Our mission is to promote
the ongoing advancement, recognition,
and professional development of women crime writers.
~ Sisters in Crime Mission Statement
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October 8, 2017 Program: Celebrate Sisters in Crime’s 30th Birthday!
The Word on Our Members
Computer Keys for Four Hands: Teaming Up to Write
An Afternoon with Helen Ginger
Call for Submissions
Call to Action: Review!
Calendar
Selected Sites
Nolo Contendere
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October 8, 2017 Program
IT’S A PARTY!
SISTERS IN CRIME
CELEBRATES ITS 30TH BIRTHDAY
READINGS FROM ORIGINAL WORKS
BY SISTERS IN CRIME ~ HEART OF TEXAS MEMBERS
WINE, CHEESE, AND CAKE
TO CELEBRATE
WHO WE ARE
AND WHAT WE DO
2:15 – 4:00 P.M.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2017
3RD FLOOR OF BOOKPEOPLE
603 N. LAMAR
AUSTIN, TEXAS
THE PUBLIC IS INVITED!
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Sisters in Crime Heart of Texas Chapter meets monthly on the second Sunday of the month at 2:15 p.m. at Book People, 603 North Lamar, Austin, phone 512-472-5050. Take the elevator to the third floor.
For information about the Heart of Texas Chapter, contact Joyce Arquette, Publicity (512) 266-6543, and check out our website at http://sinc-heartoftexas.com
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It gestated at the first-ever conference on Women in the Mystery,
put together by BJ Rahn at Hunter College in March 1986.
Sara Paretsky spoke on the growing use of graphic sadism
against women in mysteries.
“Remarks I made at the conference set off a firestorm around the mystery world,”
founding mother Sara recalls.
“Women began calling me from all over the country
with their personal histories of treatment/mistreatment.”
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The Word on Our Members
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“I remember being scared at the start,” Nancy Pickard says.
“Our very first organizing meeting, I remember Sara at the front of the room,
how brave she was, and how smart.
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SINC’s Ongoing Pursuit of Reviews for Women Writers: 2016 Report
and HOTxSINC’s Invitation
Mission Statement of the national organization Sisters in Crime (SINC): “Promote the ongoing advancement, recognition and professional development of women crime writers.” Since 1986 SINC has pursued its goal of raising women writers’ share of reviews and recognition through its Monitoring Project, monitoring the share of reviews for women crime writers. For the first 20 years of the Monitoring Project, SINC noted a long-term upward trend. But the 2016 results are stagnant in the digital category and show only statistically insignificant changes in national and local newspapers, pre-publication sources, and genre-focused magazine categories. Here are the numbers for 2007-2016:
Type of Publication Reviews of Books Reviews of Books Reviews of Books
by Women 2007 by Women 2015 by Women 2016
National newspapers 31% 42% 41%
Local newspapers 37% 46% 47%
Pre-publication sources 45% 45% 46%
Genre-focused magazines 40% 50% 52%
Born Digital Review Sources n/a 52% 52%
SINC notes that the national newspaper category continues to be the most resistant to reviewing women writers—significant because these papers (New York Times, Toronto Globe & Mail, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal) carry prestige and readership. In pre-publication review sources, Booklist (43%) and Publishers Weekly (46%) continued to favor male over female writers, but both improved by one point from 2015. Since 2011, the majority of Library Journal’s reviews have been for women (but the percentage dropped from 60% in 2015 to 56% in 2016.
SINC estimates the percentage of mysteries by women by counting Edgar Award submissions (best novel, best first novel, best paperback or e-original, and submissions for the Mary Higgins Clark award). Women authors accounted for 49% of books submitted in 2016 (51% in 2015). Men continued to dominate Best Novel (57% in 2016); women dominated Best Paperback or E-Original (56% in 2016) but lost ground in Best First Novel (dropping from 52% in 2015, to 48% in 2016).
The Heart of Texas chapter of SINC, HOTXSINC, shares SINC’s goal of improving women’s share of reviews of crime writers by showcasing members’ work, encouraging professional development and advancement, and cheering each other on. We use our website, emails, meetings, and newsletter to do so. Come join us in this effort! Encouragement…strategies…new ideas…our pursuit of excellence…that’s what we’re about.
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The Sisters in Crime Website
Selected Pages
About
News and Press Room
Celebrating 30 Years of Sisters in Crime
Resources
Conferences, Events, and Trade Shows
References for Writers by Sisters in Crime Members
Connect
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“Several women wanted SIC, as in ‘Let’s sic ’em!'” Margaret says, “
but I knew we were less about hostility than about working together in sync,
so I used SinC in all my correspondence and official letters.
By the end of my term, SinC had become the standard abbreviation.”
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SINC Guppies Online Chapter–The Great Unpublished
“Lured by Mystery, Hooked on Writing, we are the Guppy Chapter of Sisters in Crime.
675 Members / 6 newsletters each year / 15 classes each year / Anthologies
“We may begin as ‘the Great Unpublished,’ but we remain as colleagues, friends, and resources in the world of crime fiction.”
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Hill Country Authors Series
The Friends of the Georgetown Public Library will host their 34st author event on Wednesday, November 1, 2017 at 2 PM, in the Community Rooms of the library located at 402 W. 8th St. Austinite Meg Gardiner, whose newest thriller, “UNSUB” was published in June, 2017, will be the speaker. Lawyer turned author, Ms. Gardiner is an Edgar Award-winning American crime writer who has written thirteen thrillers.
“UNSUB” (short for unknown subject) tells the tale of a young detective, determined to apprehend the serial murderer who destroyed her family and terrorized a city twenty years earlier. This riveting psychological thriller has been bought by CBS Television Studios for adaptation into a TV series.
Tickets are $15 in advance, or $18 at the door and will go on sale September 11th. They’re available at the Second-Hand Prose bookstore on the second floor of the library, from the WOW!mobile (the book mobile that visits many locations in the city), online at https://folgeorgetown.org/event/hcas-meg-gardiner/ after September 11th , or by contacting Marcy Lowe at 512-868-8974. A dessert and beverage from the Red Poppy Coffee Company is included.
The event begins at 2 PM; doors open at 130 PM. Proceeds are used to fund unbudgeted items and other ongoing library projects.
For more information contact Marcy Lowe at (512) 868-8974.
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“Sisters in Crime is committed to helping women
who write, review, buy, or sell crime fiction.
Our ultimate goal is to become a service organization
to address issues of concern
to everyone involved in the mystery field.”
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Selected Sites
From Writer Unboxed
How to Find the Right Developmental Editor for Your Book
Seriously Funny: 7 Ways to Add Humor to a Novel
The Hidden Dangers of Short-Form Publishing Deals
Historical Novels–Your Research To-Do List
If You Write a Book That Nobody Reads, Are You Really a Writer
The Psychology Behind Good Book Cover Design
News You Can Use (and Some You Shouldn’t)
Say a Little Less, Mean a Little More
Indie Authors: Your Pub Date Is Not as Important as You Think
Authentic Female Characters vs. Gender Swaps
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Thanks to The Passive Voice for sharing the following sites:
The 8-Step Daily Routing That’s Enabled Me to Write 100s of Articles and 3 Books
First Books: The Stories That Got Us Into Reading
I Subscribed to What? What Online Subscription-Based Marketers Need To Tell Their Consumers
The Creative Life: How We Do It (Any Way We Can)
Cover versions: why are UK and US book jackets often so different?
Authors Use Multi-tiered Strategies To Gain Max Exposure In Book Price Promotions
WHEN I’M WRITING FICTION, I CANNOT READ IT
Author Blogging 102: a Practical Guide to Developing Your Weekly or Monthly Link Post
Another Murder on the Orient Express
7 Free Online Tools for Writers and Authors
Danielle Steel’s Desk Is Like Nothing You’ve Ever Seen
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Nolo Contendere
Members, please email links to your websites and/or blogs to kathywaller1 at gmail dot com so they can be listed in our blogroll. Email your news/announcements to the same address.
Member authors, please send book/story&publication titles and a headshot to kathywaller at gmail dot com. Here’s a link to the Author page so you can see how your info will be displayed: https://sinc-heartoftexas.com/hotxsinc-authors/
Kathy Waller, editor
kathywaller1 at gmail dot com
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Deputy U. S. Marshal Hector Gomez
HOTXSINC September 9, 2017
