Being relentless and harsh pays off for Deadline Hollywood Daily's Nikki Finke

Get ready to exhale, Hollywood.

Nikki Finke might be leaving the building, if only for a moment.

The controversial Internet journalist who, for better and worse, has changed the way the entertainment industry gets its news, claimed this week to be taking a five-day vacation. Finke, notoriously reclusive, informed readers she might even "frolic."

That could make this week the first time in more than three years -- other than a couple of illnesses and a death in the family -- that Finke has more than briefly capped the gusher of news, gossip and vitriol that often makes her Deadline Hollywood Daily the talk of The Industry.

It remains to be seen whether the 55-year-old former newspaper reporter can really drag herself away from her keyboard. (She told me she sometimes wished she didn't have to sleep, so she could work 24 hours a day.)

But regardless of her short-term plans, Finke reached a crossroads late last month with the sale of her one-woman operation to a digital media outfit, Mail.com Media Corp., an event that has reporters from Vanity Fair, the New York Times and the New Yorker pondering what it all means.

In immediate terms, Finke will continue in her role as editor in chief (and now general manager) of the website and plans to add a second editorial employee, an East Coast correspondent.

Although the sale shows there is some market for digital media sites, it's unlikely many others will duplicate Finke's relentless tactics, with the attendant low overhead and niche appeal.

One can only guess how many in Hollywood respect Finke versus how many fear and revile her. Those emotions sometimes commingle in the same individual.

"She wields a lot of clout and is feared. Facing off with her is fraught with danger," said one television executive who, like most people I spoke to, insisted they not be named, lest they incur Finke's wrath. "At the same time, it's amazing to see how far she has come and the entrepreneurial spirit that makes that thing work."

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Surprise, Hollywood remains enamored with the bottom line and was impressed that Finke got at least a seven-figure payday and a contract that keeps her in charge of the site she calls DHD. (Though a person familiar with the terms told my colleague Ben Fritz that it's likely to come out to be considerably less than the $14 million originally reported by Finke's frenemy and fellow online reporter Sharon Waxman.)