HarperStudio, RIP

News today that HarperCollins will close imprint HarperStudio, which made a lot of noise under the leadership of Bob Miller, with its insistence on lowering advances and raising royalties to get authors more involved in their books' marketing. (Miller is moving to Workman, which we knew.) I am now awaiting the lengthy article from some intrepid publishing reporter on what really happened here. It was just a year ago that I admitted to coming around to the imprints' ethos, and now, kaput. Was it something I said, or didn't say? Did "the board" at HC get fed up with this experimenting editor types? Did the books just not work?

As usual, I hope the good team assembled at the Studio lands on their feet and finds great jobs elsewhere.

And now for some book history lessons, in this great article at the Smithsonian by Anne Trubek on "how the paperback novel changed popular literature." E-book lovers, begin your tongue-wagging...