If you follow publishing news at all – or picked up last week’s Game of Thrones issue of Entertainment Weekly – you’ve probably heard about Fifty Shades of Grey. It’s a vanity-published erotic novel that’s sold more than 250,000 copies,and got author E L James a seven-figure book deal with Vintage, a division of Random House. It just became a a New York Times bestseller. So, yes, it’s incredibly popular.
Taking a fanfic and reworking it as an original piece is nothing new – I’m fairly sure one of my favorite space opera sagas started out as a Star Wars story way back in the day, for instance. Cassandra Clare and Naomi Novak may be the best known these days, but they were far from the first to cross over and go pro. It happens, and it’s been happening for a long time.
But it can strike an uncomfortable chord, particularly in cases such as this. Not because of the porn, per say, but because it skirts violating the most sacred – perhaps only – rule of fan fiction: Thou shall not make money off it. (Remember Lori Jareo?) And to boot, the incredible yet completely unsurprising success (yes, ladies do sometimes like porn, deal with it) of this particular case is shining a big, mainstream light on fan fiction in general… One I’m not sure the community wants or needs.
Given the deeply AU nature of her original fanfic, I think it’s unlikely we’ll be seeing James in court. But if the attention continues to spread to fan fiction and the community, if this just is the beginning of a trend, who knows what else will come to light? But only time will tell.
Part of the holdup, it seems, has been a move to “an entirely different platform” that should (hopefully) hold up to the expected amounts of users. (The beta was/is notoriously slow.)
The Harry Potter author has a deal with Little, Brown in the United States and Britain to publish her first novel for adults. Her last book was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the series finale, in 2007. (The Potter books were published by Bloomsbury in Britain and Scholastic in the U.S.) In the press release, Rowling writes:
Although I’ve enjoyed writing it every bit as much, my next book will be very different to the Harry Potter series, which has been published so brilliantly by Bloomsbury and my other publishers around the world. The freedom to explore new territory is a gift that Harry’s success has brought me, and with that new territory it seemed a logical progression to have a new publisher. I am delighted to have a second publishing home in Little, Brown, and a publishing team that will be a great partner in this new phase of my writing life.
Further details about the book were not released.
Update: Some news from Rowling’s Twitter account: It’s coming out later this year.
As you may have heard, I have a new book out later this year.Very different to Harry, although I’ve enjoyed writing it every bit as much.
AS a completely biased blogger I implore you to read this book. Now in paperback!
Awards. The Nebula Award nominees were announced the other day, Like last year, the novel category is very female-heavy – 4 women, 2 men. (James Nicoll has the full tally.) I’ve read two of the nominees – Jo Walton’s Among Others and N.K. Jemisin’s The Kingdom of Gods, but my completely uneducated guess for a win based on levels of hype I just don’t get is China Miéville’s Embassytown. (I’d vote for Walton.) Surprise me, SFWA!
Releases. Tor has announced that the final Wheel of Time book, A Memory of Light, is scheduled to come out on January 8, 2013. Brandon Sanderson is finishing the series working from Robert Jordan’s notes. Tor will also be re-releasing the other books with new covers, an action I heartily endorse as the original awful, awful covers are the main reason I never read them.
Star Trek! Jo Walton looks an influential Trek novel, John M. Ford’s The Final Reflection. She says: “…it’s one of those rare tie-in books that’s good even if you’re not a fan of the show and it must be world-shatteringly marvellous if you are.”
Lane at Roqoo Depot isn’t having any of this romance crap: Instead, he’s looking at bromances in Star Wars. However, I’m pretty sure there’s slash out there about all those dudes. Sorry, Lane.
In the article, Pamela Paul, a children’s book editor at The Book Review, cites some sad surveys that indicate the number of women who identify as reading sci-fi is depressingly low.
So rather than talking about the book, the statistics got Twitter going. The hashtag #womenreadSF has gotten the geek women on Twitter recommending all sorts of awesome titles and authors.
In the face of these depressing statistics, what would you recommend? Do you try to engage the girls in your life with some good sci-fi?
It was rumored several weeks back that the producers of the Ender’s Game movie were pursuing Harrison Ford to play Colonel Hyram Graff, and today it’s been confirmed that he’s signed on for the role.
The adaption of Orson Scott Card’s well-known novel, which will star Hugo’s Asa Butterfield as Ender, has been in the works for years – soon after The Phantom Menace, Jake Lloyd was being considered for the lead.
Club Jade is a group of (mostly) female fans who love Star Wars - particularly the Expanded Universe novels - and other things of that nature. You can also follow us on Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook!
If you follow publishing news at all – or picked up last week’s Game of Thrones issue of Entertainment Weekly – you’ve probably heard about Fifty Shades of Grey. It’s a vanity-published erotic novel that’s sold more than 250,000 copies,and got author E L James a seven-figure book deal with Vintage, a division of Random House. It just became a a New York Times bestseller. So, yes, it’s incredibly popular.
The 
In the article, Pamela Paul, a children’s book editor at 
It was rumored several weeks back that the producers of the Ender’s Game movie were pursuing Harrison Ford to play Colonel Hyram Graff, and today it’s been confirmed that 
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