Update to Harlequin blog last week...

Harlequin has gone along and entered the self publishing world. They did do what they said and changed the name. They are now Dell Arte Press.

I did chat with a friend of mine who knows several H authors. Apparently not all are happy with the self publishing route H has taken.

Not being an H author, I guess I can view the issue from both sides of the road.

1. H wants to expand their business, that's what it is, A Business Decision. I mean come on, the economy isn't the greatest, everyone out there is looking for a way to keep bringing the bucks in.

2. Published authors with them can feel a bit put off. It takes a lot of hard work getting picked up by H and now you can - self publish...Hmmmm.

Here's the article for you all to read.

Harlequin responds to criticism of its self-publishing arm with a new name

By Lynn Andriani -- Publishers Weekly, 11/25/2009 8:09:00 AM

In the wake of widespread criticism over its self-publishing imprint, Harlequin has changed the imprint’s name from Harlequin Horizons to DellArte Press. As Harlequin publisher and CEO Donna Hayes said it would, the company renamed the imprint to a designation “that [does] not refer to Harlequin in any way.” There is no mention of Harlequin on DellArte’s Web site.

Late last week, Romance Writers of America and other writers' associations spoke out against the November 17 announcement that Author Solutions had teamed with Harlequin to form Harlequin Horizons, an imprint for self-published romance authors. RWA deemed Harlequin no longer eligible for RWA-provided conference resources—meaning the publisher would not be entitled to enter any award competitions. Harlequin publisher and CEO Donna Hayes said the company was “surprised and dismayed” at RWA’s actions and said it would change the imprint’s name.

Harlequin did not respond to a request for comment this morning on the name change or if it was back in the good graces of the RWA. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers have called for Harlequin to completely cut ties to the self-pub program.

So tell me, what are you thinking? Several major writing organizations are now blackballing H for this decision.

Personally, I don't think it's fair at all to the wonderful authors published with H.

BUT, if it's listed in the organizations guidelines, then maybe H should have thought about that while making their decisions. And if they are in the guidelines out there for all to read, then can H really be OMG, I'm soooo surprised to hear this....Ah, that would be a big resounding, NO.

And now, will this decision keep authors from submitting to H??? Only time will tell.

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing all a great Thanksgiving!

C~

Harlequin has some in industry upset...

I’m wondering if anyone’s heard of what’s happening with Harlequin wanting to create a “self-publish” entity of itself?

Yesterday on Publisher’s Weekly I came across an article where RWA, MWA and SFWA are up in arms about Harlequin wanting to call their new ‘self-publishing’ entity, Harlequin Horizons. Harlequin responded with, “We’ll change the name.”

Here’s the article…

Industry associations speak out against publisher's imprint; Harlequin says it will change imprint's name

By Lynn Andriani -- Publishers Weekly, 11/20/2009 8:06:00 AM

Romance Writers of America and other writer associations yesterday spoke out against the announcement earlier this week that Author Solutions had teamed up with Harlequin to form Harlequin Horizons, a new imprint for self-published romance authors. RWA has deemed Harlequin no longer eligible for RWA-provided conference resources—meaning the publisher is not entitled to enter any award competitions. Late yesterday, Harlequin publisher and CEO Donna Hayes responded, saying the company was “surprised and dismayed” at RWA’s actions, and that it would change the name of the self-publishing company from Harlequin Horizons to a designation “that will not refer to Harlequin in any way.”

As PW reported Tuesday, Harlequin Horizons was set to recruit writers in two ways: authors whose manuscripts had been rejected by Harlequin would be made aware of the Harlequin Horizons option, and authors who signed with Author Solutions would be given the opportunity to be published under the Harlequin Horizons imprint. All services are on a pay-for-service basis.

An e-bulletin prepared by Margery Flax on behalf of Mystery Writers of America’s National Board of Directors said MWA was “deeply concerned about the troubling conflict-of-interest issues created by these ventures, particularly the potentially misleading way they are marketed to aspiring writers.” The MWA was refering to both Harlequin Horizons and the eHarlequin Manuscript Critique service, also aimed at aspiring writers. MWA said it would consider removing Harlequin from its list of approved publishers, declining membership applications from Harlequin authors, and barring Harlequin books from entering the Edgar Awards unless Harlequin agreed to discuss changing these ventures by December 15.

Russell Davis, president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. is also firmly against the self-publishing program and is asking Harlequin to "openly acknowledge" to would-be authors that books in the program will not be distributed into brick-and-mortar bookstores ensuring “that the titles will not be breaking into the real fiction market.” The organization also wants Harlequin to acknowledge “that the imprint does not represent a genuine opportunity for aspiring authors to hone their skills, as no editor will be vetting or working on the manuscripts.” SFWA is calling for Harlequin not to simply change the name of the imprint, but to "discontinue this imprint and return to doing business as an advance and royalty paying publisher." Until they do, no Harlequin titles will qualify for membership in SFWA.

Hayes’s note reiterated ways Harlequin has supported RWA over the years and said she and her colleagues were “surprised to discover that the RWA sent a notice to its membership announcing this decision, before allowing Harlequin to respond or engage in a discussion about it with the RWA board.”

…What do you guys think? I’ve never dealt with self-publishers before, because frankly their ‘packages’ didn’t appeal to me. I’ve heard some bad and some good about the self-publishing route.

Any Comments?

I've Finally done it :-)

So, I've finally bought a netbook. Yep, I did it. I went to bestbuy yesterday and played with all the netbooks they had in the store, plus a few other things. Come on admit it, you can't just walk into a best buy and not play with the stuff, it's like a toy store for adults!! LOL.Anyways, after I found the one I wanted I came home and with the help of my honey (Mr. Technology) I compared what I wanted to others I'd seen to make sure I was getting the best price.
So with that said...I've gone with the Dell mini 10V. Yep, I like the keyboard a whole lot better than the others out there, although the HP mini was a close comparable with the way the keys were, but I haven't read to many good reviews on the HP and I have two Dell's now.
Here's a picture of what my netbook looks like...

It was all about the way my fingers felt on the keys to me, that was the major deciding factor in the choosing. Then the other smaller stuff.

I also have some great news on my finished sequel to A Slave's Way Out...

I have signed a contract for A Lady's Challenge with WCPT!!!! I'm stoked!!!! I can't wait to start the edits and then I can start on one more story line for this adventure out in space. :-)

Tell me, what did you do this weekend? Anything interesting, fun, shopping, or did you have a quiet one at home just lounging?

SIGNED!!

YAY, I signed the contract for A Lady's Challenge (sequel to Slave's) last night with WCPT!!!! I'm ECSTATIC!!!!

Veterans Day

Thank you to all our veterans and everyone serving in our armed forces, you're greatly appreciated!!!!

Sequel Finished!!

Finally!!!! The sequel to A Slave's Way Out is Finished!!
It's been what 2 years...finally, finally, done, done, done!! *See me doing the happy dance.*

I fiqured out why it took me so long. I actually had started the manuscript before Slave's was published and had it finished about six months after. But I didn't like it, so the self editing started and it came up short on word count and then life's little adventures kicked in and writer's block occured and well two years later, LOL.

This past week as I finished with over the word count, liked what I had written and hit that send button, it came to me...

1. That while there's still stress with the day job, in a way it's lessened.

2. If the men in the house don't like that I hit the keys hard (My computer's in the living room) and they have to listen to clack, click, clack...to bad, they can go into the other two rooms that have TV's until I get my netbook *Grins*

3. The stories are coming to me again!! YAY!!

So not only have I finished the Sequel to Slave's, I've started on another and last of that line, I've started plotting two sequel's to Destined to Mate.

Okay, so here's an inside scoop on the sequel which can stand as a story alone from Slave's and you won't miss nay of the action...

Daniel Hedden, First Commander of the War Ship Catalyst and Trea Padame, Second Security Officer to the War Ship Catalyst. This is their story.

Oh Ya and I've finally joined Twitter, LOL. http://twitter.com/AuthorCASalo

Submitted

The sequel to A Slave's Way Out has been submitted to Whiskey Creek Press Torrid!!
YAY!!!! It's been so long in coming, I'm psyched!!!!

I'm now on Twitter

Okay, I've finally broken down and have joined the Twitter Movement, LOL

You can find me here: http://twitter.com/AuthorCASalo

Hope to tweet with you :-)

A Little bit of Everything

Wildflowerafternoons

Okay, so it's the day after Halloween. For the first time in thirteen years, I had a quiet, I don't have to go out, fight traffic, crowds and the fright of a little kid running out infront of my car night. Yes, the teenager went off to do his own thing, not trick or treating, all he wanted was the candy, admitted he's really not into it anymore, so I told him I'd buy a couple bags today to satisfy the candy hunger and he was happy with that, LOL. So now it's time to start having Halloween Parties. *YAY*
So not sure about the rest of you, but my butt was up at 7:23 AM (Damn turning back the clocks) :-) What did I do, well, I jumped right back into bed until 8AM, LOL.I do feel fully refreshed and rested though.
Florida's starting to cool down a bit, *YAY* it's to be in the low 80's today with less humidity and in the upper 50's tonight!! I've waited so long!! (Hand brushing across forehead)

jorge1782

I'm also in the market for a mini netbook. I've played with a few here and there, messed around with a Acer and A dell mini inspiration last night at Wal-Mart and went to read several reviews. I really like the key board on the dell. The buttons are just a bit larger, and felt more comfortable.

It seems the Toshiba mini has had a lot of negative feed back about the keypad being really sensitive and the mouse jumping around. That is one thing I want to avoid big time. I can't stand that.Anyone out there have a netbook they want to share the scoop on? I'll take the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
I need more coffee so I'm going to end here and say, Good Morning to Happy the Clock has been turned back day! You all got to sleep an extra hour and wake up earlier, LOL. :-)