I see publishing mithering, so I'm delurking to advise not getting too overexcited about the possible cancellation of the mememememoir.
The screenshot showing the work to be cancelled looks like somebody's idea of a joke: the publisher is listed as Tor, not Bluebird. Tor are an imprint well known for their sci-fi and their fantasy fiction. Like we all know the mememememoir is going to be. There is no way Tor would be publishing this because they don't publish memoir. I don't see how it could be a genuine error, either - they are both imprints of Pan Macmillan, but they are separate.
If the screenshot is totally accurate, what it tells us it that *this* edition of the publication has been cancelled. Every book has an ISBN - a number that is unique to it and its edition. Just because the book associated with this ISBN has been cancelled, it doesn't mean the memoir has. As I've said before, that amazon listing with the Sep '23 publishing date looked like a placeholder rather than a listing. HH2 talked about a decision she'd made that had been hard, which was probably the memoir, so contracts would have been signed a couple of months later (at most). An normal publication date would be 18 months - 2 years later, depending on a lot of factors. So, any time from now, but it could also take longer and that wouldn't necessarily mean anything is going on, just that it's taking longer.
What I can tell you firmly is that there is no Memememememoir in the Spring catalogues from PanMac. There have been instances of books dropping to publication with very little warning (E L James' The Mister and its sequel both got announced something like a week before they were in the shops), and a sensible person might think this is a good idea for the mememememoir. It could also be intended for a hardback publication September/October time as a gift for Christmas.
It might have been cancelled. It might have been delayed. It might be following the course it was always on. There is nothing to be read in the lack of official announcement. This is how publishing works. And, the fact the social media is being cleaned up points to something.
I think everything is going as it's going, and my personal realistic best case scenario is that now Carole has left (and it will not have been anything to do with the idiocy of Grifty Kitchen), Jack's new editor is less interested in her and is going through the minimal contractual motions.
I also have some technical medical mithering that I'll put behind a spoiler as it may be triggering, but the tl;dr version, I believe she may be lying.
The screenshot showing the work to be cancelled looks like somebody's idea of a joke: the publisher is listed as Tor, not Bluebird. Tor are an imprint well known for their sci-fi and their fantasy fiction. Like we all know the mememememoir is going to be. There is no way Tor would be publishing this because they don't publish memoir. I don't see how it could be a genuine error, either - they are both imprints of Pan Macmillan, but they are separate.
If the screenshot is totally accurate, what it tells us it that *this* edition of the publication has been cancelled. Every book has an ISBN - a number that is unique to it and its edition. Just because the book associated with this ISBN has been cancelled, it doesn't mean the memoir has. As I've said before, that amazon listing with the Sep '23 publishing date looked like a placeholder rather than a listing. HH2 talked about a decision she'd made that had been hard, which was probably the memoir, so contracts would have been signed a couple of months later (at most). An normal publication date would be 18 months - 2 years later, depending on a lot of factors. So, any time from now, but it could also take longer and that wouldn't necessarily mean anything is going on, just that it's taking longer.
What I can tell you firmly is that there is no Memememememoir in the Spring catalogues from PanMac. There have been instances of books dropping to publication with very little warning (E L James' The Mister and its sequel both got announced something like a week before they were in the shops), and a sensible person might think this is a good idea for the mememememoir. It could also be intended for a hardback publication September/October time as a gift for Christmas.
It might have been cancelled. It might have been delayed. It might be following the course it was always on. There is nothing to be read in the lack of official announcement. This is how publishing works. And, the fact the social media is being cleaned up points to something.
I think everything is going as it's going, and my personal realistic best case scenario is that now Carole has left (and it will not have been anything to do with the idiocy of Grifty Kitchen), Jack's new editor is less interested in her and is going through the minimal contractual motions.
I also have some technical medical mithering that I'll put behind a spoiler as it may be triggering, but the tl;dr version, I believe she may be lying.
In one of the many "I woke up in the bathtub the next morning" versions of Jack's suicide attempt, she specifically talks about taking multiple packets of paracetamol.
Paracetamol is a very dangerous drug because it's very easy to overdose on it and not realise until three days later when you go into liver failure. Medical advice is to seek help if you take more than 8 in 24 hours, although, if you are an emaciated smol pixie, even this amount could be dangerous. If she'd taken the tablets she claims to have done, it is perfectly possible she would have woken the following morning thinking she was fine. She would not have continued to be fine. The damage would not necessarily have been permanent (the liver regenerates over time), but she would have known about it.
So. Pretty sure it never happened.
Paracetamol is a very dangerous drug because it's very easy to overdose on it and not realise until three days later when you go into liver failure. Medical advice is to seek help if you take more than 8 in 24 hours, although, if you are an emaciated smol pixie, even this amount could be dangerous. If she'd taken the tablets she claims to have done, it is perfectly possible she would have woken the following morning thinking she was fine. She would not have continued to be fine. The damage would not necessarily have been permanent (the liver regenerates over time), but she would have known about it.
So. Pretty sure it never happened.
I agree though, they wouldn’t waste their money on an advance, writer/editor, publishing, photography etc to charge £12.99 for a hardback of a failed cook no-one is interested in.
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