What's the State of the Mystery Novel?

I went to the monthly meeting of Mystery Writers of America-NY and listened to an interesting panel presentation on the state of the industry by St. Martin's editor Hannah Braaten; Curtis Brown Ltd. agent Mitchell S. Waters; and Mystery Scene's editor-in-chief and co-publisher Kate Stine. I have an agent and an editor, but I like to know the trends--and I like to see my mystery-writer friends. In no particular order, these are 10 of the panelists' observations:

1.) Grisly violence in mysteries on the wane, with psychotic killer point of view not as popular.
2.) If you query multiple agents simultaenously, you should let them know.
3.) Cozy mysteries doing OK, because publishers have a readymade market of eager readers, as with romance. Interesting new trend: The younger cozy, with a little more edge and some adventure.
4.) Query services are easy to spot and some agents don't care for them.
5.) Some editors still do intense line editing, but a writer who can turn in a manuscript close to ready has a big advantage.
6.) Fierce female protagonists welcome.
7.) The biggest problem with self-published fiction is lack of rigorous copy-editing.
8.) Don't chase commercial trends in vague hyped queries: "It's Gone Girl meets The Girl on the Train!"
9.) Abused children in mysteries--they've had enough of it.
10.) Mystery writers are the nicest of the genre writers. They also drink the most. Are these things connected. Discuss. :)

Why This Was the Best BEA Ever

It was my third time at Book Expo America, and my second time signing books at the Mystery Writers of America booth. I had such a blast! It was wonderful to meet some bloggers and librarians who are fans of my 16th century novels, and one woman came by the booth throughout the three days of BEA to ask when I would show up and where the heck is my Book Three. Love it. :)

Greenburger Assoc. is my lit agent

I also got to know the president of the New York chapter of MWA, Annamaria Alfieri, whose new book, Strange Gods, comes out in a few weeks. Set in Nairobi in 1911, it's described as Out of Africa meets Agatha Christie. That sounds irresistible to me.

The other author who signed at the table the same time as I did is James Benn, who has written the very successful World War II Billy Boyle mystery series. Quite an inspiration.

It's Mystery Writers of America--and specifically Margery Flax--who make this possible, recruiting the members to sign during the gargantuan BEA, organizing the time slots and keeping the books (and water bottles) flowing. The volunteers even act as bouncers when someone tries to jump the line of people waiting for books. That's fun to watch. :)

 

There's Margery in green, keeping it all going

Last year I blogged about how BEA is like high school and explored the author's role in this Javits Center convention. Link here.  I guess this year I graduated? Could be!

See you next May...