Russet Noon

Russet Noon by Lady Sybilla is a novel-length work of fanfiction, a sequel to the Twilight series featuring Jacob (described as being "for Team Jacob"). 
Lady Sybilla attracted much criticism and mockery from fans and pro authors alike by her attempts to sell her fanfic. 
Due to the controversy, however, Lady Sybilla issued a public apology to Stephenie Meyer in April 2009 and has, since then, made her novel available for free on her blog, LadySybilla.com.
==Summary of the Novel==
==Summary of events==
Russet Noon first came to people's attention in March 2009, when Lady Sybilla's publisher, AV Paranormal Publishing, started posting press releasesAV Paranormal on PRlog. about the forthcoming novel, to be published in the fall. 
Russet Noon was also made available for pre-sale on eBay, and a website was put up.
AV Paranormal Publishing was assumed to be Lady Sybilla herself. Her marketing efforts also appeared to include creating a Wikipedia page and editing the FanHistory page for Russet Noon.Artistic_revolution's edits on FanHistory (archive link; page last updated 15 June 2009)Caito. The Russet Doom Saga, Part III, posted to Fandom Wank, April 16, 2009. (Accessed 28 July 2010)Caito's screencap of LadySybilla's user talk page on Wikipedia. (Accessed 28 July 2010) All these efforts were extensively mocked on Fandom Wank.
Later, the book was removed from eBay, but was still available for sale on Amazon.Russet Noon sale page on Amazon.com (Accessed 28 July 2010) 
According to the (now deleted) Wikipedia article, Russet Noon would still be published as a free paperback novel in September 2009, but would be donated to public libraries instead of being sold at bookstores.image of Wikipedia page (Accessed 27 July 2010)
While Lady Sybilla attracted negative attention not only for the attempt to sell Russet Noon and her reactions to criticism, her statements about copyright were also controversial. 
==Lady Sybilla's Views on Copyright==
The author claimed the right to publish Russet Noon professionally. According to one of AV Paranormal's press releases, Lady Sybilla believed that fans who support any given universe should have a share in the profits that this universe generated: 
Sybilla opposed certain aspects of copyright laws, namely those dealing with the private ownership of characters: 
Yet, Sybilla says that even though she opposed these laws, she still acknowledged Stephenie Meyer's right to claim copyright ownership over the characters in the original Twilight series. She also said, 
==Reactions==
Lady Sybilla's behavior was discussed in many fannish and nonfannish online spaces. Fandom Wank, ONTD,whispers4kittens. Screw copyright! "Russet Noon" -- New Tribute Sequel to the Twilight Saga, posted to ohnotheydidnt, March 25, 2009. (Accessed 28 July 2010) the Twilight Lexicon website,Whose Characters Are They, Anyway?, Twilight Lexicon, posted April 8, 2009. (Accessed 28 July 2010) and even nonfannish bloggers such as pro authors Peter David and Lee Goldberg posted about it. Coverage was universally negative. For example, Peter David hosted a round robin satire inspired by Russet Noon called Potato Moon on his website.Potato Moon on Wikipedia
Many fans wondered whether (or how soon) the author would get a Cease and Desist notice from Stephanie Meyer, the author of the Twilight series. However, it wasn't until Lady Sybilla shot an explosive video at the 2010 Teen Choice Awards, announcing the Amazon release of her book, that Hatchett Book Group took her seriously and finally emailed her the C&D.
File:fhwankrussett.png|May 11, 2009 – June 22, 2009, Laura Hale was paying attention, and labeled this search and graphic for Fan History Wiki: "Fandom wank effect on traffic russet noon"
===Fandom Wank Reports===
Caito posted several wank reports to Fandom Wank between March and June 2009, collectively known as The Russet Doom Saga,The Russet Doom Saga, Fandom Wank Wiki (accessed 27 July 2010) and kept track of the series of eventscaito. Russet Doom Link Hub. (Accessed 27 July 2010) on her JournalFen account. The wank reports were very popular, and community members made many macros and icons and even posted potato recipes (playing on the "russet" of the title).
Apparently, Lady Sybilla was upset with Caito's first account,Caito. The Russet Doom Saga, Part II, posted to Fandom Wank, April 8, 2009. (Accessed 28 July 2010) sent her several vaguely threatening emails, and added revealing details about Caito into a Fanhistory page.whois info, according to the exchange at User_talk:Artistic_revolution on FanHistory. Caito's mailing address and contact info, according to Caito. The Russet Doom Saga, Part IV, posted to Fandom Wank, April 21, 2009. (Accessed 28 July 2010) Caito posted the series of email exchanges, which was a big enough hit to inspire someone else to record a dramatic reading of the first email and post it on YouTube.Ileanya, Russet Noon: A Dramatic Reading (without music), posted on YouTube, April 4, 2009. (Accessed 27 July 2010) The "dramatic reading" may be a parody of Lady Sybilla's own dramatic reading of a passage from her novel, also posted to YouTube.
===Cease & Desist Letter (August 2010)===
Hachette Book Group's Cease and Desist Letter to Lady Sybilla was sent August 9, 2010, on the grounds that the cover design of the book was too similar to the Twilight covers.
==External links==
* Official Russet Noon Website
* Official Russet Noon Teaser on YouTube
* Lady Sybilla's Official Twitter
* Lady Sybilla's Official Facebook
* Official Russet Noon Art Gallery on deviantArt
* Video of the first copy published by CreateSpace
* Twilight Lexicon's Lori Joffs Refers to Russet Noon as "The story that must not be named" on MTV
* The Russet Doom Saga @ Fandom Wank Wiki
* Press Release: The Twilight Saga Russet Noon: Volume 2 to be released Halloween 2011
==References==
Category:Fandom Occurrences
Category:Scandals
Category:2009 Fanfiction‎
Category:2010 Fanfiction‎