Publish America attorney Victor Cretella wrote a two page letter to J.K. Rowling‘s legal team, threatening to sue the author for circulating “a false and defamatory statement to the media.”

Earlier this week, Publish America offered to deliver customers’ books to Rowling’s home for $49. The offer has since been removed, but here’s a cached copy of the other from Google (via). The author’s spokesperson told the AP that Rowling would seek “appropriate action.” Cretella responded by attacking the statement, apparently attributing a passage from the AP article to Rowling’s camp.

Here’s an excerpt from the letter: “[Y]our client’s spokesperson, Mark Hutchinson, published a false and defamatory statement to the media, indicating that PA had been cited by industry watchdogs for ‘allegedly deceiving authors.’ Of course, there are no legitimate industry watchdogs who have ever said anything of the sort. The ones who have made such representations have been totally discredited … No reasonable person would ever rely upon anything they said. By doing so, your client and her representatives have subjected themselves to a defamation suit.”

What do you think? Here’s an excerpt from the original AP article: “Rowling spokesman Mark Hutchinson said Tuesday that the claim was “completely false” and promised “appropriate action.” PublishAmerica, based in Frederick, Md., has long been cited by industry watchdogs for allegedly deceiving authors.”

Writer Beware has a long article exploring the incident with more links to other sources. (Image via)