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.

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?