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Hachette US sues author Grahame-Smith

In the US, Hachette Book Group is suing Pride and Prejudice and Zombies author Seth Grahame-Smith for breach of contract, reports Locus Magazine. The publisher filed papers in New York on 26 August alleging Grahame-Smith turned in an unacceptable manuscript more than three years after it was originally due, and are suing to recover US$500,000 (A$659,870) including interest. The manuscript was part of a US$4m (A$5.3m) two-book deal Grand Central Publishing signed with Grahame-Smith in 2010 after the publication of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, with the author receiving US$1m (A$1.3) on signing with the rest to be paid in US$500,000 increments following delivery of the two manuscripts. The deal was for a sequel to Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, which was published in 2015, and a second book ‘on a topic to be determined by the author subject to [Hachette’s] written approval’. Graeme-Smith was given two extensions on the delivery date of the second book, but failed to submit a manuscript until 6 June, after the publisher sent a termination notice on 20 April. In its filed papers, Hachette writes that the manuscript is ‘not the manuscript [he] promised to deliver under the agreement’ on a ‘subject Hachette never approved in writing’. It is ‘in large part an appropriation of a 120-year-old public domain work’, alleges the publisher.

 

Category: International news