Gossip and Rumors are Not Facts

The publishing industry is always full of change. Gosh, it seems like I say this a lot, but it is true. Editors change. Lines are created. Lines are eliminated. The list goes on and on. When these changes start happening, it is amazing how fast the stories flow around social media, and with each post, the stories often get tweaked, adjusted, and many times, move further and further away from the truth. As an author, it is important to be aware of these changes, but please also note, that what you might be reading may be an interpretation of what is really going on.

Authors need to understand that when these changes happen, these are BUSINESS decisions. These are not situations where someone is randomly making the change just because he or she wants to. These are not changes because someone who has no idea what they are doing made some executive decision. When these companies make changes, there were likely a lot of meetings and conversations that took place before hand. The goal of a company is to make money. Again, remember, this is business.

Consider some of the recent changes that have happened at Harlequin. Several of the lines have been scheduled for elimination. At this time, we simply know that the decisions were made. All of the conversations and meeting notes are certainly not out there, but know that these decisions were not taken lightly.

We can certainly speculate as to the reasons. In many cases, it might simply come down to sales that were simply not there. Why? The books were simply not being bought. The readers out there have shifted their attention to other interests.

We can also speculate that some of the lines, may simply have transformed over the years into duplicates of other stories out there.

The point is, we can only speculate.

So what can you do as an author? First of all, certainly pay attention to the changes. Make adjustments in your future plans to accommodate those changes. If these changes do not affect you, then just keep on doing what you are doing.

Secondly, if you do want to share your thoughts with your fellow writers, do so with caution. I would also recommend that if you do post something, simply remind people that this is all you know and you cannot read into things.

Just some things to consider as we move closer to the weekend.