Exploratory Tidbits

Mary Alice Ladd is wearing a reconstruction of an evening gown made from a sari.

Last night, I attended a terrific book launch party. I would like to report I was as elegantly turned-out as the lovely woman above, a member of the Elegant Arts Society. (Sadly, I was not. Being from the South, such indignities rankle, as I always prefer to be overdressed, but circumstances, etc. The dazzle of the event did distract me from my pettiness, however.)

The celebration was in honor of the release of the fifth book in Naomi Novik's Temeraire historic fantasy series, Victory of Eagles, but also feted the 50th book to be published in the Hard Case Crime line, editor Charles Ardai's own Fifty-to-One. Sensing a theme for your lottery picks? The venue was the exceptional Explorers Club on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

This event represents the kind of genre-straddling I adore, since I read and write across the shelves. Naomi Novik's books are written from Britain's perspective, during the era of Napoleonic aggression, with just one addition to the national armories: dragon corps that function like fighter jets or flying battleships. The books are straight-up adventures, immersed in the factual realities of those times and places, which is why, I think, the inclusion of the fantastic element works so well. Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson has acquired the rights to Temeraire's early adventures, and I can't wait to see what they'll look like.

Hard Case Crime specializes in pulp noir paperbacks, tawdry tales sporting wonderfully lurid covers by contemporary artists. These aren't law enforcement stories or even necessarily mysteries as such, but there's always crime and loss, occasionally even love and rough justice in environments where "cynicism is justified," as I've heard Ardai describe noir. He's a founder and editor of the HCC line as well as a periodic contributor.

Charles Ardai and Naomi Novik are also married, to each other, which is a little too much achievement for one household, I think. Between the party's glorious location and the Regency ton and dames and sharpies in attendance, I was fascinated (and outclassed) from every angle. I'll do an exhaustive write-up with more interviews and lots more pictures for the genre-loving hydra known as Mystery/Scifi/Horror/Comic/FantasyBookSpot.

A quick aside for Short Fiction Writers and Readers: If you weren't aware of these 2 markets, please investigate FBS's magazines, Heliotrope for sff, and the newly-acquired crime and suspense mag, Spinetingler. These are quality publications, attracting great authors, seeking emerging writers, and paying real magazine rates. Through them, you'll get wonderful credits, keep fantastic company, and be eligible for awards.

That aside aside, I'm always interested in hearing about trends and tastes from people who know, so I've squirreled away a few genrelicious market-wise tidbits for here at WoM first. Even if these experts are outside genres you specifically read or write, I hope you'll notice, as I always do, how common run the threads.

1) The fabulous Liz French, managing editor of Romantic Times, told me that paranormal romance shows no sign of slowing in releases or in popularity. Even a couple of years ago, I wondered how much more readers would want before saturation. Her answer: apparently lots and lots. RT also puts some review space aside for more crime-y, thriller-y titles as well, and romantic suspense continues to be an under-served niche. (So do you have a love interest in your crime novel, even if there isn't explicit sex? Romantic suspense may be a way to pitch it where there's a real hunger for content and an industry-wide eagerness to find new authors.) French also said that there is a digital divide in romantic readership between older readers who really savor the physical object of the book in their hands and younger readers, who we all hope to reach and grow, who are more open and enthusiastic about things like e-readers and new forms of content delivery. Looks like we'll have to try to serve them all, and for a book-lovin' circuit-hound like me, that's my favorite option.

2) Also present was Teresa Nielsen Hayden, eminent scifi-fantasy editor, observer of online inclinations, and blogress of the panoramic Making Light. I'd seen her previously speak on a panel at NYC's Comic-Con about getting genre fiction published (also with Naomi Novik, and summarized for Fantasy BookSpot here- the info's still pretty solid!). Since it's been a couple of years, I wondered whether Space Opera were still in demand. Always, she replied, and went on to say that what's forever desired is work that's "fun, fast-moving, and that doesn't insult a reader's intelligence." She reaffirmed what I've heard before, from her even, that flaws in craft are much less noticeable and damning in writing with great movement and storytelling. As was noted in her previous panel, genre readers are not typically looking first for a "sensitive new voice in fiction." They want a good time. Give it to 'em. Easier said, huh?

3) I asked Charles Ardai about the success of Hard Case's subscription model. That is, you can sign up for a pristine copy of each pulpy masterpiece to be mailed to you upon release, though they're widely available in bookstores, too. Mills & Boon, the parent company of Harlequin, has recently launched a crime category line in the UK, called Black Star Crime. Now that HCC is five years and fifty titles wiser, I wondered whether crime fans were attracted to the subscription idea like romance fans. They are! Because Ardai and fellow founder Max Phillips decided to really focus on this genre niche and to do it well, they have many readers, like other "category readers", who want every title. (Category fiction represents all those paperbacks grouped by publisher and story setting or type rather than by author name. From Westerns to Regency-period romances, category readers like what they like and are happy to find publishers and authors to dependably scratch that itch.) While subscribers do remain a minority of Hard Case's readers, they number in the thousands. That offers a loyal base and steady revenue stream that allows Ardai and Co. to keep investing in new fiction and cover art while acquiring lost pulp treasures for publication or long-overdue reprint.

So, where's the cozy mystery line? I know Berkeley and Midnight Ink, but I mean a real category-length line with subscriptions to classically-structured mysteries. I know so many people who love them and the markets for them seem to be ever-dwindling, but the readership's only frustrated, not extinct!

Can you believe those are only the tidbits? I'll post the link to the FBS coverage when I get it written. Meanwhile, if you have any opinions or further questions, or if I've horribly misquoted or misunderstood, let me know in the comments.