Stephenie Meyer Stops Work on Fifth Twilight Book to Protest Illegal Leaking of Her Work

Posted on September 16, 2008

Bestselling author Stephenie Meyer has stopped working on her current book, Midnight Sun, after the unedited manuscript was leaked online. Stephenie had apparently given several different drafts to just a few people for review and comment and someone leaked one online, much to the author's horror. She says she has put the fifth book in the popular Twilight series on hold as a statement about an author's right to control her own work.

Meyer says Midnight Sun is on hold indefinitely because of the leak. She is too sad about the experience to continue working on the novel. She says, "I feel too sad about what has happened to continue working on Midnight Sun, and so it is on hold indefinitely."

Meyer writes, "The manuscript that was illegally distributed on the Internet was given to trusted individuals for a good purpose. I have no comment beyond that, as I believe that there was no malicious intent with the initial distribution."

She says also, "This has been a very upsetting experience for me, but I hope it will at least leave my fans with a better understanding of copyright and the importance of artistic control."

So, who was the idiot who leaked the draft? Clearly, she knows exactly who it is, because she has said it wasn't done maliciously. But her vehement statements about an author's copyrights make us believe that she's pretty angry at whoever did it. One thing's for sure: whoever it is won't be getting to see any future drafts.

Meyer is making the partial draft available on her website. You can find her letter and the partial manuscript here.