The International Thriller Writers, of which I am a proud member, have adopted the Killer Year, a group of 15 first-time authors with new mysteries & thrillers coming out in 2007. What does this mean? A lot:
We’re also getting one of our stars to review each of the debuts and we’ll be
publishing them in the ITW Thriller Reader’s Newsletter. And an ITW author has
volunteered to mentor each of the fifteen members of the Class of 2007 through
their baptism by fire into the publishing world.Lee Child, Jeff
Deaver, Tess Gerritsen, Gayle Lynds, David Morrell, Jim Rollins, Anne Frasier,
Douglas Clegg, Duane Swierczynski, Cornelia Read, Harley Jane Kozak, Allison
Brennan, Ken Bruen and Joe R. Lansdale have all signed on. (Each
Killer Year author requested their mentors, that’s why we didn’t put out a
general call.)In addition, ITW will sponsor a Killer Year breakfast at
ThrillerFest ’07 where each of the debut novelists will be presented by his or
her mentor to readers, reviewers and the press.
Isn’t that terrific? I hope the ITW can find deserving authors every year for similar "star" treatment. The ITW is doing some amazingly creative and beneficial stuff for their members — this is just one of many examples.
Smart. Them are smart peoples.
Thanks for mention, Lee. The Killer Year crew is thrilled about how this is all working out, and very thankful to ITW for taking us on.
What a fantastic idea, mentoring new talent like that. I wish all the new authors long and successful careers.
The Killer Year crew is an exciting group of authors. Three cheers to the mentors and to ITW.
Thanks, Lee. I can’t believe how fortunate I am to be part of this group. ITW is not just a great resource, it’s a great community.