B&N Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog Fires All Freelancers

Writer Aidan Moher has reported on Twitter that he and all other freelancers writing for the Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog have been let go, effective immediately:

All freelancers at B&N SFF Blog were informed today they’d no longer be contracting work and to invoice for outstanding work immediately. I’ve LOVED my time writing for @BNSciFi, and I’m bummed to see it come to an end.

Writer Dahlia Adler reported that the writers for the B&N Teen blog had been let go as well.:

And so it ends.

It’s been a very cool six years, and I’ve loved getting to work with so many different people at the B&N Teen Blog. Today, the axe fell on a lot of necks, including mine.

I think we did something great, and I’ll miss this more than I can say.

As news of other B&N blogs firing their freelancers began to break she elaborated:

Didn’t wanna be breaking anyone’s news for them, but now that others are also sharing, to be clear:

1) “a lot of necks” = every single freelancer at B&N
2) Everyone at B&N Teen Blog was a freelancer

The site will still exist in some capacity. Don’t know what.

The bookseller was recently sold to Elliott Advisers Limited, which owns British chain Waterstones, with Waterstones chief James Daunt installed as CEO.

Daunt explained the cuts to Publishers Lunch: “The general principle is that we are putting everything back in the hands of booksellers…. That travels across the many ways that we deliver content to our customers…. the freelance side doesn’t quite fit. I respect the quality of what’s been done and am grateful for it.” The company will continue to have blogs, but “they will be blogs that express opinions of booksellers.”

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