Friday, February 11, 2011

VAMPIRE DIARIES Author L. J. Smith Fired

Over the past few days, rumors have been flying that author L. J. Smith has been fired from writing the Vampire Diaries series. Now, Smith has seemingly confirmed those rumors in a blog post that mentions she’s going through “a difficult time.” Later in the post Smith says she “wanted and still want more than anything to be able to continue The Vampire Diaries series myself.”
So how can an author be fired from writing her own books? The way I understand it is that Smith signed a contract with Alloy Entertainment back in 1990 and they, therefore, own the rights to the Vampire Diaries books. Allegedly, Alloy and HarperTeen were not happy with the direction Smith was taking the series (SPOILER ALERT: she wanted to focus on Damon and Elena while the publishers were more interested in a Stefan and Elena pairing) and she was fired from writing future books.
The Vampire Diaries: The Return: Midnight is due out on March 15, 2011. According to Smith, all the writing in Midnight is her own. The next book in the series, Phantom, will be a mix of her writing and that of a ghostwriter.
So, Vampire Diaries fans, are you saddened by this news? Will you continue to read the books even if they aren’t written by L. J. Smith?

1 comments:

staysea said...

Yes I am sad for her. I am not a writer or an artist but it makes you think about your rights as an artist and what can be done with your creation if you are careful with you contract.