The Ogeechee Beacon

In April of 2002, Write Way Publishing, Inc., publisher of the popular mystery novels set in a town very much like our own Ogeechee, went into bankruptcy.

In the case of a hardware store or a farm, it may be clear what the business owns. In the case of a publisher, which has different contractual provisions with dozens of authors, ownership of rights and even of book stock is less clear.

It's an axiom in business that you don't get what you deserve, but what you can negotiate. The bankruptcy trustee spent nearly two years in negotiations, not only with the general run of creditors, but also with numerous authors seeking fair treatment with respect to contract provisions and royalties. The estate was finally settled in bankruptcy court by the auction of Write Way assets in December of 2003.

Author Secures First Editions

In the wake of the bankruptcy of Write Way Publishing, Inc., Linda Berry, whose Death and the Easter Bunny (1998) and Death and the Hubcap (2000) were published by Write Way, has acquired the remaining stock of those two books, rescuing them from the remainder table or the fate of some of the books by other Write Way authors, which were sold at auction and later turned up at the Mile High Flea Market near Denver.

Berry is offering her books, autographed by request. As the price of paper (and the quality of the writing, no doubt) has gone up, so has the price of the books. Postage, handling, and autograph, are included in the price of $20 for Death and the Easter Bunny and $23 for Death and the Hubcap.

You may contact the author at jerryberry@juno.com.

Publication Dates Set

At this writing, Linda Berry has two publications in the works.

The first off the presses will be a Trudy Roundtree novella featuring the setting and people we know from other books in the series. Titled "Trudy Roundtree and Three Wise Women," this novella will be one of four by various authors in an anthology titled The Last Noel, promised by Worldwide in November 2004.

Next up, from Five Star, which brought out Death and the Icebox (2003), is a full-length Trudy Roundtree novel (which fans of real-life Georgia policeman Johnny Shuman think of as "Henry Huckabee novels"). Look for Death and the Walking Stick early in 2005.

These books will be available at bookstores.