Harlequin Horizons: Want to Self Publish? How about Harlequin?

Thinking about self-publishing a book? Wondering what a publishing house really has to offer you, if you’re digitally savvy and know your XML from your epub, and already know marketing and promotion are on your shoulders?

To hell with apps: say it with me now. There’s a Harlequin for that.

Harlequin announced today that they’re launching Harlequin Horizons, a self-publishing enterprise in partnership with Author Solutions, Inc.. From the press release:

Harlequin, Book Business Magazine’s 2009 Publishing Innovator of the Year, regards the self-publishing venture as an accessible opportunity for emerging authors to bring themselves to the attention of the reading public….

Through this strategic alliance; all sales, marketing, publishing, distribution, and book-selling services will be fulfilled by ASI; but Harlequin Horizons will exist as a division of Harlequin Enterprises Limited. Harlequin will monitor sales of books published through the self-publisher for possible pickup by its traditional imprints….

Harlequin Horizons is the second such partnership ASI has launched with a leading trade publisher in the last two months. The parent company of industry-leading self-publishing imprints AuthorHouse, iUniverse, Trafford Publishing, and Xlibris, ASI brought to market more than 21,000 new titles in 2008.

The packages offered online range from $599.00 to $1599.00, and can include various services from editorial to copyright registration. The basics includes an ISBN number, softcover, and several other services, but every package includes softcover and ebook formatting for Kindle and Sony Reader.

I’m going to order some custom socks from Etsy with the Harlequin logo on them, because they keep knocking my current socks off. It is November, people, chill already. Seriously, this is some ground-breaking news that makes me think and rethink and rethink again about the viability of self publishing, print on demand services, and the opportunities that exist at present for authors looking to market their work. 

Now that Harlequin has entered the self-publishing market, after having gone DRM-free with Carina, what’s next? And does this make you interested in or curious about self publishing?

 

Categorized:

General Bitching...

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  1. Paula Graves says:

    What if Coca-Cola started let people bottle their own soda and label it Coke Horizons?  What if 90% of those colas were horrible, as they inevitably would be?  What would it do to the Coke brand?

    That’s the source of my dismay.

  2. Tabetha says:

    I can’t help but laugh that it’s Stacia K the “phone psychic” who is all up in arms about “aspiring authors, many of whom did not see the warnings until it was too late and ended up hurt and broke, with their dreams destroyed” because an adult spent money to get their book published. 

    All this talk about an “empty bank account and a broken heart” just because HQ is offering a service for a fee seems pretty far fetched. I get that the authors who’ve posted here don’t like the direction HQ is taking the publishing world with this new venture but spare me the poor-stupid-author-scammed-by-harlequin outrage—I’m not buying it.     

    “Stacia Kane has been a phone psychic, a customer service representative, a bartender, and a movie theatre usher.”

  3. Stacia K says:

    *Falls over laughing*

  4. Ann Aguirre says:

    Tabetha, if you don’t believe authors will spend their last pennies, trying to make their dreams come true, you’re dead wrong.

    I once read a very moving account from Sherrilyn Kenyon. They were literally down to their last few dollars, and she used it to post a manuscript. Her story had a happy ending. She’s enjoyed phenomenal success and deserves every bit of it. But what about all the people who spent their money and have nothing to show for it? It’s fine for you not to care, but don’t say it never happens.

  5. synde says:

    Tabetha since when are authors or artists not allowed to take other jobs to make ends meet. Seriously if you think publishing pays enough for authors not to take other jobs to make ends meet you are sorely uninformed..What difference does it make if someone is a phone psychic an astrologer or a waiter? We all want our dreams to come true and will do what is necessary to make them happen..

  6. StefK says:

    The biggest issue with self-publishing is it kills a book for submitting. Most epress won’t even accept a book after it’s been self-published because once it’s out there, it’s tough to market.

    Another issue is that everyone needs an editor. If you can’t afford an editor, they will not supply one…your book goes out as is. For an aspiring writer, having inferior product out there doesn’t help get contracts.

    I don’t think Harlequin is trying to hurt or take advantage of authors, I think they just want to make a buck. It’s the author’s responsibility to research their options and make a learned decision. For some people, self-pubbing works.

  7. caligi says:

    In my experience, “customer service representative” and “phone psychic” were the same thing, if customer expectations were to be believed.

  8. Theresa Meyers says:

    You want to know why people are truly upset by this?



    It’s the same thing. Those who strive to make a profession living as a writer, not a hobby, not a seond job, but a living at it, are worried this will undercut the market and that publishers (not just Harlequin) will get so use to getting paid to produce books by authors willing to do anything to get their book out there that they’ll question why they have to pay their professional writers at all.

  9. Tabetha says:

    Of course I believe people will spend their last pennies on all sorts of things trying to make their dreams come true but what does that have to do with Harlequin offering a service?  FFS, these people are adults—they don’t need protection from themselves or Harlequin.  It’s ridiculous.

  10. veinglory says:

    I spend as lot of time writing book reviews for self-published authors—but I still have to say this: most self-published books go unread.  They never find their readership. 

    Harlequin-branded vanity publishing is like Coca-cola-branded antifreeze.  It may be lovely anti-freeze, but people are gunna get the wrong idea.

    This is no huge loss to readers who will find other books by other authors.  But the author response is predictable and, I think, reasonable.

  11. JenB says:

    What if Coca-Cola started let people bottle their own soda and label it Coke Horizons?  What if 90% of those colas were horrible, as they inevitably would be?  What would it do to the Coke brand?

    LOL Yes, THIS! Exactly!

    And I’m still giggling. 🙂

    I think self-pub serves a purpose. It’s great for cookbooks, craft books, and other non-fiction. It’s also a nice way for e-pubbed authors to offer bound collections of previously digital-only releases.

    But for most self-published fiction (with a few wonderful exceptions), I tend to think “vanity” is the key word.

    To the informed, discerning writer, I say go for it. If you know what you’re getting into, and you have the cash to back it up, jump on in.

    But for those writers who *are* disillusioned and desperate to get their work out there, I think dangling the “maybe we’ll scout you” carrot and slapping a big name brand on it is kind of…well…cruel. Sure, it’ll get you published. But it still probably won’t get your books into the hands of the target audience you really wanted to reach in the first place. And it’ll come at a pretty significant price.

  12. At Absolute Write, in a discussion about this issue, they’re pointing out that this isn’t self-publishing but actually vanity publishing.

    http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=162391

    Just an FYI. Now I’m going to scroll back up to read all the comments.

  13. Jess Granger says:

    This looks like a very slippery slope to me.

    Self publishing is perfectly fine for people with certain types of books.  Grandma’s handwritten poems and recipes come to mind.  Or perhaps I’d like to format and publish a children’s book on butterfly gardening for my Mom’s classroom.  Maybe this is just a hobby, and I’d like to have a book I can hold and I know that going in…

    That can be fine.

    I’m concerned because the marketing for this certainly doesn’t seem to be geared toward people with those books.

    The hook of the language on the site seems to be targeting “dreams.”

    Dreams can be both powerful and dangerous.  That’s all I’m saying.

  14. Kassa says:

    There is a HUGE difference between vanity press and self publishing and the two are not interchangeable. This is a vanity press, not self publishing. Here you have a system designed to prey – yes PREY – upon authors who do not know the system or have been rejected. The wording is designed to give false hope and the belief that for $$ you can bypass the conventional system.

    Not to mention some of their costs are clearly meant to cheat an unsuspecting author. $200 to copyright your book? Someone can do that online for less than $40 and it takes no real technical savvy. This entire set up is meant to bring in cold hard money to Harlequin while allowing the authors some false sense of hope and accomplishment.

    I find the set up horribly misleading and cruel.
    Will Harlequin next pay for spots on the New York Times Bestseller list so their authors can say that too?

  15. Chrissy says:

    Um, Tabetha, I don’t see what “phone psychic” has to do with anything.  Believe me, loops all over the place are saying what Stacia has said.

    Plus, she knew you were going to say that.

    So did I.

  16. Quick, before anyone hears – what’s the Powerball numbers going to be for tomorrow’s drawing!

    😀

    on topic – I do not see this going anywhere but into a bad, bad, place. I don’t know if HQN is desperate for money or what, but this can’t end well.

  17. rachel says:

    HQN isn’t desperate for money but their parent company Torstar probably is:
    http://www.quillandquire.com/blog/index.php/2009/02/26/harlequin-rakes-in-cash-for-ailing-torstar/

  18. Chrissy says:

    You don’t have to be hard up for cash to be stupid or greedy, though.

    Now… does anyone else find it hysterical that the top of this blog features a massive Harlequin banner?  LOL Cus I do.

    I’m sure it was unplanned, but it’s still funny.

  19. SB Sarah says:

    The ad features art from the vintage collection, but is for FlowerPot Press, who manufacture the Harlequin Notables line of paper goods. They provided the massive prize package for this week’s contest.

  20. JenTurner says:

    Being a self-published author myself, I’d like to point out a basic fact about self-publishing vs. vanity publishing. And please understand that by no means does what I’m about to say apply to traditional or digital publishers in any way.

    If the ISBN connected to your work is furnished by or registered to a company that you do not own, you are vanity published. Even if you personally did all the editing, cover design, formatting, marketing, promotion, or all the countless other tasks involved, and even if you retained all rights to said work, if your ISBN can’t be traced directly back to you or your own publishing company, you are not the publisher of your work.

    As for the current issue with Harlequin, I’m torn. On one hand, I think it’s great that romance authors whose stories haven’t found a home could be connected in some form to such a publishing powerhouse. But on the other hand, I worry a connection as such might breed into those authors a somewhat skewed sense of entitlement, where they feel as though they should just automatically be treated like any other HQ author who followed the traditional road to publishing, be it print or digital.

    Honestly, the announcement today plus all the opinions I’ve read regarding it, forces me to straddle a fairly uncomfortable line. My first novel has sold over 1,500 copies and is still selling well. I’ve been reviewed by some of the same places traditionally published authors are and received great ratings, Coffee Time Romance (5), Romance Junkies (4.5), Bitten by Books (5), Mrs. Giggles (77). So, of course, there’s a part of me that feels like I deserve at least a little of the same “legitimate” recognition a traditionally published paranormal romance author gets. After all, I’m being judged by the same standards they are.

    But, in the same breath, today…I can also understand why some of Harlequin’s authors might be a little pissed. Harlequin’s reputation has always been solid, and I’m sure most of their authors chose to build their careers with HQ because of that solid reputation. But now that HQ has essentially branched out into a “pay to play” venue, what does that mean for the authors who’ve been with HQ for years? How does that decision impact those author’s reputations, or because of HQ’s irrefutable place as the top publisher of romance, the entire romance genre as a whole?

    We all know that in this business reputation means everything. From the quality of your work as the author, to the finesse of your agent then hopefully editor, even down to the publisher’s name stamped on the spine of your book…reputation says it all. And while not every reader knows what company published a book they loved, many know exactly who published one they didn’t. And I think that’s the real issue here. If Harlequin starts stamping their name on books they haven’t put through the same high quality vetting process as all the other books they publish, how will their readers respond when they pick up a book that isn’t what they’ve come to expect from Harlequin? Will they do any research to find out that the Horizon imprint is just a self-publishing branch of HQ, not to be confused with any of HQ’s other imprints, or will they just assume that HQ isn’t what it used to be?

    Like I said, I’m torn. As one of those authors who couldn’t find my way to NY because my characters didn’t quite fit, and in turn worked hard to make my own place in the publishing world, I’m excited that this option has opened up. But as a romance author who understands what Harlequin’s reputation means to the romance industry as a whole…I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous.

  21. Wow!  This is big news.  I mean with the proliferation of self-publishing and in some cases, leading to a regular publishing contract, Harlequin is making a bold and probably savvy step. 
    A friend of mine self-published a series of books that were very successful.  That success brought her to the attention of Sourcebooks who is now her publisher.  It seems that Harlequin means to jump on the bandwagon early on or at least engage in a low risk/high reward business model.  If the self-published authors already have a platform (my friend did) and write well (my friend really writes beautifully) but perhaps might get lost in the traditional publishing channels, then Harlequin skips the part where they come in late after the author/book has proven that they can drive sales and build an audience.
    I think it’s genius. 
    Would I want to do it myself?  No, not yet, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think it’s a brilliant idea and an equally bold and strategic move.

    I totally agree.  I think its a bold brilliant move that will pay off for them AND for new authors.  A win win situation in my opinion.

  22. Veronica Sand says:

    Interesting… I noticed Harlequin is discontinuing their manuscript critique service for “business reasons.”  Guess we know what those business reasons are now… they will charge more for it as part of this publishing package.

  23. I said this at Dear Authors post but it’s still just some random food for thought with this discussion (Yes some of it has been pointed out here so ignore that it was not pointed out – just some two cents to add to the food for the thought) :

    Another reason for the outrage that was not mentioned in the post is the fear of what this will turn the publishing world into in a broader horizon. Much like the popularity of Ebooks scared a lot of readers into thinking the local library would turn into stacks of computers rather than bookshelves, does this turn mean that publishing as an unknown or first time author will become a thing of the past unless you can afford to do so?

    Another concern no one has hit yet is does this mean more rejections of even viable published works because they now stand to make more on rejecting you than publishing you? Does this mean you can write the next “better than” Meyers or Rowling only to find yourself in every slush and rejected pile out there because they want you to PAY for your chance? While at the same time your paying for your chance at fame and fortune, Barnes and Noble and bookstores across the country are LAUGHING over the phone when you ask them to stock your “chance”, readers are seeing your promotions and rolling eyes at yet, another, “self published” promotion – and you have sold 25 copies to your friends and family. It doesn’t matter what your potential once was now.

  24. Likari says:

    Stacia, you were a phone psychic!  That’s so cool.  Another aspect to your multi-talented specialness.

    I just bought Personal Demons from the Sony store and can’t wait to read it.

  25. (I’m not really here. Just want this conversation to come to my inbox to minimize refreshing and scrolling.)

  26. Anonymous says:

    FFS, these people are adults—they don’t need protection from themselves or Harlequin.  It’s ridiculous.

    I agree that nobody needs “protection.” But nobody here has advocated for “protection.” Nobody here has said this venture should be illegal.

    I think it should be legal to issue short-term loans at 300% interest rates. I think people should have the option, when desperate, to use those check-cashing quick-title-loan places. I also think that those check-cashing quick-title-loan places are scum, and I would advise everyone to stay far, far away from them unless there is literally no other way to get the money, and they absolutely have no other choice, and I support legislation that requires these people to state upfront the interest rate charged, and the charges that will be accrued over the life of the loan. That’s because information isn’t “protection” in the paternalistic sense of the word—it frees people to make valuable decisions.

    Likewise, providing information—for instance, that most people who publish with vanity presses sell fewer than 100 copies of their work, notwithstanding major investments of time and money—is not “protecting” anyone. It’s stating facts so that people can walk into the relationship with their eyes open—or decide to walk away from it, if it doesn’t advance their dreams sufficiently.

    Vanity publishing is legal and allowable, and nobody needs to be “protected” from it. For some tiny percentage of the population, even valuable. But like those check-cashing-title-loan places, it is for most people both predatory and scummy—and insisting that they should provide more information, rather than engaging in puffery, is not about “protecting” people from vanity publishing but allowing them to make rational decisions.

    There is nothing paternalistic about the truth.

  27. I belong to a couple of big writing lists which have everything from multi published, big name authors to beginners. You learn a lot on those lists.
    On both the lists publishers and providers of services are either banned or asked to join as writers, if that’s what they do.
    Often, we get brand new writers, excited at having finished their first manuscripts who ask “so how much does it cost to get published?” as if that’s the norm. So someone explains to them the differences between self published, vanity published and traditionally published.
    How many other writers aren’t savvy enough to join writers’ lists or boards? How many will assume that you have to pay to be published, that a company like Harlequin wouldn’t be doing it if it wasn’t a road to success?
    I’m most definitely with Stacia on this one.
    “You too can be a Harlequin author. For a price.” That’ll make their authors happy. But hey, it’s all about the bottom line, isn’t it?

  28. I don’t know a thing about corporate law, but as far Harlequin’s RWA publisher certification goes, this Horizons venture must be a separate entity from regular Harlequin. right? It must be its own thing… I’ll be curious to see how they make the books available, but I highly doubt they’d “market” them through the eHarlequin website. They’re smart bitches on a corporate level, and I have to imagine they’ve got their asses covered.

    I don’t think the idea’s genius, but neither do I think it’ll be a total shit-storm. I think this will do for self-publishing what Cafe Press did for folks who want their design on a tee-shirt. Yeah, it looks streamlined, with lots of the complicated stuff taken care of on the other end, and good production value. That said, how many world-famous tee-shirt designers can you think of who were discovered through Cafe Press?

    Then again, Cafe Press is a lot cheaper. Maybe I’ll publish my next book as a series of novelty coffee mugs…

  29. veinglory says:

    Oh please, broader horizon?  Straw man alert.  I have read thousands of self-published books and support the model with my hard-earned cash by buying self-published books and ebooks.  But Authorhouse is the *last* place I would recommend for any author.  That would be more like throwing them off a cliff.  Createspace or Lulu, even Aventine or Booklocker, but not anything in the so-called Author Solutions stable.  Harlequin chose the option that makes them money and requires no input—not the best option for authors..

  30. caligi says:

    Doesn’t saying “Partnering with Author Solutions… is an innovative and original approach to discovering new authors to add to our traditional publishing programs.” equate to saying “You can buy a chance at a Harlequin contract through this venture.”?

    No it’s not illegal, and yes authors should be smarter, but it doesn’t make me think nice things about Harlequin. It makes me think they’re being shady by feeding off authors’ hopes and dreams.

    Now if they offered this service without the Harlequin name? I’d be fine with that.

  31. Maybe I’ll publish my next book as a series of novelty coffee mugs…

    Bwhahaha. 

    The next-generation business model for publishing.

  32. Not a Squirrel says:

    I just cannot WAIT to see how fast RWA will tie themselves in knots deciding which HQ imprints are acceptable and which are not.

    Folks, if you want to publish something yourself, take a gander at Lulu. You’ll probably get a similar product a hell of a lot cheaper.

    Of course, you won’t be able to call yourself a Harlequin author, but…

  33. Linz Hill says:

    Wow, finding this online community of readers and authors is making my MONTH.  I want to thank Stacia K., the first Anonymous, New Anonymous, Ann Aguirre, P. N. Elrod, Paula Graves, JenTurner and others who have been so informative and truly caring about new authors and their dreams, and quality control and misrepresentation in the publishing industry.

    I’ve always meant to finish the two half-written novels lounging under my bed, but apart from the sheer WORK of writing, getting published seemed to involve some sort of lottery-win-plus-blood-sacrifice. I think my writing has potential, but it’s not GENIUS, though it means so much to me. It is hard enough to consider sending it out to face certain rejection, without the added uncertainty of wondering if I might be taken advantage of, or somehow undervalue my creation. 

    Reading well-written, logical, insightful comments at this site – with handy links no less – makes me think that I COULD find solid advice if I looked in the right places, and I want to pick up my pen and finish that novel in earnest!

  34. Jody W. says:

    Maybe I’ll publish my next book as a series of novelty coffee mugs…
    Bwhahaha. 
    The next-generation business model for publishing.

    T-shirts (that you wear when you leave the house) would be better. Or perhaps car door / window clings. More exposure!

    Ooooh, better—yard signs! You could run a whole campaign, sort of like Burma Shave, and entertain drivers on particularly boring stretches of road. On the last one have a cliffhanger and your web addy.

  35. Linz Hill says:

    Hey look, I AM a published author!  I published right here!  I bet I could pay someone to go around the internet, posting links to my comment . . .

  36. Selah March says:

    Here’s question: What incentive does this leave for Harlequin to pay its employees to dig through the slushpile—which, I believe, is where most first-time category romance authors are discovered? I understand very few sell through agents, as only a few agents rep category romance.

    Why would Harlequin bother with a slushpile for category romance, when they can find the next star author among the ranks of those who have already paid for the privilege of “submitting” their books, and now couldn’t sell them anywhere else if they were dipped in platinum and printed in dark chocolate.

    What’s the average advance for a first-time category author? About $3K? Let’s say a writer pays around $2K to be “published” by ASI with all its promo package bells and whistles and under the Harlequin name, and her book does well (by whatever standard Harlequin chooses to employ.)

    Harlequin then plucks her out of obscurity and pays her the standard advance. So she’s got her first “traditional publishing” contract in hand—having paid $1K for it—and Harlequin has profited, both by being paid their cut of the author’s initial outlay and by getting to choose a “proven” winner.

    The author, on the other hand, paid to submit to Harlequin’s own, private, profit-generating slushpile. And if they don’t like the terms, they likely won’t be able to sell the book anywhere else.

    To support my theory, I’ll point out that Harlequin’s popular critique service will be closing as of December 1st.

    Meh. Maybe I’m light years off. But if I’m not? Gotta hand it to ‘em. It’s a really clever plan. And by “clever,” yes, I do mean “evil.”

  37. nlowery71 says:

    I belong to a writer’s group in which a few of the members have self-published. They are not dumb people. Most the people in the group, though, don’t really seem to grasp that there are, in fact, professional houses that pay you to publish your book. There is an awful lot of confusion out there, and deals like this only prey on it.

    It’s okay to say that people should be more aware, but they aren’t, and this site is pretty obviously deceptive. I think it’s reasonable to be disgusted by it. Of course it shouldn’t be illegal, but that doesn’t make it right.

  38. XandraG says:

    Before you laud this decision as the greatest thing since peanut butter spread on sliced humanity, ask yourself when was the last time you bought a vanity-published book?  Or a self-published book?  Did you walk past one in the store and think, “Hey, neat!”  Did you follow a random link and think, “Hey, neat!”  Did you see one in the return stack at the library and think, “Hey, neat!”

    If not…how likely do you think that anyone else will, either?

    True self-publishing is a viable venue for certain authors of certain subject matter, at certain points in their careers.  This site isn’t selling to those authors.  It’s selling to the ones who’d normally be receiving rejection letters (sometimes helpful, sometimes not) and spending their hard-earned money and time honing their craft rather than buying pixie dust.

    I recently encountered a discussion I think at Dear Author where several midlisters, and folks writing multicultural romances, were dropped (by HQ) in mid-series due to low numbers.  I’m guessing these folks will very shortly receive excitable invitations to reverse the advance model and pony up for the “privilege” of paying Harlequin cash money to publish the completions of their series.

    Savvy authors can do this on their own, without Harlequin’s fingers in their profits, and I hope they do.  This is a money grab, pure and simple.

    And if enough people piss in a bottle and call it “Coke Horizons,” the rest of Coke will become synonymous with “piss,” too.

  39. Kathryn Edgar says:

    Linz – you don’t even have to pay the comment I posted at dear authors is already quoted in an article on this summarizing what is being said LOL

    Here’s the thing: If your paying Harlequin more than the advance they would have paid you, to get their name on your book – new authors will have an even smaller chance of ever breaking into the industry the fair routes.  It’s a simple matter of money sense.  I can pay you 200.00 for your comment on this matter or you can pay me 400.00 to publish your comment on a site where everyone who’s anyone will read it.  I will always go with B and reject A if I want to make more money than I spend and stay in the red.  In addition, my readers will suffer because I no longer care if said comment was worthy of my distribution.

  40. Anon Y Mouse says:

    You know, I had seriously considered submitting to Carina Press.  I thought “Okay, it’s another viable epub, backed by Harlequin and when NY decides to open their eyes and take a gamble on my currently niche genre, I bet they might look at the authors in their own epub first to fill that demand.”  So yes, I considered submitting to Carina as a possible, maybe foot in the door to Harlequin.  Admitted.

    However, if Harlequin is going to have a bunch of clueless newbs running around saying they’re HQN authors because they paid 1600 bucks for the privilege, yet HQN won’t give legitimately vetted and edited and quality-controlled epubbed books their brand name?  No thank you.  Crossing Carina and HQN in general off my lists.  Carina because I’m sick of being shat on by the big dogs and to be shat on while self-pubbed dreck gets branded by what’s supposed to be the pinnacle of this industry is beyond insulting.

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