This Is Utterly Ridiculous…I Can’t Even.

Before you read this post: I wrote this post based entirely on ethics--so NO, these are not hard facts. I am a teenage blogger with little to no knowledge of what is legal and what is not and have recently learned what "For Hire" is. You'll find many opinions here because this is not a formal article.

I do not appreciate the numerous articles/comments I've read (outside of this site) that have attacked me for using big font, being a fan of L.J's work, and for being a female just to name a few. Not to mention the ugly name calling. I don't see anything written in my post that would deserve any of that. I am mostly giving information--please don't bash me for it. I consider that bullying.

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I’m probably really late with learning about this but I’m extremely outraged because this happened to one of my all time favorite authors. If it wasn’t for her and her incredibly amazing books I probably would never have loved reading YA novels nearly as much as I do today.



Hit TV series The Vampire Diaries


So to put it simply L.J Smith (author of Vampire Diaries, the Night World, and the Secret Circle) got fired by HarperCollins from writing her own books. Everything she’s written now belongs entirely to them and they can do whatever they want with it; while she has no say at all. Instead, from now on a ghostwriter will be continuing the Vampire Diaries series under her name. I mean, how messed up is that? She isn’t allowed to write another word of a series that belongs to her, a series that she has spent years writing and creating and putting her heart into because Harper suddenly decided they don’t want her to write anymore. And now a random ghostwriter (who’s skills and voice could never even remotely live up to L.J’s) is taking over.

Now, let’s consider a few things here:

a) L.J Smith has been working on this series for years (the V.D series was created in the 1990s)

b) She has all the outlines, and knows all the major plot details

c) She knows all the characters inside and out

d) And of course the biggest part in all this—her voice. A writer's voice is unique. It CAN NOT be copied by another person. I don’t know where Harper gets off saying another writer can better do L.J Smith’s voice when he/she is NOT L.J Smith.

I had no idea that these type of things can happen to a published author. So to those of you who are going to be published or hope to be published one day—read everything in the contract and be extra alert. Even if the publisher has a good name/reputation don’t let them fool you into thinking everything’s fine and dandy where legal terms are involved. Stay on top of things and make sure you are informed on everything that's going on. That means keeping close tabs and getting constant updates from your agent.

To get a better idea of what exactly is going on here are parts of a letter from L.J Smith about this issue:

The Secret Circle, also a TV series

 

“To put it briefly, I’ve been fired from writing the Vampire Diaries. And I’ve been fighting and fighting this since last fall, but there is absolutely no recourse. Midnight is the last L. J. Smith book in the Vampire Diaries series….

….It probably sounds completely impossible to say that I am fired from writing my own books. But the truth is that they’re not mine, even though I write every word…

…A book packager sells books, already made with covers and all, to publishers, like HarperCollins—my publisher for The Vampire Diaries and The Secret Circle. And both these series were written “for hire” which means that the book packager owns the books the author produces. Although I didn’t even understand what “for hire” meant back in 1990, when I agreed to write books for them, I found out eventually, to my horror and dismay. It means that even though I have written the entire series, I don’t own anything about The Vampire Diaries. And from now on, the books will be written by an anonymous ghostwriter, just as Stefan’s Diaries are. It will say “Created by L. J. Smith” on the cover, but I am not allowed even to change a word in the ghostwriter’s book….

…So last fall when I gave them the book Phantom, they didn’t bother to give me edits. Instead, I was given a letter addressed to the ghostwriter by name, telling her to completely rewrite my book. They wouldn’t even listen when I pleaded and promised to do Phantom as they required. The simply took the series and gave it to the ghostwriter . . . to write not only The Hunters trilogy, but whatever comes after that….

…They have always tried to minimize my participation in The Vampire Diaries. On the very first original books in 1990 my name was almost invisible on the cover. And now they have my manuscript of Phantom, and the book the ghostwriter writes from it may even sound like I wrote it in places, because they have the right to use my work as they see fit. But the book after that … that will be pure ghostwriter. I would guess that they think you readers won’t see or care about the difference in writing styles and skills….

….I don’t know how Phantom will turn out, with a blend of my manuscript and the complete rewriting of it by the ghostwriter. But I dread it, and even more do I dread what the next books will be like. I’ve worked so hard to make Vampire Diaries a good series, only to have the unthinkable happen to me…."

>> To read the full letter from L.J Smith or learn more about this go here, google it, or visit her website.

>>To read more about For Hire and contracts scroll down to read the information many of the commentors posted about below.


What are your thoughts on this dillema? Would you be okay if a ghostwriter took your place (without your consent) and continued a series that you wrote? Leave a comment, discussions are welcome.  

This Is Utterly Ridiculous…I Can’t Even.