Whether or not we misanthropic, ink-stained wretches are actually cool, HCC's covers always are. Someday...
If you haven't been following along, the board of Mystery Writers of America has officially tightened its ranks of accepted publishers, and MWA has followed through similarly in the nomination guidelines for the Edgar awards. As a result, editor Charles Ardai of Hard Case Crime is not eligible to win for his own novel Songs of Innocence (excerpt at link if you're curious) published by Hard Case under his alias, um, Richard Aleas.
The issue becomes heated precisely because Charles is a very good writer as well as editor, not one of the craptastic dreckmeisters that MWA is trying to shake loose. Mystery fans, a category including most mystery authors, are grateful for the development of Hard Case Crime as a wonderful new venue for hard-boiled fiction. Through it, Ardai's been involved with not only his own work, but reprinting older, forgotten titles and putting out great yet-unseen grimness from masters (some Grand) of the field. To have someone so well-respected shut out of Edgar consideration in the process of ostensibly raising the quality and the legitimacy of the award process is the definition of unintended consequences, but here we are.
If you'd like the essential details, I'd recommend Sarah Weinman's blog post including substantive comments and counterpoints by MWA board member Lee Goldberg and Charles Ardai himself. They stake out their positions clearly, so you may decide where your philosophy leads.
However, this simmering situation reached an entirely new level when I, in my vapid fashion, turned to Page Six, the famous gossip column of the New York Post and found their lengthy blurb on the subject (look for The Case of the Conflicted Imprint) with all the writerly names in customary bold-face and Charles Ardai's picture. Are mystery writers fascinatingly cool now? Can't be. At least I hope not. I can't keep up.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Great Bathsheba's Bra, Are We Suddenly Cool?
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2 comments:
Ah, Page Six, home of the truly cool.
But seriously, all this bruhaha about the Edgars is absolutely ridiculous. If I won an Oscar, I could get enough $$ for my next movie to support me in grand style for the rest of my life.
If I won an Edgar, chances are good that my next book would be published. But even that wouldn't be a guarantee.
Do I think my book is Edgar-worthy? Darn tootin'. Would I decline to place it with a publisher not on the MWA-approved list because it would be out of the running for the award? Not a chance. Because award or no award, a good book will find its readership if it finds a publisher.
The Edgars are not the Oscars. I'm an avid reader, but I've never bought a book based on its winning an Edgar. (OK, I've never seen a movie based on its Oscar, either, but I do know people who've done so.)
Somehow, I have a hard time feeling sorry for Ardai. First off, he didn't have to contend with what other authors do in finding a publisher. Second, it's not as if he didn't know the eligibility requirements before he elected to publish his own book--he could have sent it off to another publisher if he'd been determined to win an award for it. (The approved publisher guidelines at MWA have tightened, but the self-publishing consideration has not.)
Given that 1 in 4 Americans didn't read a single book last year, and a whole lot more didn't read a single mystery, and even many of those who did read mysteries don't know what the Edgars are, I gotta wonder: who do you have to sleep with these days to get featured on Page Sex...er...Six?
Clare,
Of course you can keep up. The women of mystery have always been fascinatingly cool. The rest of the industry is just catching up to us!
Terrie
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