Miller Aims to End Remainders

The publishing world is atwitter today with news of Robert S. Miller’s defection from Hyperion, the Disney-owned imprint he founded in 1991. He moves to HarperCollin’s new Internet-driven division. According to The Los Angeles Times, Miller will pack his first lunch at the London Book Fair next week and he will work directly underneath HC’s chief executive, Jane Friedman.

The new “publishing studio” division, which has yet to be named, will combine traditional trade book publishing techniques with Internet-based strategies to market and publicize about 25 moderately priced books per year.

But here’s the part that has everyone atwitter:

In a key change, HarperCollins said, authors will be compensated through a “profit-sharing model” rather than a traditional royalty, and the books will be promoted using online publicity, advertising and marketing. The titles will be issued in both physical and digital formats.

The Los Angeles Times piece is here. Galleycat (who is apparently on a first name basis with Miller and thus calls him “Bob”) chimes in here, while The Guardian thinks the sky is falling here.