Harlequin has joined up with Author Solutions (owner of Author House and several other pay-to-publish services) to create a new "self publishing" imprint, Harlequin Horizons. The blog How Publishing Really Works has a summary of the partnership, as well as links to the outrage it's already spawning among literary circles.
Not mentioned there is the fact that just yesterday, it was announced that the Romance Writers of America (RWA) organization is revoking Harlequin’s recognized publisher status, which means no Harlequin author can enter the RITA awards. The Mystery Writers of America sent out a notice to members today, to wit:
Mystery
Writers of America (MWA) is deeply concerned about the troubling
conflict-of-interest issues created by these ventures, particularly the
potentially misleading way they are marketed to aspiring writers on the
Harlequin website.
It is common for disreputable publishers to
try to profit from aspiring writers by steering them to their own
for-pay editorial, marketing, and publishing services. The implication
is that by paying for those services, the writer is more likely to sell
his manuscript to the publisher. Harlequin recommends the "eHarlequin
Manuscript Critique Service" in the text of its manuscript submission
guidelines for all of its imprints and include a link to "Harlequin
Horizons," its new self-publishing arm, without any indication that
these are advertisements.
That, coupled with the fact that these
businesses share the Harlequin name, may mislead writers into believing
they can enhance their chances of being published by Harlequin by
paying for these services. Offering these services violates
long-standing MWA rules for inclusion on our Approved Publishers List.
On
November 9, Mystery Writers of America sent a letter to Harlequin about
the "eHarlequin Manuscript Critique Service," notifying Harlequin that
it is in violation of our rules and suggesting steps that Harlequin
could take to remain on our Approved Publishers list. The steps
outlined at that time included removing mention of this for-pay service
entirely from its manuscript submission guidelines, clearly identifying
any mention of this program as paid advertisement, and, adding
prominent disclaimers that this venture was totally unaffiliated with
the editorial side of Harlequin, and that paying for this service is
not a factor in the consideration of manuscripts. Since that letter
went out, Harlequin has launched "Harlequin Horizons," a
self-publishing program.
MWA's November 9 letter asks that
Harlequin respond to our concerns and recommendations by December 15.
We look forward to receiving their response and working with them to
protect the interests of aspiring writers. If MWA and Harlequin are
unable to reach an agreement, MWA will take appropriate action which
may include removing Harlequin from the list of MWA approved
publishers, declining future membership applications from authors
published by Harlequin and declaring that books published by Harlequin
will not be eligible for the Edgar Awards.
We are taking this
action because we believe it is vitally important to alert our members
of unethical and predatory publishing practices that take advantage of
their desire to be published. We respect Harlequin and its authors and
hope the company will take the appropriate corrective measures.
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out, especially in the brave new world of publishing where more deals like Harlequin's may become commonplace.
Comments