Fearing Violence, Publication of Book Halted

Ballantine has called off publication of author Sherry Jones’s racy historical novel about Aisha, the young wife of the prophet Muhammad. Random House was set to publish the novel, “The Jewel of Medina,” on Aug. 12, 2008.

According to an Op-Ed in the WSJ (Aug. 6, 2008), Thomas Perry, deputy publisher at Random House Publishing Group, said that the company received “from credible and unrelated sources, cautionary advice not only that the publication of this book might be offensive to some in the Muslim community, but also that it could incite acts of violence by a small, radical segment.”

The publisher and Jones have entered a termination agreement so that the book can be shopped to other publishers. Other details about the termination, including the advance have not been released.

As the “The Jewel of Medina” situation illustrates, an author should seek an objective standard for manuscript approval and publication such as “professionally competent and fit for publication.” Such contract language may give an author some recourse, even if it doesn’t change the publisher’s actions.