Crime Writing and Social Marketing as Creative Work

Abstract

Crime fiction has become one of Sweden’s biggest cultural exports. In this chapter, we discuss how individual crime fiction writers are used as role models for how creative industries should function in both local and global contexts. They appear to be at the forefront of outreach to an international audience, how to market books and your own author brand through events, and how to make a successful living from your writing. There is a higher demand for personal exposure of writers in the public sphere that can almost overshadow the interest shown in their work. The aim of this chapter is to understand the conditions and limitations that crime fiction writers face in the contemporary Swedish crime book market. We will do this by focusing on some writers’ experiences of working in the business of crime writing. The connections and/or tensions between building a professional identity as a crime writer and the writer’s personal lifestyle are in focus. In this context, we address the issue of social marketing through digital media, and we have chosen to look more closely into some individual writers and their personal experiences.