Crime Writing is Alive and Well in Canada

Having stepped up my writing efforts this year, I haven’t taken part in many writing events. But when I was asked by Crime Writers of Canada’s Vice-Chair, Cathy Ace, if I’d like to take part, how could I refuse? It’s been a couple of years since I attended one of these events and they were great fun in the past. I also wanted a chance to catch up with colleagues and our friendly Vancouver mystery booksellers, Dead Write Books. 

As anticipated, the night was terrific. I met a new author who’s just signed his first contract. Also, two of the shortlisted nominees (and in the same Unhanged category!) were in our audience and understandably delighted to hear their names read out.

This is a great time for Canadian crime writers. The talent in this country is among the best! If you’d like to know  more about  these folks, or if any of them live in your area, please check out the Crime Writers of Canada website.

You’ll find a list of bios, newly released titles and upcoming events. You’ll also find the complete list of shortlisted nominees in all eight categories. The winners will be announced at a gala in Toronto on Thursday, May 26 (more details are on the website).

The Author Ellis awards, by the way, were first launched in 1983 and named after the nom de travail of Canada’s last hangmen. As you can see,the award is a little wooden hanging man that is far cuter than gruesome.

Crime writing is alive and well in Canada, and given that May is National Crime Writing Month, I invite you to purchase a book by a Canadian crime writer.

Debra

Big News in Canada's Crime Writing World

I’m delighted to announce that I’ve been offered a contract for the second book in my Casey Holland series. The book (title to be determined) will be released in the spring of 2012. It’s been an incredible year of writing and learning; and now I’ll get to work with my terrific editor again.

Last week, the Arthur Ellis Award shortlist was announced, and I although I don’t have space to list all of the categories and nominees, here are two of them. The winners will be announced at the Bloody Words banquet on June 2nd.

Best Crime Novel:
A Criminal to Remember, Michael Van Rooy, Turnstone Press
Bury Your Dead, Louise Penny, Little Brown, UK
In Plain Sight, Mike Knowles, ECW Press
Slow Recoil, C.B. Forrest, RendeVous Crime
The Extinction Club, Jeffrey Moore, Penguin Group

Best First Crime Novel:
The Damage Done, Hilary Davidson, Tom Doherty Associates
The Debba, Avner Mandleman, Random House of Canada
The Penalty Killing, Michael McKinley, McClelland & Stewart
The Parabolist, Nicholas Ruddock, Doubleday Canada
Still Missing, Chevy Stevens, St. Martin’s Press

To see the complete list of nominees go to www.crimewriterscanada.com Crime Writers of Canada is a terrific organization for both published and unpublished writers. If you’re interested in keeping in touch with all Canadian crime writers’ news, events, and awards, please join us!

THE OPPOSITE OF DARK, http://bit.ly/i983XE, book trailer http://youtu.be/ojgoDKSW_ck
FATAL ENCRYPTION, http://tinyurl.com/ddzsxl
TAXED TO DEATH, http://tinyurl.com/czsy5n

Guest Post: Anthony Bidulka shares The 5 'C's of Promoting Your Book

The morning after.

Means a lot of different things to different people, but to writers it means one thing: promotion. What to do the morning after you’ve landed that long sought-after publishing contract. It can be a shocking thing, the morning after, when you realize there isn’t some marketing guru whose sole responsibility every day is to figure out more and better ways to get your book into the hands of readers. It can be shocking when you realize that marketing guru needs to be YOU.

When it happened to me, after some hits and misses, I came up with:

The 5 ‘C’s of promoting your book.

1. Confidence
2. Circulation
3. Communication
4. Capitalization
5. Creativity

(1) CONFIDENCE

• A successful career comes from within:
• Be confident - Portray confidence no matter what is happening with your career.
• Protect your confidence – don’t let critics, reviewers, jealous neighbours and frenemies get you down.
• Nurture the confidence of colleagues – it will come back to you ten-fold.

(2) CIRCULATE

• YOU are the best salesperson of your work.
• Do not rely on your publisher/agent/booksellers/distributor/best friends to do it for you.
• Help them help you - Get out there/ be seen and heard.
• Lack of publisher promotion strategy? Create your own and see how far you get.
• Research what other authors are doing.
• Ask for nothing from you publisher, get nothing. Ask for 100 things, get at least one or two.

(3) COMMUNICATION

There are a plethora of choices for (a) Who you communicate with/to and (b) How to communicate

WHO

• Publishers
• Bookstores – owners/managers/suppliers
• Your Readers
• Other writers – critique or writing groups, joint readings, conferences, online groups
• Book clubs
• Writers groups – local, national, international – professional and otherwise

HOW

• Website
• Book trailers
• Readings and public appearances
• Facebook
• Myspace
• Blogging
• Online discussion forums
• TV interviews
• Radio
• Newspapers
• LibraryThing.com
• Goodreads.com

Means of communication are proliferating – important point: know you can’t do them all without jeopardizing time for other things. You need to begin by selecting a few communication choices and stick with them for a while – then evaluate, be flexible, and change it up over time.

(4) CAPITALIZATION

• Know your strengths and capitalize on them. Know your weaknesses and either improve, work around them, or get someone else to do it!
• The best example is a colleague of mine who is, self-admittedly, a poor public speaker. His books are terrific, but to hear him read from one was pure torture for both him and his audience. He practiced and got pointers from everyone he met, but nothing seemed to help. He came up with a brilliant solution. He still organizes readings, but instead of doing the reading himself, he simply asks a local celeb (like a radio DJ or a bookstore owner) or even his wife, to do it for him. Afterwards he handles the Q&A. Genius I think.

(5) CREATIVITY

• Be creative with how you promote yourself and your work. You can use tried and true methods – but spice them up. Ask other authors what creative things they have done. It’s a competitive industry – get noticed! It doesn’t have to cost big dollars.
• Key- there is no one golden bullet - have a basketful of tricks.
• Take control.
• Think outside the box.
• Sometimes it’ll work. Sometimes it won’t.
• Oftentimes you won’t even know for sure.  
• Having no budget is no excuse to do nothing.
• Never give up.

* * * * * * * * * *

Anthony Bidulka’s Russell Quant mystery series (please visit http://www.anthonybidulka.com/) tells the story of a world-travelling, wine-swilling, wise-cracking, gay, Canadian prairie, private detective living a big life in a small city. The series is a multi award nominee, including for the CWC Arthur Ellis Award, and winner of the Lambda Literary Award. Aloha, Candy Hearts is currently shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel.