Mystery
publishing has been a perennially popular category. The
1990s were a renaissance period for this genre. However,
corporate mergers resulted in trimmed lists and the big
players all went after the same big-name authors. For
example, 10 years ago, Scribners did 26 titles in one year.
Now they are doing 12. Lists are becoming leaner and there
is belt-tightening. Those authors not being published by
major houses are going to the small presses.
However, the
category still is strong. There's been a proliferation of
different kinds of mysteries. And thrillers are also still
strong. Barnes & Noble reports that sales of mysteries
are up 10% over last year. And, as a result of the
"shakedown" of titles, anything chosen to be
published has to be of the highest quality. In fact there
has been an "overall elevations of the literary level
in crime fiction." Many writers who were regarded
purely as literary writers have written mysteries.
In the switch
from big to small presses, authors now have a less-demanding
outlet. A large publisher has to sell at least 10,000 copies
of a book. Small presses can be happy with sales of only
1,000. And with print-on-demand, authors can also
self-publish. And reaching the audience is easier now
because of the Internet.
Another trend
in this field is the rise of the female sleuth. Yet another
segment of the genre which remains very strong is the
historical mystery. While some publishers prefer regional
settings as the main element.
Some publishers
and editors who do mysteries are:
Mysterious Press/Warner Books (Sara Ann Freed)
Avon/Morrow (Jennifer Fisher)
St. Martin's (Keith Kahla)
Scribners (Susanne Kirk)
Ballantine (Joe Blades)
Walker & Co. (Michael Seidman)
Otto Penzler Books/Carroll & Graf
(Otto Penzler)
Doubleday (Shawn Coyne)
Putnam (David Highfill, Christine Pepe)
Dutton/Penguin (Brian Tart)
Viking (Pamela Dorman)
Intrigue Press (George Phocas)
Rue Morge Press (Enid and Tom Schantz)
Permanent Press (Martin and Judith
Shepard)
Poisoned Pen Press (Barbara Peters)
NAL/Signet (Joseph Pittman)
HarperCollins (Carolyn Marino)
Simon & Schuster (Sydney Miner)
Hyperion (Ellen Archer)
Carroll & Graf (Kent Carroll)
Bantam Dell (Kate Miciak)
Berkley (Natalee Rosenstein)
Crown (Steve Ross)
