Author organizations…
Previously I’ve avoided them, putting them in the same class as contests. Most authors don’t have much money to spend, and most orgs and contests cost money! Besides, I’ve had an APS professional membership for years, and at least that membership includes Physics Today, a glossy pop-sci ‘zine that’s loaded with all sorts of science and technology info (name me one author org with a ‘zine like that!). (By the way, that ‘zine and Science News provides a lot of background material for my sci-fi oeuvre.) And forget Authors Guild that’s no union for authors–it’s just a front for the Big Five and its authors pretending to be a service organization.
All that said, I’ve now joined ITW, short for International Thriller Writers. Unlike other author orgs (and APS), ITW doesn’t charge any dues (they charge plenty for their events, though). As a result, I didn’t expect much from them—like the American Kennel Club, many of their members will look down on mongrels like me, an author who self- and traditionally publishes. No matter, I’m proud to be a mongrel, and I will have access to a lot of freebies where I might find some new ideas for marketing my books and so forth…as well as meet a few other mongrels…or authors in general?
Frankly, I have no idea why they accepted me. My new post-apocalyptic thriller The Last Humans is due out this year from Black Opal Books (we’re in final edits); hopefully Son of Thunder, the sequel to Rembrandt’s Angel, will be available this year too. Or maybe they actually paid attention to all my mysteries and thrillers (most of my sci-fi stories even have thriller elements). Who knows?
In any case, I’m honored. I’ve been reading thrillers all my life (decades ago, they were called “adventures”—the term “thriller” is relatively recent), so it’s an honor to be in the same org as Baldacci, Child, Deaver, and so forth. I’m torn, though. One part of me says that I’ll be a lost soul like Ed Norton in the Raccoons Club; another part says that I should make the most of the honor and enjoy what ITW has to offer. But does such an org really help authors?
I decided it was best to look at this honor philosophically. In life, I’ve learned that you have to take advantage of what life offers. ITW will be painless—no dues—and a possible source for improving my writing life. (They also have a free newsletter The Big Thrill where members can hawk their books, among other things, but frankly trying to sell books to other authors doesn’t work too well—writers need to do that with readers, who are the ones who buy the books for the most part.)
I live close to NYC, the publishing capital of the world (ITW’s words—both my small press publishers are out west, though, and many publishers are not in NYC), so I can go to their events by train or by bus (if one of my books takes off so I can afford the events). Maybe my membership will validate me in the eyes of some readers too. Writers need recognition and validation—my bar is set low and comes from at least one reader being entertained by one of my books, so I’m not too concerned about ITW’s.
Author orgs can complement critique groups if an author is into that sort of thing. ITW might be the biggest critique group ever! Who knows? You can bet I’ll explore all the possibilities associated with my new ITW membership in any case. There must be something ITW offers that I can use, right? The answer to that question is postponed for now.
If you’re a reader, do you care about author orgs? Do you pay attention to “International Thriller Writers Member” listed by an author’s name? If you’re a writer, do you feel the need to belong to an author org? Being new at this, I’d like to put my membership in context, so let me know. I’ll still always take my membership in ITW as an honor, of course.
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Comments are always welcome.
The Last Humans. Ex-USN and LA County Sheriff’s diver Penny Castro surfaces from a forensic dive and finds the apocalypse. Can she survive the post-apocalypse? Follow Penny’s adventures as she creates a new family and then strives to protect them. This post-apocalyptic thriller is coming soon from Black Opal Books! A sequel is already in the works. (By the way, check out the Black Opal Books catalog. Lots of good reading there.)
Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas!
