Self Assessment for Crime Novel Writers

by Thelma Jacqueline Straw

Can we "invent, adapt and reinvent our jobs every day, in a market that changes faster than ever?"

Thomas Friedman wrote in an Op Ed piece (NYT, July 13, 2011) "The rising trend in Silicon Valley is to evaluate employees every quarter, not annually. Because the merger of globalization and the IT revolution means new products are being phased in and out so fast that companies cannot afford to wait until the end of the year to figure out whether a team leader is doing a good job."

He stated that an employer today asks . . . can this person help my company adapt . . . by reinventing the job for tomorrow . . . can he or she adapt with all the change . . . In today's hyperconnected world, more and more companies cannot and will not hire people who don't fulfill those criteria.

He continues . . . You have to "find a way to add value in a way no one else can (and) strengthen the muscles of resilience."

Translate his terms to Reader, Writer, Agent, Publisher.

Add the rapid changes in what sells, what readers are looking for - paper, e-book, cozy, thriller, series, standalone, occult, private eye, etc.

Silicon Valley becomes Harper Collins, Penguin, St. Martin's, Random House.

Employer morphs into reader and publisher.

I used to collect the books of J.S. Fletcher and mystery novelists of the 20s and 30s, published by Grosset & Dunlap. Today these books would probably not pass the Agent-Editor-Publisher test. Alas, not Reader.

Today's reader is shaped by forces that move faster than light or sound.

The book publisher must be in sync with what the reader wants, in order to stay in business.

Every writer has definite ideas about where the current state of publishing is headed:

• Going to hell in a handbasket
• Moving as fast as a cruise missile
• Neither or both of the above

Do I as a crime novelist change to meet the wishes of my readers? Do I periodically self-assess to insure that my product meets a real need? Am I resilient? Do I change with the times?

Will a reader fork out $29.95 for my darling?

The employee has to fit the demands of the employer.

My employer is the buyer of my book (or part-time owner through his/her library.)

As a writer, I need to be nimble. I have to assess the market, know what kind of writing style, topic, story it is looking for.

The market changes as swiftly as the sun or the ubiquitous Internet!

Do I have the grace or the courage to ongoingly evaluate my direction?

Do I listen to my peers, keep an ear to the rumbling ground, absorb the ever-present nudges the business climate gives me through print, advertisements, the media?

Am I gutsy enough to flow with the tides of both local and global markets, the stone cold sales figures of publishing?

It's an individual choice.

Major Company – Small Press – Self-publish
Agent – Sans-Agent

There is no one answer that fits all of us.

We all march to a different drumbeat.

But we need to listen and assess.

N.B. I am aware there are many sides to this topic and welcome your comments. tjs

The Ultimate High

When I saw my first book on a shelf in a bookstore, I thought I was experiencing the ultimate high. I stared at the spine, rereading the title and my name, thinking — this is it. Life will never get any better than this. But I was wrong. A year later, when my book was out in paperback, I had another experience that topped that one completely.

It was a rainy Sunday afternoon and I was riding the Metro in Washington DC, to Union station where I was going to catch a train home to Philadelphia. I was depressed because I had spent a wonderful weekend with my daughter and her family and I hated to leave. While trying to drum up some enthusiasm for the week ahead, I stared at the subway car filling up with people dripping from the rain. My gaze fell on a man in a neat raincoat. He grabbed the center pole and took a paperback book from his pocket and began reading. I was too far away to see the title, but the cover was vaguely familiar . . .

It was MY book!

Someone I didn’t know was reading MY book! I watched his face intently as he read, looking for every nuance of expression. Suddenly he smiled! What had I written that had made him smile? I tried to gauge how far along he was in the book. It looked as if he had read about thirty pages. Let’s see, that would be about Chapter Four. What was that about? I tried to remember . . .

The man was totally engrossed. People jostled him on either side, but he didn’t look up once. Maybe he would be so engrossed he would miss his stop. What a victory that would be! But, no, when the garbled announcement for the next stop came over the intercom, my reader closed the book (MY book), stuffed it into his raincoat pocket, (a little roughly, I thought) and prepared to get off the train. I wanted to rush up and ask him how he liked it, but of course that was impossible. I watched him make his way through the crowd on the station platform until he disappeared. It was like seeing a good friend disappear, although we had never met.

— Robin Hathaway