Ah, the marvels of technology. Two things bring this to mind today. There was talk about Tweeting being done from the Arthur Ellis Awards at the end of May, giving up to date Tweets on the celebrations, and in particular the winner's names. I know CBC Books will have someone at the Awards banquet on May 31st doing this. As well, a Crime Writers of Canada member will also send out regular Tweets.
How times have changed. Not too long ago, we had to scour the Arts section of the local paper the morning after to find out the Arthur Ellis news, if not in attendance. And sometimes, it was a very small article. Now, the event is seen as newsworthy and the print coverage is greater. Websites carry the news. Email sends the alerts. And Tweets are only seconds removed from the action. Gotta love it!
Last night at our regular gathering of gals, most from the publishing business, someone remarked about how technology has finally caught up to current times in the mysteries she's reading. I hadn't given it much thought before that but when you look at books published as recently as just three or four years ago, Tweeting wasn't mentioned. Of course, those books were written a good year or two before the pub date. And Tweeting burst on the scene in 2006. So that makes sense.
That means, not only does the writer have to stay on top of emerging trends in publishing -- what the editors are looking for, reading demographics, technology such as e-books and as Michael McPherson mentioned yesterday, KDP Select-- writers also should be aware of tomorrow's 'toys'. Well, to me they are toys as I have a the most basic ever cell phone, a laptop, a desktop computer, and most recently, a Kobo. Not the most technology-savvy person around. I admit it.
It makes the writing life interesting though. How gadget-savvy are your sleuths?
Linda Wiken/Erika Chase
A Killer Read coming April, 2012
from Berkley Prime Crime
www.erikachase.com
One around this is to set your books back in time. I seem to be going in that direction lately. But the really tough thing now for me is trying to think up science fiction stuff. Quite beyond me. I realize sadly that most of the gadgets used by my Merculians in the sf trilogy coming out soon in ebook format is already here. Oh well. Wrote those books ten years ago at leadt. Back to historicals!
ReplyDeleteTHat's smart, Caro. And historicals are very popular! Sci Fi is beyond me; I have a hard enough time dreaming up the things I do.
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