Insurgents at Hachette

JK Rowling as is close to a sure thing in publishing as it gets. The revenue her books generate for tradpub feeds hundreds of people across the entertainment industry. But that hasn't stopped woke insurgents at Hachette, feeling their oats after getting Woody Allen's autobiography cancelled, to turn their sights on her.

Yesterday morning at publishing house Hachette, several of those involved in Miss Rowling’s new children’s book, The Ickabog, are said to have staged their own rebellion during a heated meeting. One source said: ‘Staff in the children’s department at Hachette announced they were no longer prepared to work on the book.

‘They said they were opposed to her comments and wanted to show support for the trans lobby. These staff are all very “woke”, mainly in their twenties and early thirties, and apparently it is an issue they feel very strongly about.’

It also really burns your stomach lining when someone you thought for sure was on your side turns out to not be.

Say what you want about Rowling ret-conning Albus Dumbledore into some sort of gay icon. Her comments on the transgender movement's bending of reality to conform to its vision were the sanest thing I've heard her say in years.

Hachette issued a statement that, while hypocritical, is nonetheless refreshing in today's political climate:

Freedom of speech is the cornerstone of publishing. We fundamentally believe that everyone has the right to express their own thoughts and beliefs. That’s why we never comment on our authors’ personal views and we respect our employees’ right to hold a different view.

At least someone's saying it.

Who knows what motivated Hachette to stand up for Rowling. My guess is she's simply too important to their bottom line to let go. It's a wonder that Rowling, an institution in her own right, would put up with this nonsense. She doesn't need Hachette to sell millions of books. Her name finishes the sale.

For the insurgents at Hachette, this is an opportunity for reflection. How many, when put to it, would pass an ideological purity test? How many have never compromised with society? How many have never uttered a word of doubt about a beloved cause? Knowing how few in number such people are, they cannot maintain the fiction of their ascendancy.

Military historian Victor Davis Hanson writes:

Inevitably cultural revolutions die out when they turn cannibalistic. Once the Red Guard started killing party hacks too close to Mao, it began to wane.

Once cultural revolutions turn anarchic and eat their own, they lose support. When quiet sympathizers conclude that they too may targeted, to survive they turn on their former icons.

As always, let me know what you think in the comments. If you like hard sci-fi, check out my books Seeds of Calamity and Tendrils to the Moon. You can find extended previews for each here and here.