New AMoL rumor?

[animus]

Do you work for a publishing company, lesser god?

[CUBAREY]

Nope I'm a lawyer. One of my partners specializes in intellectual property law. I've handled probate and contractual questions that have come up. I also have friends in the publishing business. So I have some knowledge of the issues (I'm not an expert) and feel comfortable throwing in my two cents worth.

 

The term was lesser deity( :P).

[animus]

Oh God, a lawyer. Well you should at least be able to give a rough estimate of the court time that would need to be spent on such a case as this. Obviously certain things might drag it out, but counting on everybody playing fair it shouldn't be too hard to make a guess.

[CUBAREY]

Presuming that Harriet is to be the main beneficiary of RJ's estate and that no one will challenge RJ's Will then figure that: Will has probably been already submitted to probate; total time in probate might be 4-6 months depending on how complicated the Will was; Harriet as main beneficiary and executor/administrator of Will will likely go to probate court to ratify major decisions while Will still in probate.  The only hitch is that TOR has certain rights to AMOL under its contract with RJ .  So if Harriet and TOR would disagree on a major point (choice of who actually finishes AMOL) it could turn nasty.  Disputes over intellectual property can be pretty complicated legally and some have taken years to resolve.  I do not think that is likely to happen here but lawyers on all sides are likely to insist that all the I's are dotted and T's crossed. 

 

I presume in this case Harriet and TOR will agree on a writer, then enter into a contract with that writer (such contract being contingent on probate court approval). They then will seek the probate courts approval (likely given quite fast- a week to procure judges approval would be normal in uncontested issues).

 

However, there is one more issue I feel bound to include.  Any writer chosen and TOR will almost definitely insist that the issue of the rights to further sequels or outrigger novels be dealt with at the same time as the decision of who finishes AMOL.  Any writer, other then Harriet, and TOR will likely want the right to write/publish further novels. Harriet will at the very least insist on a say on the shape of any works after AMOL. Not only are the issues involved complicated and quite important (from a monetary point of view) they might also be quite prickly as they will touch on RJ's literary vision.

 

Presuming that the negotiations are amicable and that all the parties want the matter to be resolved quickly it could still take 4-6 weeks before final contracts are signed, probate court approval is granted and an official announcement is made.  Of course there could be unofficial leaks before then but those pose their own problems.

 

Again the term used was minor deity, not minor god nor God  ;)

[animus]

see, you gave me a rough estimate and it took you like what, 10 minutes?

 

and why would she choose a writer that would be disagreeable about the legal stuff? she could just say screw you if you dont like it I will find somebody else. I doubt it would be hard to find somebody to fit the bill.

[CUBAREY]

Quote

 

she could just say screw you if you dont like it I will find somebody else. I doubt it would be hard to find somebody to fit the bill.

 

 

Let's see if AMOL is two-thirds written then there are still what 700 or so pages to write from RJ's notes and tapes. 600-700 pages is going to take what maybe 10-12 months to write.  The writer also has to abandon his own writing style and mimic RJ's.  Now many good writers who could mimic RJ's writing style will not be interested because of the time it will take, others may  have pre-existing commitments of their own to Publishers or even to TOR that will preclude them from taking on the project.  Others (Goodkind

comes immediately to mind) would not want to mimic RJ's writing style because of their egos. 

 

So the universe of writers that would do justice to RJ's work and are willing to take on the project is not all that large.  Now, Harriet might decide to do it herself and TOR might be agreeable.  However, if for what ever reason decide she does want to do it then we are back to a limited amount of author's who will have to invest upwards of a year to finish AMOL.

I agree that Harriet has the last word but there will be some hard bargaining ahead nevertheless.  Worst case scenario (if Harriet is not up to finishing AMOL herself) would be that any perspective writer would insist on terms that either Harriet or TOR would be unwilling to meet and AMOL is never finished.  Now since we do not know if Harriet is willing to permit other novels to be written or what kind of control she might want have over the final product of any such additional novels it is hard to say how big of an issue this will actually be.  Then again, the split on royalties for AMOL and especially any additional novels will be an issue that any author other then Harriet will be quite concerned with.

 

Now my estimate of six weeks was based on a very amicable situation where everyone involved quickly came to agreement. That's the best case scenario. The worst case scenario I already dealt with (AMOL never gets finished). An intermediate scenario is that negotiations drag on for three or four months or after a few weeks of unfruitful negotiations Harriet and TOR decide to find another writer which then starts the process over again.

 

Now even my best case scenario of six weeks is not measured from RJ's death or even today, it starts when Harriet feels herself able to deal with the entire process of deciding whether she wants to finish AMOL herself (and then getting Tor's approval) or deciding to find another writer to do it (and have to deal with all the issues I have mentioned).  So when will we here an announcement, I don't know but it could be a while.

 

[animus]

All of this only leads me to believe a rough estimate of a release date is possible. I'm not claiming that it would be improbable things could come up that would change that estimate, but it's still possible to make on.

[cullennz]

All of this only leads me to believe a rough estimate of a release date is possible. I'm not claiming that it would be improbable things could come up that would change that estimate, but it's still possible to make on.

 

Your the only one on this thread who has that belief.

 

Far out mate.

 

It's like talking to a brick wall.

 

They will announce it when they announce it. No moaning and ignoring obvious barriers to them doing this will make it any different.

 

You said you wanted to know roughly what time of the year if/when they do announce it.

 

Just my opinion, but I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to guess it will probably be the anniversary of his death.

[RobertAlexWillis]

All of this only leads me to believe a rough estimate of a release date is possible

 

 

Yes, it is.  I estimate it will completed and released between 2009 and 2011.

 

So, don't come complaining until Jan 2012.

[animus]

cullenz, are you dumb?

 

I'm not moaning, I am not the only one to hold that belief, I don't even care when they announce a date. I was merely pointing out that it's possible for them to do so, because it is.

[cullennz]

cullenz, are you dumb?

 

No. I'm a realist.

[animus]

Haha, a realist? More like a retarded nihilist who wishes he could be a sophist. And to make that sarcasm completely clear to you, sophists are way beneath me.

[cullennz]

I don't even care when they announce a date.

 

Then why the rant.

 

I was merely pointing out that it's possible for them to do so, because it is.

 

No. It is not.

[cullennz]

Haha, a realist? More like a retarded nihilist who wishes he could be a sophist. And to make that sarcasm completely clear to you, sophists are way beneath me.

 

Spare me your attempts to sound intellectual.

 

Be my guest though. Continue to blindly ignore all the the facts. Sweet in the knowledge that despite the author just dying while half way through the book. It is perfectly resaonable for Tor and the deceased's missus to hold back her grief for a day and plan in detail the exact release date of the novel for the benefit of that dude animus on the forum. They are obviously just being mean to you.

[animus]

I'm not ranting, although it's convenient for you to try and degrade me that way. I'm merely speaking my mind, because I am bored and because I disagree with some of the people here.

 

And 'attempts to sound intellectual'? You must be joking, I thought I was talking to educated adults who enjoy reading and thus had a decent vocabulary. My insult lies deeper than the terms used, I tried to make sure you realized that. Obviously I need to stick to more elementary vocabulary when making my plays on words. Or perhaps I'll just cease to care whether or not you understand the insults and essentially just type for my own pleasure. I can't decide, I'm too caught up on you finding my post as an attempt to sound intellectual. Just imagine what I could come up with if I paused to think of something truly insulting to say. It seems likely you wouldn't be phased, mostly because the structure of my insult would deviate from the run spot run you are accustomed to.   

[cullennz]

Just imagine what I could come up with if I paused to think of something truly insulting to say. It seems likely you wouldn't be phased, mostly because the structure of my insult would deviate from the run spot run you are accustomed to.   

 

I await with baited breath. It will be wonderous to see I'm sure.

 

Geez mate.

 

You and pompousness go to together like gingers and sunburn.

 

 

[SonAr]

Haha, a realist? More like a retarded nihilist who wishes he could be a sophist. And to make that sarcasm completely clear to you, sophists are way beneath me.

 

You sir, on the other hand, sound as a malignant narcissist on coke.

Please spare us your intelectual grandeur, you are clearly imperessing no one.

Futhermore it is a second topic in which i am forced to observe how you try, and succes in starting a flame war.

Try starting your own thread in which you can express your own, clearly very interesting views. I suggest a catchy topic like "Intelectual Megalomania - practical use by me,myself and i- animus"

 

 

[animus]

I did start a thread, and it is quite flame free.

[Majsju]

People, some manners please. If you wish to hurl insults at eachother, find a chatroom, use email, whatever, but do not use the forum for such behaviour.

 

Thank you.

[animus]

You're no fun Maj. I guess I wont get to satisfy you cullennz...yet. :)

[cloglord]

perhaps I'll just cease to care whether or not you understand the insults and essentially just type for my own pleasure.

 

I thought that's what you were doing.  If that is your goal, I can suggest several nice word processing programs were you can type out your self indulgence to your heart's content.  That route would even have the added benefit of sparing us from having to wade through it.

[animus]

You both read and responded to it, so I must have brought you some small amount of pleasure.

[Jonn]

Anyway, I think we can speculate on a new release date, but no one can be sure, including the people closest to the project.

 

So, a rumor being a rumor, coming second hand from a second hand source...not likely to have much in the way of verifiable proof of an exact release date, let alone a general guess.

 

If something is needed as a measure of assurance that the novel is being worked on as we speak or if not, when they will be restarting construction on the project...This is something that can be confirmed by a good source.

 

See, in this case you can verify a plan of action, but not the actual future result.