With thanks to Annathepiper.

A lot of people are dismayed by Harlequin’s decision to create a vanity press imprint to give authors “more publishing opportunities”.  Romance Writers of America, Mystery Writers of America and Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America are all either removing Harlequin and ALL their imprints from the approved authors lists.  You can read their statements here:  http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/011896.html

I think that they should, absolutely, remove Harlequin from their lists if they do that.  Yes, I feel badly for their authors…it’s hard to get into these guilds, and harder still to get published.  It must have felt like getting kicked in the stomach to realize the reputable nature of your publisher is being called into question…that your own work is being devalued. 

The fact is, you can’t belong unless you are published by publishers that follow certain rules.  And I think that for the very simple reason that there are many reputable publishers who belong on these lists, but because they use Print on Demand technology instead of the old fashioned print 5,000 copies and store them until they sell model, they never will be.  I belong to two such publishers.   Do I think it’s fair?  Not really.  But if these organizations don’t take action against Harlequin, then there will be a major backlash from publishers who don’t run vanity presses.

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