Book sculpture by Brian Dettmer
The International Thriller Writers are sponsoring a special event called "The Best First Sentence Contest." Held in conjunction with Master CraftFest, a one-day intensive retreat on July 8, the contest will choose five winners from entrants who send in their very best first sentence (for a novel) along with their name, email address, and phone number to [email protected]. The five winners will receive a critique of 10 pages of their work from bestselling authors Steve Berry, Steven James, John Lescroart, David Morrell or D.P. Lyle. You do need to be registered for any of the ITW events—Master CraftFest, CraftFest, or ThrillerFest—OR be an active or associate member of ITW. The deadline is May 31.
The January issue of Suspense Magazine focuses on up and coming authors and includes a Q&A with the writer and creator of the newest show on HBO, True Detective, starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. The magazine's plans for the rest of the year include more author interviews, alongside expanded reviews, features, articles, stories, and news sections.
Simon & Schuster has made its e-book catalog available for purchase to participating public libraries in partnership with OverDrive, an e-book distribution company. The publisher's pilot program launched with 15 libraries on board (no word on if, or when, others might be added).
Writing a PI series or just enjoy reading about real-world cases? Shaun Kaufman and Colleen Collins, over at Guns, Gams and Gunshoes, listed seven of their favorite private investigator blogs from 2013.
Kathleen George, editor of Pittsburgh Noir and the Edgar-nominated author of the Richard Christie series, took the "Page 69" test to A Measure of Blood, the latest novel in the Christie series. The 69-page mark is one established by screenwriter/blogger Marshall McLuhan who suggested that you should choose your reading by turning to page 69 of a book and, if you like it, read it.
Goodreads announced it had hit the 100,000 author milestone in its Goodreads Author Program. To celebrate, the social-reading site is releasing a Goodreads author badge that will appear on all verified author pages, where members can continue to interact with authors via a Goodreads chat, comment on their blog or status update, or by following their reviews.
The Q&A roundup this week includes Mark Pryor chatting with The Mystery People; and Nik Morton takes Paul D. Brazill's "Short, Sharp Interview" test.
Here's another reason to support your favorite authors; even many so-called midlisters and some authors who have been on some bestseller lists aren't doing as well as you may think. A new survey from Digital Book World and Writer's Digest polled over 9,000 authors—traditionally-published, self-published and hybrid—found that 54% of traditionally-published authors and almost 80% of go-it-alone writers are making less than $1,000 a year.
Books are stilll proving to be popular fodder for Hollywood: four of the nine best picture nominations for this year's Academy Awards are based on books, as Shelf Awareness notes. Several other books were represented in additional categories.
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