I say this with tongue planted firmly in cheek because I think RWA is wrong. To sum up - Harlequin has teamed up with Author Solutions [who now owns many self-publishing companies like iUniverse] and they are offering a self-publishing service to authors who do not meet the criteria to be published by Harlequin but still want that imprint. Yes, it might be a tad misleading but at least they are recognizing that there might be some merit out there to many more authors than those few they are willing to offer contracts to.
Well, RWA, who has long refused to acknowledge self-published authors at all, has now rescinded Harlequin's admission into their esteemed fold. MWA and SFWA have also joined in.
In response, Harlequin has decided to remove the name Harlequin from this new company. It is not apparent yet if this will appease RWA. So far, it seems not, from what I have read.
Yes, there is some junk out there in the self-pubbed world. But there is also a lot of good. I'm sure the general public is not aware but many now well-known authors started out as self-published. If these books had not started out that way, we would have been deprived of some wonderful reading.
I wish Harlequin had not caved in like that. RWA needs to get over itself.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
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2 comments:
It reminds me of the days in grade school when a few kids decided they were better than everyone else and bullied the rest of the class.
I don't think any author group has the right to dictate to a publisher how to run their business. If you remove the self-pub question and they were starting any other related company or imprint, it would be all the more clear that this is none of their business.
Too bad Harlequin supported their org all these years only to be treated in this fashion. Guess they know who their friends are.
I wonder if this is the last we will hear about it. If Harlequin is dropped from the "accepted publishers" list, that may put the status of some people's memberships/awards/etc in RWA in jeopardy. Wonder what the members will think of that.
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