14 DAY TRIAL // An American writer who discovered that a draft of her latest book was leaked on the Internet decided to stop writing, although the first 12 chapters of it were ready for editing and publishing. Stephenie Meyer, author of the vampire novels “The Host,” “Twilights” and its sequels, all targeting a teenage audience, was working on a new project, named “Midnight Sun,” when she learned that a copy of it had popped up on the Internet.
The woman claims that she only gave the manuscript to people she trusted and that, because of the slightly different versions of “Midnight Sun,” she already knew who was responsible for the leak. “I have a good idea of how the leak happened as there were very few copies of 'Midnight Sun' that left my possession and each was unique. Due to little changes I made to the manuscript at different times, I can tell when each left my possession and to whom it was given. The manuscript that was illegally distributed on the Internet was given to trusted individuals for a good purpose.”
Although some writers actually enjoy the publicity that leaked drafts bring long before the official release of a book, Meyer would rather she lived in a world without Internet, instead of in one in which things like this do happen. “Unfortunately, with the Internet, it is easy for people to obtain and share items that do not legally belong to them. No matter how this is done, it is still dishonest. 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.” she says on her official site.
Unfortunately, all of Stephenie’s young fans, who have been eagerly waiting for her latest book to come out, are now forced to wait some more, since the writer admittedly can’t continue with what she has started. “Writing isn't like math; in math, two plus two always equals four no matter what your mood is like. With writing, the way you feel changes everything.” she explains. However, in order to not make fans feel bad about downloading the draft without her consent, Stephenie has decided to to post a copy of it on the website herself.