Julianna Yau’s blog

This is old news in blog terms, but I just found out about it. Stephanie Meyer is the author of the Twilight series of vampire novels for teens. A draft of her latest book, Midnight Sun, was leaked onto the internet without her permission. According to her blog entry on her website from August 28, she’s fairly certain she knows who leaked it because “there were very few copies of Midnight Sun that left [her] possession and each was unique”.

Meyer has decided to postpone the novel indefinitely because of this, and I wholeheartedly support her decision. I was told about this by someone who is a fan of her work, and she’s absolutely devistated. Meyer was also good enough to her fans to offer her own draft of the novel on her website so that fans can read an authorized draft without having to choose between their loyalty to Meyer’s rights as a writer and the desire to read what they can of the novel.

Without more responses like Meyer’s to copyright infringement (even if it isn’t being done maliciously), I don’t think people will ever understand its impact on the creator. Although the world of instant publishing may not be sympathetic to it, there are still some creators who put effort into getting their work as close to perfection as possible. Unfinished works are like gestating animals—they simply aren’t ready for the world yet. Throw in the complication of someone else forcing it out and…well…you can figure that out yourself

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