Jane Freidman at Writer's Digest has a very interesting post re: the Harlequin self-publishing brouhaha. You can read her post here.

These are some of my thoughts on that issue:

I've been a professional writer & have been traditionally published for 20 years now. I write (almost) exclusively in the erotica market. My work has appeared internationally, in several languages. My books are popular enough to sell-out of their first print runs but usually do not go into a 2nd printing. USED copies of my books continue to sell & sell & sell (no added royalties for me, of course). When I first started out in the business, literary underground magazines were the traditional outlets wherein erotica writers got published, found fans, networked, then moved into traditional book publishing. That was the route my career took. In the late 90s, however, the Internet slaughtered the magazine trade. It greatly frustrated me, not just b/c there were fewer publishing outlets for me, but also for my colleagues who were equally talented genre writers. And as every professional writer knows, book deals are not easy to get, even when you're a talented writer. But what we did was embraced the Internet and took our work online.

 

I, for one, found more fans online than I'd ever had before and it led me to a long stream of traditional book publishing deals in several countries. When I founded the EAA (Erotic Authors Association) in 2002, it was to help erotica authors navigate their publishing careers. What I saw happening from the vantage point of running the EAA until 2006, was that eBooks and DIY POD publishing were taking off like rockets all over the Internet yet traditional book publishers were VERY slow to see it. While this new direction was exciting, it was also disturbing; I could hear the death knell of traditionally-published erotica, and sure enough, it came -- quickly. It is MUCH harder to get an erotica book traditionally published now. It is so much easier for readers to find, purchase, and read erotica -- in all its many, many sub genres -- online. Which is why so many erotica and erotic romance authors have made the switch to publishing eBooks.

 

And what did they find? Easier access to readers and a better royalty split between themselves and the eBook publisher.

 

I understand the allure of being traditionally published. It matters as much to me as to any writer. But the truth is that more and more readers are flocking to the ease of Kindles. And more and more self-published writers are finding that their manuscripts can go from desktop to Kindle almost "overnight" -- or at least when compared to how long it takes for a traditionally published book to come out in the marketplace. (And if one is an established writer, you have the added benefit of how cheaply eBooks can be purchased; cutting into that problem of cheap used books selling over & over with no royalties for the writer. And having the option of a POD trade paperback or hardcover at least available along with the eBook edition, is just a little icing on the cake. Plus it gives the writer something tangible to sell at readings.)

 

When Harlequin announced Horizons the other day, my thought was, "Wow. Harlequin is once again at the head of the pack." As an ex-member of the RWA, it did not surprise me that the RWA went after Harlequin so fervently. They did the same to keep eBook publishing houses out of the RWA as long as they could before "caving" to publishers like Ellora's Cave. I understand the RWA and why it exists; it's why I founded the EAA: to help writers learn how to become better writers and to protect their rights, etc. But no one's forcing anybody to become a self-published writer. I still applaud Harlequin for taking that step into the future. They are so freakin' BRANDED and have such hardcore readers, that if a romance writer wants to choose that self-published road, they would benefit HUGELY from the Harlequin brand & targeted market. From there, the writing would have to stand on its own, as it would anywhere else.

 

Like Jane Friedman, I would encourage writers who want to go the DIY road to give careful consideration to the houses that don't ask for an upfront fee (I personally work with LULU when I self-publish). But when one takes into account that Harlequin Horizons is DOING AWAY with its limiting categories and opening up to all kinds of niche categories; self-publishing under a banner like Harlequin could put a brilliantly quirky romance writer on the map. It just seems like too many writers are resisting the call of the future & just start frothing at the mouth b/c they are afraid of Change. I understand how tempting it is to want to resist the future, but I've seen the future come anyway, too many times before.