After 17 years of partnership, prolific crime author, Steve Hamilton, and publisher, St. Martin's Press, went their separate ways. This is mere two months before Hamilton's novel, "The Second Life of Nick Mason," was scheduled to come out. According to Crime Spree Mag, it was the writer who cut off their ties for the publishers' "lack of support."

As per Entertainment Weekly, Hamilton and his agent, Shane Salerno, learned that St. Martin's Press did not prepare a promotional plan for the book even though the publisher constantly guaranteed it to them. "There had been a lot of promises made, but when Shane and I finally saw their real plans, we were honestly just shocked," Hamilton told EW.

"Two months before the release date, and there was no national marketing plan, no coordinated media, no interviews set up. Nothing at all — and it became clear to us that we were heading toward a catastrophe," the writer went on to say.

He also revealed that this isn't the first time this happened although he admitted he had hope that it will improve dismayed him. "I did 12 books for St. Martin's Press, and it was always up to me to get out there and do almost everything myself," Hamilton shared.

"A number of authors had been urging me to leave for years, and after almost two decades, I was hoping things would be different this time around. Ultimately, they weren't, and I simply had to leave," he continued. It wasn't very difficult for Hamilton to find a publisher for "The Second Life of Nick Mason" though.

On the other hand, a spokesperson from St. Martin's Press confirmed the separation to Entertainment Weekly and simply stated, "We wish Steve all the best with his new series and his future endeavors."

Hamilton and Salerno did not expect various publishers taking the initiative to be in charge of the publishing of his new novel and that's just within a day after the announcement. Ultimately, Salerno, who made the negotiation in place of Hamilton, was won over by Putnam with a four-book deal agreed upon, according to Associated Press via U.S. News.

Galley Cat says that "The Second Life of Nick Mason" will now be released next year instead of October this year. Hamilton also has plans to release new entries from the Alex McKnight series in addition to the Nick Mason series he is starting out with Putnam.