I think that most of you know Random House, publisher of the Berkley cozy mysteries, was acquired by Penguin, which is now dropping many of the cozy series in the Berkley line-up. Several authors have been informed their contracts will not be renewed (Monica Ferris, Paige Shelton, and more).

Here is the latest post I've seen on the subject from Denise Swanson:

Yesterday, I heard that out of the 41 editors employed by PRH on the NAL and Berkley cozy mystery/romance lines, only 18 remain after all the layoffs. Which makes me believe that all the talk about the cozy mysteries surviving might be optomistic. Yes, some series will continue, but I think a LOT won't.

It might be time for another round of messages to PRH. After chatting with a source that wishes to remain unnamed, my advice would be to choose 3-5 series you love and speci...ficallly mention those in your note. It's probably best to choose series other than the ones that you know have been cut or series that you know are safe.

I'm not sure if other authors feel comfortable with saying whether their series are on the line, but I will say I haven't heard if either my Scumble River and Devereaux's Dime Store mysteries will be offered another contract. It will all depend on the reader response to my Sept. relase, Murder of a Cranky Catnapper, for Scumble River, and my spring release for the Dime Store books.

If you have not already written Penguin to protest the cancellation of these books, you might want to do so. Here is the link to contact them:

  http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/about-us/contact-us