Wheatland Press declared that they were on hiatus due to the current economic situation. Prior to the hiatus, they had made plans and purchased stories for Polyphony 7, the latest of their anthology series that began in 2002. According to publisher Deborah Layne, if they receive 225 pre-orders for Polyphony 7 by March 1, 2010, they will go ahead and print the book, otherwise all pre-order money will be refunded on that date and Polyphony will officially cease publication.
Golden Gryphon is holding a buy one, get one free sale at their website through the end of the year. Golden Gryphon was founded in 1997 and in 1999, founder Jim Turner won the World Fantasy Award for his work on the press.
In an attempt to clear inventory and raise funds for future projects, WSFA is holding a sale on four titles: The Edge of Things, by Lewis Shiner, Home by the Sea, by Pat Cadigan, Future Washingtons, edited by Ernest Lilly, and Reincarnations, by Harry Turtledove. They are also offering a special bundle that includes those four volumes plus Mike Resnick’s Through Darkest Resnick with Gun and Camera.
By the Book is giving away three copies of Vamped, by Lucienne Diver. To enter the contest, leave a comment on their website describing your scariest Halloween experience. All entries must be received by November 9. Entrants must be at least 13 years old, living in the US or Canada. There is a limit to one entry per day.
ISFiC Press is holding a sale in conjunction with the debut of the television series FlashForward, based on Robert J. Sawyer’s novel. Any multiple book purchase directly from ISFiC Press that includes at least one copy of Sawyer’s first US collection, Relativity, will receive a discount on the entire order between 10-40%, depending on the number of books ordered. The offer runs through November 10 and applies to all currently available titles (ISFiC Press’s newest release, James P. Blaylock’s The Shadow on the Doorstep, is scheduled for a November 13 release and is not included in the sale).
Ticonderoga Publications is running a sale on all stock through November 8. All their books are selling between 20-25% off with free shipping in Australia with the purchase of A$100. Ticonderoga is the publisher of Simon Brown’s Troy, Stephen Dedman’s The Lady of Situations, and Fantastic Wonder Stories, edited by Russell B. Farr, among other books.
New Line Cinema has reached an undisclosed agreement with the Estate of J.R.R. Tolkien and HarperCollins Books over royalties from The Lord of the Rings films. The estate alleged that they had not seen a single penny from the successful movie franchise and the dispute was threatening production of the two-film version of The Hobbit, scheduled to begin filming in 2010.
Science fiction novel Things We Didn’t See Coming, by Steven Amsterdam won The Age Book of the Year, and the prize of A$20,000.
Chris Beckett’s collection The Turing Test won the 2009 Edge Hill Short Story Prize, presented annually for best single-author story collection published in the United Kingdom. The award, which is not a genre specific award, carries with it a £5,000 prize and a painting by Liverpool artist Peter Clarke. Beckett received an additional £1,000 as the Reader’s Prize, given in conjunction with the award.
The estate of author Adrian Jacobs is suing J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury for plagiarism, claiming that “substantial parts” of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire were copied from Jacobs’s 1987 novel The Adventures of Willy the Wizard — No 1 Livid Land. Bloomsbury has responded saying “The allegations of plagiarism made today, Monday 15 June 2009, by the Estate of Adrian Jacobs are unfounded, unsubstantiated and untrue.” Jacobs died penniless in 1997 and his estate previously made the plagiarism claim in 2004. According to Bloomsbury, in 2004, “The claim was unable to identify any text in the Harry Potter books which was said to copy Willy the Wizard.”