My Last Malice Domestic?

I am in the middle of a two-year term as president of the Guppy Chapter of Sisters in Crime. Because the chapter has 40+ members in attendance, I figured I would go this year to help represent the chapter. There is a big Sisters in Crime breakfast on Saturday and a Chapter Presidents meeting immediately following. The Guppy Chapter has a practice of wearing our boas to the breakfast to show our stuff (and to take a picture afterwards).

This year, we Guppies have many authors represented among the Agatha nominees. [I am writing this well before the winners are announced, but they will be known by the time this post appears. Update: the winners are Margaret Maron (Best Contemporary), Art Taylor (Best First), Laurie R. King (Best Historical), Martin Edwards (Best Nonfiction), Amanda Flower (Best Children's/YA), and Barb Goffman (Best Short Story).] The prequel to my Seamus McCree series, Ant Farm, was published within the year and meets the definition of a traditional mystery (no undue violence or sex). Put it all together, and I signed up early.

The first two books in my series were published by a small independent publisher. Ant Farm was published by Kindle Press after winning a Kindle Scout nomination. However, I am planning on publishing the remainder of the series through my micro-press, Wolf's Echo Press. Going forward, the Malice Board has issued a policy concerning which authors will be allowed to participate on panels. 

Here’s what they say on their website (colored text added):

Malice Domestic Adopts Policy for Program Participation

In order to provide the best possible experience to the fans for whom the convention was created, the Malice Domestic Board of Directors has adopted a policy defining author eligibility for program participation:

Malice Domestic does not guarantee a program slot to any participant.

Malice Domestic will only offer author assignments to traditionally published authors or those who have been nominated for established mystery awards.

Traditionally published authors include those who—

1.  Did not pay any costs associated with the publication of their books.

2.  Are published by a company that—

            a.   publishes at least three authors other than the publisher, members of the publisher’s family, or staff of the publishing company. (Authors publishing under multiple pseudonyms count as a single author.)

            b.  does not guarantee publication of all submissions and provides editorial support to its authors.

Established mystery awards include the:  Agatha, Anthony, Arthur Ellis, Barry, Dilys, Edgar, Hammett, Lefty, Macavity, Shamus, and the Dagger awards presented by the British Crime Writers Association. 

If you have any questions about the Program for Malice Domestic or need assistance, please contac (sic) mdjepmail@gmail.com.

It is clear to me that the Malice Board does not think self-published authors can provide an excellent experience for fans for whom the conference was created. Not that I couldn’t easily get around their prohibitions. I could have my publishing company, Wolf’s Echo Press, publish several other authors’ books, and pay all the expenses of publishing mine, which would meet the qualifications. In fact, Indy authors could band together and effect the same result as long as each offered editing services and rejected someone now and then. I have short stories that are traditionally published, and could slide in on the back of that work. But the intent is clear: Malice does not want Indy authors on panels – oh, unless they happen to be award winners, then they are okay.

The Guppy Chapter of Sisters in Crime has many traditionally published authors, many self-published, and many who, like me, are hybrid—falling into both camps, sometimes concurrently. Some have moved from self-published to traditionally published. Some have moved in the other direction. We also represent many pre-published authors. Our purpose is to help all our members develop their writing careers. We do not differentiate between the various publishing models available.

Malice does, and I don’t believe their rules recognize current publishing realities. I am sure they will not ban from panels authors who are published by traditional publishing houses but who pay editors to enhance their work before they submit it to traditional publishers (which a reasonable interpretation would mean they, too, have paid for some of the costs of publication). Nor will they ban those who personally pay for promotion of their books – traditionally something publishers, not authors, paid for that has largely become archaic as traditional publishers push more of the publishing burden onto authors.

This year at Malice, I was invited on the panel “Call the Cops: Police Procedurals.” Those of you who have read my Seamus McCree series or any of my short stories will rightly wonder why I was chosen for this panel. My body of work could be more accurately described as “alternatives to police procedures.” I ended up changing from panelist to moderator because one of the panelists didn’t have time to do the moderating. Being moderator better suits me since I do read police procedurals even if I don’t write them. And I took the time from my writing schedule to read all of my five panelists’ books so I could provide a better experience for the audience and promote the five authors. [If I do say so myself, I think our panel was very good, and I take credit for my work as a moderator.]

I suspect part of Malice’s problem is that almost 200 of their participants are authors, and they might well prefer this to be a conference in which fans are the drivers. Having fewer authors and more fans could be their goal. Or perhaps they don't want to have panels with as many authors, preferring to highlight fewer authors.

Given their published policies, I do believe I will help them attain that goal by spending my time supporting writing organizations that don’t discriminate against good writing, however it might be published. Whether the loss of a class of authors, many of whom like myself take their moderating and panel responsibilities seriously, makes the experience better for fans—that is something others will have to evaluate. But it is clear that given their author policies and panel assignment practices, Malice and my current writing are not a good fit.

Perhaps their policies will change; perhaps what I write will change. We never know what the future will bring, but for now, I expect I have attended my last Malice.

~ Jim