Last week Simon & Schuster announced that Rick Yancy’s award winning  Monstrumologist series would be no more. With in minutes of the announcement twitter was abuzz with a way to save the series. Fans were appalled that the award winning series would not have more books and the story would be unfinished.

As reported by Galleycat a letter writing campaign was started by Stephanie Reads blog and School Library Journal and Booklist took notice. The result Simon & Schuster eventually picked up the fourth book in the series but until there was a lot of noise from fans and social media.

Here’s a quote from Rick Yancy when interviewed by Bookshelves of Doom:

Times are tough. Publishers, like a lot of us, are scared as hell. It is true, I think, that in bad times any risk with an untested or unproven writer seems just foolish. Like Hollywood, publishers look for the “sure thing.” Why are there so many Twilight knock-offs? Why are we drowning in dystopia right now? As recently as when I started, publishers were willing to stick with a writer they believed in, even if it meant a commitment of several books before the series took off. There’s little patience for that now. “Damnit – BORDERS WENT BANKRUPT! AND EBOOKS! THE EBOOKS ARE COMING!! – Quick, what’s Hilary Duff’s number?”

 

Do you think social media effects publishers decisions? Do fans have a voice or is it all about the money?