marketplace Today
- Panelists: will be announced soon.
Coming in May: Outreach meeting in Milwaukee
- Details to be announced soon.
Categories: From our MWMWA president, Meetings |
Tags: Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore, Mystery Writers of America, Tony Perona | 3 Comments
November 9th, 2009
Bouchercon 2009, Elementary, My Dear Indy, has now come and gone, and the Midwest Chapter has much to be proud of.
Awards
First, we were well represented in both Barry and Anthony Award nominations. For the Barry, we had
• Sean Chercover, William Kent Krueger, and Michael Koryta; Best Novel
• Michael Stanley (half of which is our own Stanley Trollip) and Julie Kramer; Best First Novel
• Julie Hyzy and Max Allen Collins: Best Paperback Original.
For the Anthony, we had
• Sean Chercover and William Kent Kruger; Best Novel
• Julie Kramer; Best First Novel
• Julie Hyzy and Max Allen Collins; Best Paperback Original
• Jeffrey Marks; Best Critical Non-fiction
• Sean Chercover; Best Short Story
• Jon & Ruth Jordan and Gary Warren Niebuhr; Special Service Awards.
Those nominations make a great statement about the talent in this chapter.
And the winners were:
• Julie Hyzy, our MWMWA President, took home both the Barry and the Anthony for State of the Onion.
• Sean Chercover took home the Anthony for “A Sleep Not Unlike Death” from Hardcore Hardboiled.
• Jeffrey Marks the Anthony for Anthony Boucher: A Biobibliography,
• Jon & Ruth Jordan won the Anthony’s Special Service category.
Congratulations to all the nominees and the winners!
Participation and MWA HOT TICKET
Because Indianapolis is in our chapter, we had many, many members there. I think I counted nearly 50 active and affiliate members, and we were represented on at least 28 panels.
Plus, our chapter ran the MWA HOT TICKET program, which enabled ten lucky fans to get an hour with one of eleven bestselling MWA authors. Among the authors participating was one of our own big names, Sara Paretsky. The program was a major success with both the authors and the fans. We received written thank you notes from Carolyn Hart and Sue Grafton, and all of the other authors expressed verbal thanks and said what a wonderful time they’d had. Many of those fans who won tickets said it was the highlight of their Bouchercon experience. Special thanks to our hosting authors who helped things move smoothly. They included Michael Black, Larry Sweazy, Libby Hellman, Jess Lourey, Julie Hyzy, Kit Ehrman, Luisa Buehler, Tony Perona, Raymond Benson, Jim Doherty, Ted Hertel, Deb Baker, Marlis Day, Albert Bell, Carl Brookins, Michael Dymmoch, Beverle Graves Myers, Joanna Slan, Jeanne Dams, Julie Kramer, Jack Fredrickson, Jamie Freveletti, and Sam Reaves. All of these authors had the chance to display their books and do some soft-selling to fans, hopefully gaining them some name recognition and sales. That was all part of MWMWA’s goal, not only to promote the chapter but also some of our authors as well.
In summary, Bouchercon was a huge success!
Tony Perona, Vice President
Categories: Hot Ticket, Meetings, Uncategorized |
Tags: Bouchercon, Hot Ticket | No Comments
November 2nd, 2009
By Michael Dymmoch
The September meeting of MWA/Midwest was held at Centuries and Sleuths, Forest Park, Illinois, on September 23.
It began with announcements: Jim Doherty has a new short story out, a pastiche on Dick Tracy. Steve Phelan has a new book out. Luisa Buehler’s next series book will be out in January of 2011. Naomi Smith’s publisher has picked up the third book in her series. Diane Piron-Gelman’s first novel, No Less Than Blood, will be published in 2011 by Five Star. President Julie Hyzy asked for volunteers to man (or woman) the MWA table at Bouchercon.
Wednesday’s speakers were Danielle Egan-Miller, President, and Lauren Olson, of Browne & Miller Literary Associates (formerly Multimedia Product Development, Inc.), founded by Jane Jordan Browne in 1971. Ms. Egan-Miller worked for the agency early in her career, returning as a partner in 2002. When Ms. Browne died in 2003, Ms. Egan-Miller became the agency president. Lauren Olson joined Browne & Miller in 2007 as an intern, and achieved her present position, Assistant to the Agents, in 2008. Browne & Miller is a full-service literary agency currently representing 200 writers, 75 of whom are actively writing. Most of these are mid-career authors, on their fifteenth book rather than their first. The agency handles print, audio, film/TV, and foreign rights, and sells 25-35 books annually; 85% of sales are fiction. Browne & Miller looks for: well written fiction, particularly substantive women’s fiction, historical fiction with strong romantic elements, narrative non-fiction, classy true crime (like Devil in the White City, but not Chicago Mob books), and young adult fiction. The agency does not deal with large print rights, poetry, screenplays, short stories, children’s illustrated books, Christian living (although Christian-themed novels are OK), Sci-Fi, horror, or works that cannot be classified at all within a genre. They say “Westerns are a hard sell.” Browne & Miller’s current wish list is posted on the Publisher’s Marketplace website (http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/mpdinc/).
The last four years have been very challenging. Contracts frequently come with no check; the check may come thirty days later. Some publishers divide the advance into quarters and pay on signing, on acceptance, on publication, and six months after publication (which used to be called the first royalty check). The agency doesn’t get paid until the author is paid.
Finding the right agent to represent your work is crucial. Established authors are often looking for something different from what debut authors need. “Some people think they need a New York agent. I respect that,” Ms. Egan-Miller said. “But I’m never going to be a New York agent. It has to be a match. We like to work with authors we like. I’ve had my share of authors who are difficult, but how much of me can I devote to handholding or talking people off the ledge?” Browne & Miller has taken on only four debut novels in the last three years. “The problem with debut novels is that they have no traction. We can’t make a living selling only debut fiction, so we’re very careful these days. Clever ideas and fun titles are okay, but most important is the quality of writing and storytelling. It has to be something we really believe in for us to commit to sticking with it.”
Querying is the primary way for an author to introduce his work to an agent; having an agent is still the best way to get a mainstream publisher. Some agents receive 600 book queries per week—30,000 per year! Brown & Miller gets approximately 200 queries per week, twice as many as last year. With a staff of only four, the agency cannot have much sympathy for poorly written queries, or for writers who have not learned their craft or done some basic research.
“We’re not that mean, but if you spell my name wrong….” Queries are read by three staff members before they arrive on Ms. Egan-Miller’s desk. Only five or ten make it through the screening process.
Ms. Egan-Miller distributed and discussed Browne & Miller’s “10 Tips on Query Letters” (which can be found at http://www.browneandmiller.com/Query.html). In querying, it’s most important to follow the guidelines. Query by letter or in the body of an email, whichever medium is the most comfortable. When querying by email, write your letter as a word document, spell check and proof it, then cut and paste it into the body of your email. Ms. Egan- Miller’s advice: “Email gives some people license to be casual or even rude. Err on the side of being conservative and professional.” For security reasons, email attachments will not be opened. Unsolicited material will not be read.
Categories: CLUES, Meeting report, Meetings |
Tags: Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore, Mystery Writers of America | No Comments
September 8th, 2009
At Centuries & Sleuths, 7419 W. Madison, Forest Park, Illinois
Agents Danielle Egan-Miller and Joanna Mackenzie of Browne & Miller Literary Agency will be our guests. They plan to talk about what their agency looks for in queries and in manuscripts. They will also discuss query etiquette and they’re bringing handouts.
There will be no individual critiquing at this meeting, but there will be ample time for questions and answers. Please RSVP by email Julie Hyzy if you plan to attend.
Categories: Event, Meetings |
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February 19th, 2009
Started with announcements:
- The next MW MWA meeting will be at Aunt Agatha’s Bookstore in Ann Arbor, MI, Feb 25.
- The April meeting will be a tour of the Airport in Milwaukee, WI
Then, announcements from members in attendance:
- John Desjarlais announced the publication of his first book, Bleeder.
- Nancy Sweetland announced a new book, Light House.
- Luisa Buhler has negotiated a contract with Harlequin
- Kathleen Earnst‘s latest Molly Mystery is Clues in the Shadows.
- Michael Black will have a short story in the MWA anthology.
- Centuries & Sleuths, 7419 W Madison St, Forest Park, will have a program to honor the late Hugh Holton on Sunday, March 15, 2009 2:00 p.m.
Guest speaker:
Jeffrey Deaver is an international best selling author of 23 novels and 2 short story collections. His books are published in 25 languages, sold in 150 countries. He has been nominated for an Edgar six time and received The Steel and Short Story Dagger Award, an Anthony, a Gumshoe, 3 Ellery Queen Reader’s Awards for Best Short Story, and—just this year—a Lovey. Two of his novels have been made into movies. And he’s appeared as a guest on As The World Turns.
Deaver told MWA members that he started writing at eleven. Even at that early age, he knew books were special, being particularly fond of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Deaver’s first novel was a four page James Bond pastiche that took two weeks to write and had two chapters. Creating the cover art was more fun.
As a boy, Deaver was a nerd, “when nerd meant something—no hundred million dollar stock options.” He developed his own subgenre about pudgy, clumsy, socially inept boys—wish fulfillment stories in which the nerds got the pom-pom girls. He became editor of the Bard, Glenbard West’s literary magazine, and developed a love of poetry. This has helped with his thriller writing because in thrillers, as with poetry, less is more. Deaver fell for the Poetry.com scam and in his best year lost only six dollars. He has since become a professional poet, though not a profitable one.
Having failed to make his fortune as a poet, Deaver determined to become a music star. Singer songwriter, after all, get more pom-pom girls. In his twenties, he performed in Old Town. One night, while going over his lead sheet before opening for a well-known rockabilly singer, he was asked by the star to identify a punctuation mark on his sheet. When he explained that it was a semi-colon, the star told him he was too literary to be a singer-songwriter.
Eventually, Deaver decide he wanted the luxuries of life—food, shelter, etc. He got a journalism degree and a job in Chicago as a magazine writer and reporter, but discovered that editors wanted facts. “Where’s the creativity in that?” So he went to school to study law, where “truth, accuracy, and honesty are not primary considerations.” He went to work at law in New York.
In his first trial as an associate, Deaver represented the defendant, “a large, heartless, running-dog international corporation.” The plaintiff was a former employee fired for cause. He was suing for return of his property lost by the corporation after he was fired. Deaver said that after the plaintiff put on his case, he-Deaver—could say nothing but “This is a gratuitous lawsuit. We’re not responsible.” He was amazed when the judge found in favor of the corporation. When he found out that the lost property included irreplaceable family photos, Deaver felt like writing the man a check himself. He decided he was not cut out to be a lawyer.
While commuting to work, Deaver had been writing the kind of books he liked to read—thrillers. When he finished the first, he wrote another. “Both were egregiously awful.” One was so bad he shredded it in the document shredder at work. He decided to give up writing. Five months later, he finished the next novel. This was the thriller ever written. It was rejected by everyone in the publishing business. “My mother would have rejected it.” Vanity presses wouldn’t have published it. He received his manuscript back with the pages out of order. There was no rejection letter—just the original cover letter with a footprint on the back. The best rejection Deaver got for that book was a rejection letter actually typed: “Dear Mr. Deaver, This manuscript is unpublishable…”
Deaver’s next novel got published. And the next novel got published.
Deaver resolved to treat writing as a business and create books regularly. He had a contract for a third book. When he knew that the third book wouldn’t be finished to his satisfaction by the deadline, he sent in one of the unpublished manuscripts, hoping that by the time it was rejected, his unfinished work would be complete. To his surprise, the editor loved it. This was an editor at the same company that had pronounced the manuscript “unpublishable.”
Deaver has produced a book every twelve to eighteen months ever since.
When asked if he had any desire to write for the movies, Deaver quoted, “A wise man knows his limitations. I have no talent for film….I look at movies as paid advertising.”
Deaver concluded his talk by sharing three tricks of the trade:
- Write what you enjoy reading.
- Treat writing as a business. Proctor & Gamble doesn’t suffer from toothpaste block or miss deadlines.
- Remember that rejection is a speed bump, not a brick wall. Never give up.
Reported by Michael Dymmoch
Categories: Meeting report, Meetings |
Tags: Centuries & Sleuths, Jeffrey Deaver, John Desjarlais, Kathleen Earnst, Luisa Buhler, Michael Black, Michael Dymmoch, Nancy Sweetland | No Comments
January 18th, 2009
Hosted by Michael Dymmoch, our guest speaker is Danny Smith, author of BEHIND THE BADGE. And Tom Keevers will be bringing a guest, Joe Walsh, recently-retired cold case homicide investigator with the CPD. Should be fun.
It from 1 to 3 pm today at Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore, 7419 W. Madison in Forest Park, IL
Categories: Meetings |
Tags: Behind the Badge, Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore, Danny Smith, Michael Allen Dymmoch, Tom Keevers | No Comments
