EREC: I am Cynic, hear me bitch.
I am with Emily on this one. Harlequin will distance themselves from Digital Only Publishing with Carina Press but slap their “good” name all over a Vanity Imprint. Sorry, this was a totally bad business move. Ripping off writers usually is and Harlequin sold their “good” name to Author House. Putting Harlequin corporate integrity up for sale for only $599.00! Good move to the Publish America basement guys I wonder how this will fly over at RWA or any other writers organization since Harlequin is publicly stating full involvement with this business and promising to review people who pay to do this and make them authors in their regular lines. So basically they feel their authors should be paying them these days.
“Partnering with Author Solutions, Inc., the recognized world leader in self-publishing, is an innovative and original approach to discovering new authors to add to our traditional publishing programs.”
I think statements like that mean a big question mark for anything Harlequin since you have to wonder what the “regular” author paid to become published by Harlequin in the first place. Pay to play means exactly that. You can’t write worth a damn but you can certainly hand them money for the bragging rights. You can’t buy respect or talent people! The fact that Harlequin wants to sell you their name means the rest of their authors get put in the same boat.
Yeah this is not “self publishing”, this is “vanity publishing”, this is not gonna fly. Looks like RWA’s last hope of “traditional publishing” just crashed and burned in one day. Ellora’s Cave has more credibility than Harlequin and that my friends is SAD.
UPDATE!
Dear Kevin A. Gray,
Let me be blunt here.
Your company is trying to buy it’s legitimacy. See, I buy self published books from authors I follow over on Lulu all the time. But you see the difference?
Lulu is not promoting itself as anything but what it is.
That’s just it Kevin.
In my opinion Lulu is not wallowing in your muck or buying any type of legitimacy or reputation it did not earn from any traditional press. They do not promote themselves as anything but a service provider for self publishing. They are not hinting at bestseller success or “a chance” at becoming a “real” author for Harlequin just by using them. Maybe that seems to be not a big difference to you or your company, but it’s the small things like Lulu’s attitude about “self publishing” being a different model that has it’s good parts and bad parts which matters to me and makes apparent the type of companies I think should be considered by the public as just another “sleazy come on”.
Tags: Harlequin, Reader Beware
katiebabs wrote,
I wonder what will happen to Harlequin’s standing at RWA?
Link | November 17th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Kevin A. Gray wrote,
Good afternoon,
I disagree with your comments and would like to clear up some factualy ambiguities.
1: Harlequin didn’t sell their name to AuthorHouse or anoyone for that matter. The two are partnering in self-publishing to help more authors get published. Lisa Genova who wrote the best-seller “Still Alice” and Brunonia Barry’s “The Lace Reader” are just two recent self-publishing successes.
2: Actually, AuthorHouse is a brand of Author Solutions and has nothing to do with this partnership. I take exception to the statement AuthorHouse rips of authors. I can provide you with countless authors that are quite happy with their self publishing experience. In fact, some choose to do so, rather than go the traditional route.
3: Saying Harlequin believes their authors should pay them is innaccurate. Harlequin’s industry-leading traditional imprints will be merely complimented by a farm team arrangement that this partnership provides.
4. Should you have any questions or concerns about self publishing or Author Solutions, please feel free to contact me directly at kgray at authorsolutions dot com. I’ll be glad to answer your questions.
Best,
Kevin A. Gray
Author Solutions, Inc.
Link | November 17th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
TeddyPig wrote,
Kevin,
In my opinion I don’t think you could have a lower job. Go sell your snake oil to someone else. Also fact check your own Press Release (Which I linked to) and it says Author Solutions the parent company of industry-leading self-publishing imprints AuthorHouse, iUniverse, Trafford Publishing, and Xlibris.
I can’t help the fact that Author House has such a infamous reputation and a history of dubious moves maybe you should consider re-branding.
Link | November 17th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
TeddyPig wrote,
For a full review of AuthorHouse and their cheap nasty ass quality control which Kevin seems so proud of go here…
http://misssnark.blogspot.com/2006/08/department-of-good-news.html
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=694
Link | November 17th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Chrissy wrote,
It’s a vanity press, but it’s more insidious and harmful in a way, Teddy. The name HARLEQUIN is a shiny, sparkly lure for a lot of people. And the amounts they are charging to edit are disgusting.
I never liked them… but I ache to think of how many pipe dreams are going to cost the small savings accounts of dreamers to vanish.
It’s cruel.
Link | November 17th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Selah March » Blog Archive » The Ballad of Pay-to-Play wrote,
[...] TeddyPig, EREC, SmartBitches (scroll thru comments for the good stuff) This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 at 8:52 pm and is filed under Industry, RWA, Romancelandia, blah blah blah. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. [...]
Link | November 17th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Diane M. Thompson, sister of author Dawn Thompson wrote,
The late Dawn Thompson, my sister, did two books through AH – Odin’s Daughter (2001) and Children of the Wind (2002). After she signed a contract with Dorchester in 2004 publishing she got the rights back for these books. In the fall of 2007 she gave them rights to me, her sister, Diane M. Thompson, along with several other books, six months before her death. I am on disability, barely able to walk, and Dawn wanted these books to help me.
Well, imagine our shock when AH suddenly is putting out Odin’s Daughter again (we have purchased copies that prove this). They have not contacted me about the rights. They are NOT paying anyone royalties. We have contacted them trying to get a cease and desist, but they are turning a deaf ear. I live in limited means, on government disability. To complicate matters I have already signed a contract in 2007 to have several of Dawn’s published through Highland Press―Odin’s Daughter being one. We already have the covers done and the book is being edited by me (Since AH did NO editing before).
We need answers and action and we are getting neither from AH.
So this is very troubling that Harlequin would partner with AH.
Link | November 17th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
vein wrote,
re: “Saying Harlequin believes their authors should pay them is innaccurate.”
Then why is Harlequin asking authors to pay them? Or are Horzon authors not “their” authors because they sold them to AuthorSolutions with a switch and bait tactic?
Link | November 17th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
Dave Kuzminski wrote,
You’re very much on target. This was a bad move on Harlequin’s part.
Link | November 17th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
Kathryn Edgar wrote,
This whole shebang makes Publish America look like cream of the crop. If PA is what it is -what can this possibly become in a few months time? Only this has the nasty stink of being affiliated with a big publishing player who will send nice “opt in” rejections sending folks the route of a PA that CHARGES them!
Link | November 18th, 2009 at 9:23 am
What’s HER Problem??! « Polish Athena wrote,
[...] of her entry – it suggests SELF PUBLISHING is on par with VANITY. } [Writer Beware Blog] {A More Apt Blog Title} The Naughty [...]
Link | November 19th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
The man behind the curtain is Harlequin | Debora Dennis wrote,
[...] http://www.teddypig.com/2009/11/reader-beware-harlequin-becomes-a-vanity-press/ [...]
Link | November 20th, 2009 at 6:44 am
The Harlequin Fiasco « Embrace the Shadows wrote,
[...] of the debacle on her blog. If you haven’t read it, you should). Outspoken readers blogs like Teddypig and industry blogs like Galleycat blogged about the deal. Agents like Janet Reid, Ashley [...]
Link | November 24th, 2009 at 3:11 am