The panel was called HOT ICE (Caper Novels). As most of you know, I’ve been a big fan of caper novels all of my life. I grew up reading Donald Westlake’s comic capers and his darker capers in the Parker books. Loved Lionel White’s noirish capers. So I looked forward to Benjamin Whitmer, Eoin Colfer, Sean Doolitttle, Chris Ewan, Peter Spiegelman, and Keith Thomson to discuss the caper genre and perhaps suggest some more current caper novels I may have missed. But, no, it was not to be. The participants merely talked about their own books (which didn’t appear to be caper novels). After 20 minutes of this blatant self-promotion, I walked out of the panel. Beth Feydn, who stayed, told me later that someone in the the audience finally stood up and said, “Have any of guys ever heard of Donald Westlake?” Over the years, I’ve seen this creeping (and creepy) phenomenon of using panels to boost the authors’ books, but this caper panel was the most egregious example yet. Mystery fans go to panels to meet new writers and to learn more about the various aspects of the genre. They are not a captive audience for authors promoting their books!
I am told that with the publishing business languishing in the doldrums, more and more authors are forced into selling their own books– and not all of them are well-suited for it.
There’s a time and a place to promote books, Dan. BOUCHERCON offers plenty of those opportunities. But when you’re on a panel that’s supposed to be discussion genre novels, it’s an inappropriate time to talk about your book (which is not a caper novel).
I have been to five Bouchercons and almost all of panels suffer from this. The moderator should give them questions ahead of time that steer them away from this.
I agree, Patti. Many of the panelists are new to BOUCHERCONs so they don’t know the etiquette. The moderators should tell all the panels to stay on topic and not to stray into self-promotion.
I’m glad I skipped this one. This is indeed a bad trend, one we first noticed at Malice Domestic, where almost every panel seemed to be filled with first-time authors who knew little if anything about the field (especially anything that happened more than five years ago) and were only interested in one thing – selling their own book.
Sad.
When you have a panel with McDermid-Crais-Harris-Cotterill you see the potential for a good and entertaining time is still there. A lot of the moderators are just not up to the job.
You’re absolutely right, Jeff. Panelists who have little or no knowledge of the topic of the panel fall back on talking about their books (whether it fits the topic or not). The moderators need to ride herd on this increasing trend. I don’t walk out on too many BOUCHERCON panels, but I did with that caper panel. A complete waste of time!
When Gary Niebuhr and Ted Hertel ran the Milwaukee EyeCon and Bouchercon, they made a point of running a “Dead Guys Dues” track. The panels concentrated on the works of older, dead, or out-of-print writers. With the exception of Ted’s Agatha Christie panel, not much was made of the folks who came before. Maybe it’s time to revisit the past more often.
Great idea, Beth! As you saw in that Caper Novel panel fiasco, the panelists had no clue about the great caper novel writers of the past. The best they could come up with were some references to caper MOVIES!
So sad. I don’t have a problem with each person giving a mention of his or her book, or latest book at the beginning during the introductions, but after that it should be ON TOPIC. I have no idea with the discussion straying a little, especially if there is an insight or some humor to be found in that direction, but then it should get back on track. I remember a panel at San Diego Left Coast Crime about the Black Mask Boys, and Michael Connelly answered a question from the audience about his latest book by saying “I’ll be happy to talk about my book later, but that’s not the topic of this panel.” I was sitting with Frank Denton and we were both quite impressed by that.
I’m impressed with Michael Connelly’s action, too, Rick. It appeared to me that the panel on Caper Novels were clueless. They seemed to have nothing to say about the topic of their panel so they just talked up their own books. After 20 minutes of that self-promotion, I bailed out.
I knew this was coming back when authors started displaying copies of their book on the table in front of them during panels.
By the way, you seem to have switched the photos on the Bad and Ugly.
Yes, I remember newbie writers displaying their books on the panel tables, Bob. BOUCHERCON is more than a marketing opportunity. There’s plenty of time to sign books and promote books. But those activities shouldn’t spill into the panel discussions.
And the greatest foolishness is that an engaging performance on a panel, that isn’t just a self-shilling, will ensure that the readers who are at the World Mystery and Suspense Fiction Convention, for goodness’s sake, will be interested in looking into the engaging writer’s work.
Get a [copulating] clue. That, too, would be what this con is about.
See also Jonathan Lethem’s essay in the October HARPER’S, from his forthcoming book, wherein he makes similar observations about the nature of the panel audiences at sf/fantasy/horror conventions and at contemporary-mimentic-oriented readings and similar events.
And, wow, is THE GETAWAY ever an atrocious film.
I’m glad you discerned my “ugly” graphic/movie, Todd. THE GETAWAY had some caper elements and for some fans, it’s a cult favorite. I’ll look for that Lethem essay. Thanks for the heads-up!
I liked THE GETAWAY.
I liked the novel version of THE GETAWAY and the later movie version, too, Bob.