I am absolutely delighted to have become an author member of the International Thriller Writers.
*Happy dance around the office*
The presidents are M J Rose and Lee Child and their membership list includes James Patterson, Clive Cussler, Karin Slaughter, Peter James, Kathy Reichs, Ken Follett and many many other wonderful adrenaline-bursters like Adrian Magson and Mari Hannah.
In their own words…
“ITW represents professional thriller authors from around the world.
The International Thriller Writers is an honorary society of authors, both fiction and nonfiction, who write books broadly classified as “thrillers.” This would include (but isn’t limited to) such subjects as murder mystery, detective, suspense, horror, supernatural, action, espionage, true crime, war, adventure, and myriad similar subject areas.
ITW’s mission is “To bestow recognition and promote the thriller genre at an innovative and superior level for and through our Active members; to provide opportunities for mentoring, education and collegiality among thriller authors and industry professionals; and to grant awards for excellence in the thriller genre.” ITW By-laws: Article II, Purposes, Section 2.
One of the main purposes of the organization is to provide a way for successful, bestselling authors to help debut and midlist authors advance their careers. To that end, ITW has designed numerous, effective programs and events which promote debut and midlist writers and their work, sometimes in partnership with bestselling authors.
In addition, ITW promotes literacy, gives money to worthy organizations, supports libraries, and advances the genre. Finally, it brings together almost a thousand writers, readers, publishers, editors and agents at its annual conference, ThrillerFest, as well as at CraftFest, a writing workshop program, and AgentFest, where aspiring authors can meet and pitch top literary agents.
Today, ITW counts over fifteen hundred members from around the world whose cumulative book sales total almost three billion copies. “Our members come from a diverse range of the thriller genre, fiction and nonfiction, including suspense, mystery, horror, detective, espionage, legal, medical, science, true crime, adventure, supernatural, romantic suspense, historical, and young adult—and the list keeps growing.”
I think I’ve just introduced a new part of the genre with the Roma Nova thrillers!
You can subscribe to the online magazine The Big Thrill packed with news, author interviews (e.g. Val McDermid interviewed by JF Penn), book spotlights and round table discussions (e.g. “Do readers prefer and ageless protagonist?” or “Do writers strive too hard for unusual methods of murder and what are some of the most memorable?”).
If all goes to plan, I’ll be in the US next summer, so I may well be going to Thrillerfest in New York in July!
Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers, INCEPTIO, and PERFIDITAS. Third in series, SUCCESSIO, is now out.
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