Judith Mann
asked
R.J. Lynch:
I am trying to find Poor Law - the second James Blackiston book, but can't seem to track it down anywhere....was it published....how can I get it? Thank you
R.J. Lynch
Hi, Judith
Poor Law was ready to go. The e-book was formatted, the paperback was typeset. Then someone at our publicist decided that it would be a good idea to send an advance copy to the present head of a prominent family from the north-east of England who I had not dealt with very nicely in the book. (I based what I had written on rumours that had been around for 250 years, but never proved). The publicist’s idea was to try to get some advance publicity. What we got instead was a response from a heavy-duty law firm representing the family. I pointed out that, in suggesting that someone who lived in the 1760s might have been a murderer, I was not breaking any laws. No one could sue me for libelling someone who had been dead that long. And I was right. But what we were told (verbally – it was never put in writing) was that, if the book was published in its present form, the man I had annoyed was prepared to spend a considerable amount of money to launch a campaign against not just me but also against the publisher’s entire list. All of my books – and especially Poor Law – would receive multiple one star reviews on Amazon. I would be blogged against and reviled in press reviews. We were satisfied that he had the clout to make that happen, pathetic though it would make him look.
My response was to plead artistic freedom. I was free to write anything I wanted, as long as I didn’t libel a living person. And I could provide justification for what I had written. The decision (which I disagreed with, and still do) was not to publish the book in its existing form. I refused to touch it for more than a year, but in the end I climbed down and I have rewritten it without the parts that gave offence. It’s now ready, we are just agreeing the cover, and it should be out in time for Christmas.
What is particularly irritating about this is that Book 3 in the series was all ready to go, but they can’t be published out of order. Book 3 is set in the American colonies and picks up the story of Lizzie Greener’s brothers who fled England to escape a trumped up murder charge. The current plan is to publish that three months after Poor Law comes out.
I’ll let you know the minute Poor Law is available.
Best wishes
John Lynch
Poor Law was ready to go. The e-book was formatted, the paperback was typeset. Then someone at our publicist decided that it would be a good idea to send an advance copy to the present head of a prominent family from the north-east of England who I had not dealt with very nicely in the book. (I based what I had written on rumours that had been around for 250 years, but never proved). The publicist’s idea was to try to get some advance publicity. What we got instead was a response from a heavy-duty law firm representing the family. I pointed out that, in suggesting that someone who lived in the 1760s might have been a murderer, I was not breaking any laws. No one could sue me for libelling someone who had been dead that long. And I was right. But what we were told (verbally – it was never put in writing) was that, if the book was published in its present form, the man I had annoyed was prepared to spend a considerable amount of money to launch a campaign against not just me but also against the publisher’s entire list. All of my books – and especially Poor Law – would receive multiple one star reviews on Amazon. I would be blogged against and reviled in press reviews. We were satisfied that he had the clout to make that happen, pathetic though it would make him look.
My response was to plead artistic freedom. I was free to write anything I wanted, as long as I didn’t libel a living person. And I could provide justification for what I had written. The decision (which I disagreed with, and still do) was not to publish the book in its existing form. I refused to touch it for more than a year, but in the end I climbed down and I have rewritten it without the parts that gave offence. It’s now ready, we are just agreeing the cover, and it should be out in time for Christmas.
What is particularly irritating about this is that Book 3 in the series was all ready to go, but they can’t be published out of order. Book 3 is set in the American colonies and picks up the story of Lizzie Greener’s brothers who fled England to escape a trumped up murder charge. The current plan is to publish that three months after Poor Law comes out.
I’ll let you know the minute Poor Law is available.
Best wishes
John Lynch
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