During the process of completing the manuscript for St. Martins, Ms. Kraus and Ms. McLaughlin became dissatisfied with the way the book was being handled. One publishing-industry source said that the women heard negative things on the New York party circuit about St. Martins, a respectable pressand one often willing to take a chance on unconventional first books by unknown authorsbut a publisher that lacks the cachet of a Knopf or Penguin Putnam. Another source said that, anxious to meet their initial publication date, the authors became frustrated with Jennifer Weis slow editorial pace. Ms. McLaughlin, reached by phone, said that she couldnt comment on the situation, and Ms. Kraus could not be reached for this story.