Friday, June 23, 2006
I’ve slacked off long enough: it’s time to give a brief rundown on the Stoker Awards weekend, which took place at the Hilton in Newark, NJ on June 16-18. Nicole and I drove (yes, drove, through Co-op City and New York traffic) down on Saturday morning, which meant that we missed all the fun partying on Friday night. No way to avoid it, really, since we were paying $250 for a sitter already and another night would have broken the bank. A good sitter is going to cost you around here, but our kids are still alive and so I can’t complain. And Casey IS good; the only sitter our four year old actually looks forward to seeing.
Anyway, after countless traffic jams we finally arrived at the Hilton and checked in around 3 pm, running into a handful of friends right there in the nicely appointed lobby: Mike Arnzen, Nick Kaufmann, Nanci Kalanta, Kelly Laymon, Lee Thomas, Matt Schwartz, Mary Sangiovanni and several others. After chatting a while, Nicole and I made it to David Morrell’s “life-changing” discussion on the publishing industry, and platforms for writers. David is one of my all-time favorite writers, and he clearly has a head for the business side of things as well. I found his points insightful, sobering and right on the money. You see, publishing is all about marketing these days (what isn’t?), and new writers would do well, David says, if they pitched the marketing hook for their book, rather than the plot. Written a killer novel about a bunch of people who like to break in and explore deserted buildings (the plot of Morrell’s newest, Creepers)? Don’t pitch that to an agent–pitch the term “urban explorer,” and then tell them why every thrill seeker in America will want to read this book. Editors these days don’t much care about the story, at least not at first. What they care about (or what the marketing department cares about) is, “who is the target audience, and can I sell it?” Everything else is just noise.
Good advice, indeed.
When the discussion was over, I spent some time chatting with Neil Clarke from Clarkesworld Books, one of the best horror/sci fi/fantasy bookstores in the business. I found him to be an intelligent, soft-spoken and very personable guy, and I was glad I’d had the chance to meet him. After that, it was time for the author signing/meet-and-greet.
I rushed off to grab copies of my book and lugged them down to the signing area. It was fairly quiet when I arrived, but filled up fast. I met a great group of young writers, and we talked about the publishing business for a while before I made the rounds and spoke to Mike Laimo, Kelly Laymon, Nanci Kalanta and a bunch of others, and got myself interviewed by the Horror Channel. I also had the chance to meet three of the greatest guys: Chris Cevasco from Paradox, Doug Cohen from Realms of Fantasy, and John Joseph Adams from Fantasy and Science Fiction. They work for some of my very favorite magazines, and I was thrilled to find them all very pleasant and interesting folks. We talked a little bit about the differences in writing novels versus short fiction, and then I realized that almost everyone was already dressed up, and the banquet would be starting in less than five minutes. So I rushed up to my room, threw on my suit and ran back downstairs, just in time to find my seat.
The banquet itself was pretty good. The food was excellent (a big, thick steak as the main course, and a delicious chocolate cake for dessert), and the award winners all gave good speeches. Tom Monteleone was his usual hilariously abrasive self during the welcoming speech. I was glad to see Weston Oche win for first novel (Scarecrow Gods), and Mike Arnzen take home another trophy, and David Morrell win best novel. I was also glad that Joe Hill won two Stokers, since I think his collection 20th Century Ghosts is one of the best in recent memory. Write down that name, folks: Joe Hill is going to be big.
It was good to see Necessary Evil Press get an award; Don Koish is one of the best in the business. The highlight of the evening was probably Peter Straub giving his acceptance speech for the Lifetime Achievement Award; the man is simply a huge talent, and he knows how to play a room.
And then, just like that, it was over. We were left with a rapidly dwindling crowd, but we stuck around for a while to chat with Joe Hill’s wife, then David Morrell and Tom Monteleone. After that we went up to a room party and had fun hanging out with a bunch of other writers until security shut us down.
We wandered down into the main lobby, and then to the bar area. It was getting late, but we didn’t want to pack it in. Finally, after saying a few goodnights and goodbyes, we called it a night.
All in all, a very good trip. I saw old friends and met new ones; spread copies of Bloodstone around to some people and talked a lot about writing and publishing; and generally had a great time. Stoker Weekend is a little different than the usual conventions, but no less interesting. I’m glad I went, and I’ll surely do it again next year.
So, until next time…
