But I realized I haven't posted a good links-you-must-read post for a while after I saw Jason Pinter's 9PM tweet with a link to the Wall Street Journal.
WSJ announced late yesterday afternoon that investorJahm Najafi's deal to buy Border Group Inc. collapsed. Depending on how the hearing with the federal bankruptcy judge goes this morning, the loss of the deal may mean the end of Borders. Wish I could say I was surprised. [Edit to add: Judge Martin seemed peeved with the maneuverings during this morning's hearing, according to witnesses. He postponed ruling on the current issues and extended the deadline for objections to the creditors committee's request for liquidation until 4PM on Monday, July 18th.]
If you haven't read Bob Mayer and Jenni Holbrook-Talty's summary of this year's Thrillerfest, go read Write It Forward. Now. After hearing friends' opinions after returning from Romance Writers of America's national conference two weeks ago, it seems to me that some of the big publishers are trying to adapt, some are refusing to. If you're intent on securing that NY contract, please pay attention to which ones are which.
Last month, Passive Guy addressed his thought on the enforcibility of Harlequin's attempt to alter writers' contracts by e-mail. Since a large portion of Harlequin authors are also RWA members, RWA's legal council sent a letter on behalf of the members basically saying "bad publisher." (Sorry, I can't link to it. You must be an RWA member to access the page.) It'll be interesting to see how that shakes out in the coming months. [Edit to add: The ever-resourceful Passive Guy has both a copy of RWA's response and an analysis. Go read.]
And people wonder why I'm indie-publishing. *shakes head*
To end on a good note, Mark Williams tells the tale of indie writing team Louise Voss and Mark Edwards signing a six-figure deal after indie-pubbing books that their respective agents gave up on years ago!
Don't you just love Happy Endings?
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