Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in International Bon Vivant and Raconteur's LiveJournal:

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Friday, December 4th, 2009
4:28 pm	New Blurb for CHASING THE DRAGON I just received another blurb for Chasing the Dragon from an author whose work I admire so much. Check it: "Chasing the Dragon moves like a bullet. As blood-soaked and thunderous as a Sergio Leone western, and grimly referential to classic pulp horror, Kaufmann turns the screws and steadily escalates the tension. A gory, thoroughly rollicking thriller--not to be missed." -- Laird Barron, author of The Imago Sequence and Other Stories and Occultation For those of you who ordered the sold-out limited edition hardcover, copies should be shipping soon. And of course, for those of you on tighter budgets, Chasing the Dragon will be available as a trade paperback in March 2010 at your local bookstore (provided said bookstore is in Canada, the U.S. or the U.K.; anywhere else and I'm afraid you'll have to purchase online). If it's not on the shelf, I'm sure they'll be happy to order it for you. Chasing the Dragon will also be released as an ebook for those of you who enjoy reading on your Amazon Kindle, iPhone Stanza, Sony eReader, Barnes & Noble Nook, or leftover Rocket eBook Reader from 1999! (Comment on this)
3:36 pm	The Plot Thickens The Mystery Writers of America (MWA) has stepped up as the first to put its money where its mouth is over the Harlequin Horizons/DellArte Press debacle with the following announcement. It's interesting to note that MWA's actions, quite appropriately, offer protection from consequence to Harlequin authors who signed contracts before this nonsense began. MWA Delists Harlequin The Board of Mystery Writers of America voted unanimously on Wednesday to remove Harlequin and all of its imprints from our list of Approved Publishers, effective immediately. We did not take this action lightly. We did it because Harlequin remains in violation of our rules regarding the relationship between a traditional publisher and its various for-pay services. What does this mean for current and future MWA members? Any author who signs with Harlequin or any of its imprints from this date onward may not use their Harlequin books as the basis for active status membership nor will such books be eligible for Edgar® Award consideration. However books published by Harlequin under contracts signed before December 2, 2009 may still be the basis for Active Status membership and will still be eligible for Edgar® Award consideration. Although Harlequin no longer offers its eHarlequin Critique Service and has changed the name of its pay-to-publish service, Harlequin still remains in violation of MWA rules regarding the relationship between a traditional publisher and its various for-pay services. MWA does not object to Harlequin operating a pay-to-publish program or other for-pay services. The problem is HOW those pay-to-publish programs and other for-pay services are integrated into Harlequin’s traditional publishing business. MWA’s rules for publishers state: "The publisher, within the past five years, may not have charged a fee to consider, read, submit, or comment on manuscripts; nor may the publisher, or any of the executives or editors under its employ, have offered authors self-publishing services, literary representation, paid editorial services, or paid promotional services. If the publisher is affiliated with an entity that provides self-publishing, for-pay editorial services, or for-pay promotional services, the entities must be wholly separate and isolated from the publishing entity. They must not share employees, manuscripts, or authors or interact in any way. For example, the publishing entity must not refer authors to any of the for-pay entities nor give preferential treatment to manuscripts submitted that were edited, published, or promoted by the for-pay entity. To avoid misleading authors, mentions and/or advertisements for the for-pay entities shall not be included with information on manuscript submission to the publishing company. Advertising by the publisher’s for-pay editorial, self-publishing or promotional services, whether affiliated with the publisher or not, must include a disclaimer that it is advertising and that use of those services offered by an affiliate of the publisher will not affect consideration of manuscripts submitted for publication." Harlequin’s Publisher and CEO Donna Hayes responded to our November 9 letter, and a follow up that we sent on November 30. In her response, which we have posted on the MWA website, Ms. Hayes states that Harlequin intends as standard practice to steer the authors that it rejects from its traditional publishing imprints to DellArte and its other affiliated, for-pay services. In addition, Harlequin mentions on the DellArte site that editors from its traditional publishing imprints will be monitoring DellArte titles for possible acquisition. It is this sort of integration that violates MWA rules. MWA has a long-standing regard for the Harlequin publishing house and hopes that our continuing conversations will result in a change in their policies and the reinstatement of the Harlequin imprints to our approved list of publishers. Frankie Y. Bailey, Executive Vice President, MWA It's a ballsy move, taking the delisting of Harlequin from threat to reality, and I applaud MWA for it. However, it remains to be seen whether Harlequin cares as much about MWA's actions as it does about what the Romance Writers of America (RWA) will do. If RWA follows in MWA's footsteps and delists Harlequin too, that may swing a much heavier hammer. Frankly, I'm a little surprised that Harlequin hasn't shut the whole thing down already. But then again, it's not the higher-ups, the ones who actually made this boneheaded decision, who have to field the calls and emails from angry Harlequin authors--it's the editors, the ones who had nothing to do with it. Corporate remains blissfully out of touch with the reality on the ground, while the people who don't even like this program have to take the bullets. If that doesn't end soon, corporate may have a full-fledged mutiny on its hands. (25 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009
1:21 pm	As Professor Farnsworth Says, "Good News, Everyone!" ChiZine Publications and Diamond Book Distributors Join Forces FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CHIZINE PUBLICATIONS SIGN WITH DIAMOND BOOK DISTRIBUTORS FOR U.S./U.K. DISTRIBUTION TORONTO, Ontario (November 29, 2009) – Building on its deal with the Literary Press Group and LitDistCo, ChiZine Publications (CZP) has signed a deal with Diamond Book Distributors to have its books placed in U.S. and U.K. bookstores. One of the U.S.'s leading distributors, Diamond distributes to booksellers like Barnes & Noble, Ingram, Baker & Taylor, WaldenBooks, and Borders. It represents a number of book and comic publishers, including Borderlands Press, Night Shade Books, Prime Books, Subterranean Press, and Random House UK. "It's another step forward, but a bigger risk," says CZP Co-Publisher Brett Alexander Savory. "Getting books on the shelves means getting those books printed. If they don't sell, we eat that cost. But our experiment with the Literary Press Group worked. Some of our books sold out. So if we're going to grow, we need to be in major markets like the U.S. and U.K." The announcement comes on the heels of a lengthy article about ChiZine Publications that appeared in The National Post's Afterword literary blog. In the article, Brett, fellow Co-Publisher Sandra Kasturi, and authors David Nickle (Monstrous Affections) and Robert J. Wiersema (The World More Full of Weeping) discuss the origins of CZP and the challenges of being a "genre" publisher at a time when "genre" fiction is assumed to not be "literary" fiction. Brett says the plan is for CZP titles to be in U.S. and U.K. bookstores by early 2010. Contact Brett Alexander Savory, Co-Publisher ChiZine Publications http://chizinepub.com brett@chizinepub.com About ChiZine Publications ChiZine Publications (CZP) is an independent publisher of weird, subtle, surreal and disturbing dark fiction. It is the book-length, print version outgrowth of ChiZine (http://www.chizine.com), an online professional market in operation since 1997 focused on the same type of story material. All of CZP’s publications are hand-picked by co-Publishers and Bram Stoker Award-winners Brett Alexander Savory and Sandra Kasturi. Erik Mohr serves as cover artist and graphic designer, with publicity by Matthew Moore. About Diamond Book Distributors Diamond Book Distributors is a division of Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc., and is dedicated to making a wide selection of graphic novels and other pop culture collectibles available to the mainstream book market. For more information, visit Diamond Books on the web at http://www.diamondbookdistributors.com. ----- What this means is that when Chasing the Dragon is released in paperback in March 2010, it will be available in bookstores throughout Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. Hooray! (12 Comments |Comment on this)
10:28 am	I Have No Work, and I Must Eat Irascible, litigious SF author Harlan Ellison, who wrote one of the most beloved Star Trek episodes of all time, has let it be known he's eager to work with Trek rebooter J.J. Abrams on the upcoming sequel film. Writing on his Web bulletin board, Ellison was effusive in his praise of Abrams (not so much Trek creator Gene Roddenberry) and made plain his availability to provide services. I think Harlan Ellison is one of the greatest living writers in the world, but boy does he need to stop living in the past and get back to doing what he always did best--writing something new that's way ahead of its time. The next Trek movie ain't that, especially if he's serious when he says, "I would likely try to steer [Abrams] toward the original film idea I was asked to pitch, by the late Gene Roddenberry." Oy yoy yoy. Move on, Mr. Ellison, move on. (Also, please don't sue me for saying that.) In other news, I didn't know you could just make plain your availability to provide services to whomever, so I would like to let it be known that I'm eager to work with Random House on any number of projects. In fact, I would likely try to steer them toward some original ideas I'm working on. Call me. I'm available. (As always, the reader comments at the bottom of the news story are the usual brand of kooky wrongness, mixed with snotty attitude and a nearly Aspergeresque attention to minutia at the expense of any humor or, really, social skills. God, I love Internet comments!) (17 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
6:23 pm	Thanks, Secret Santa! Back on Friday, I received a mysterious Amazon gift certificate by email. I say it's mysterious because 1) there was no name in the "from" field, it just said "from: Amazon," 2) it was for a very odd amount: $26.34, and 3) the "message" field said "Payment by gift certificate." I have no memory of what I might be getting paid for by Amazon. I doubt it's from my Amazon Associates program. I haven't used that in nearly a decade, and when I did use it, it was such a complete failure that it couldn't have generate even twenty-six dollars' worth of income. Or maybe that's what it is and I've simply forgotten, but I prefer to think of it as a mystery. A mystery that netted me a free DVD of Doctor Who: The Deadly Assassin, with commentary by Tom Baker! Thank you, mysterious Amazon gift certificate! And the vengeful ghost of Mary Whitehouse thanks you too! (4 Comments |Comment on this)
1:45 pm	Sex Isn't Supposed to Make You Laugh... ...and yet nothing makes us laugh until we cry like poorly rendered sex scenes. Literary fiction certainly has no ownership over egregiously written scenes of lustful coupling, but for some reason it often supplies us with the most hilarious examples of the awkward piling-on of metaphors and similes that can bring any otherwise sizzling hot scene to its knees...and not in a good way. When the abundance of metaphors and similes fly so amazingly out of control that the sex scene in question is barely recognizable as sex, transforming instead into some kind of dadaist word-salad masterpiece, the result is The Literary Review's Bad Sex in Fiction Award. This year's winner, Jonathan Littell's The Kindly Ones, actually manages to equate female genitalia with "a motionless Cyclops whose single eye never blinks." Also, "a Gorgon's head." It makes you wonder if Littell watched a bunch of Ray Harryhausen fantasy movies before writing this scene! Alas, it only gets worse from there. (13 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, November 30th, 2009
11:45 am	The Prisoner (With Spoilers) This weekend I finally watched AMC's revisionist miniseries of The Prisoner, and it was such a mess I don't even know where to start. I suppose we should start with Number 6. Or as we eventually learn his name to be, Michael. I'm already bored just writing that, but the miniseries' treatment of 6 is even more boring than his real name. As portrayed by James Caveziel, 6 does precious little throughout the six-hour miniseries except angst out, do some slow-motion noooooooos, and throw handfuls of sand around. He is the least compelling hero I can imagine. As I see it, the problem stems from changing 6 from a secret agent to an information analyst at one of those shady security corporations that always seem to be up to no good in these things (and with unlimited amounts of money, apparently, to fund that no-goodness!). The issue here is that by not making 6 a secret agent, he no longer has the training to beat Number 2 at his own game, which is where the original Prisoner succeeded. Instead, we get a whiny schlub who's confused and angry a lot, and whose nemesis, Number 2, has nefarious plans for him that include...making him fall in love and go to therapy. But of course, 6 outwits him. He doesn't want to go to therapy, and so he doesn't. How's that for spellbinding action? Number 6's resignation from said corporation is fetishized to the point of absurdity--he spraypaints the word "resign" on the glass wall of his office; is that how people are doing it nowadays?--and then turns out to be completely unimportant to the plot. No one cares why he resigned. They barely care that he resigned at all. In fact, 2's reasons for bringing 6 to the Village, and making sure he's kept safe from harm, are less than fully realized. His plan for 6 at the very end of the miniseries hardly seems the same as what he had planned for 6 at the start, whatever that was. Therapy, I guess. And a wedding. Look out! Ian McKellen does a fine job of rising above the material as Number 2 because he's a good actor with tremendous presence. James Caveziel has no presence, at least in this project, and without a strong 6 to oppose 2, it becomes 2's show. And as awesome as Ian McKellen is, The Prisoner can't succeed if it's 2's show, because then we have no one to root for. 2's son? He's a whiny emo hipster with annoying Fallout Boy hair. 2's wife? She's asleep most of the time. Jane Eyre 6's doctor love interest? She's not a well developed enough character to care about, especially since she apparently falls in love with 6 off-camera. The viewer is never treated to any scenes of the chemistry between them, and so her sacrifices in the name of love never ring true. Like the rest of The Prisoner, fan-favorite Rover has been turned into a mess too. Rover now has no single purpose other than what the story needs at any particular time. Rover as guard that prevents escape? Sure. Rover as transport back to the Village if you get too far? Yup. Rover as killer beach ball? Okay, I guess. Rover as something that can zap people with bright lights and make them disappear? Uh... Rover as something that can zap people with bright lights and make them vaguely remember who they are? Whaaa? The script can't seem to figure Rover out because, as with the resignation, they have fetishized it beyond comprehension. Thus, when 2 tries to convince 6 that 6 conjured Rover himself through the power of his own fear, it makes even less sense than it sounds like because Rover is undefined in any meaningful way. As for the secret of the Village itself, all I can say is ugh. It's an interesting idea, but it belongs in a completely different story. In fact, all the miniseries' interesting ideas--and there are a few, like revealing the flashbacks not to be flashbacks at all but rather simultaneous action, and the concept of the holes that form around the Village whenever Mrs. 2 (or Number 1, I suppose) wakes up from her medically induced disco nap--belong in a different, better story. But by making the Village essentially imaginary--a different plane of consciousness, a different dimension, Mrs. 2's dream, however you want to explain this nonsense--while the real versions of everyone go about their daily lives "outside," there's absolutely nothing at stake. When 2 shoves a grenade in his mouth at the end and his head explodes, we learn that if you die in the Village absolutely nothing happens to you in the outside world. So where's the threat? Everyone who died in the preceding five hours of the miniseries is apparently fine. 6 could have died and still been fine. Which reminds me, the whole idea of calling people by numbers instead of names in this version rings false. Patrick McGoohan's original Prisoner was a counterculture, antiauthoritarian story, and the numbers had thematic resonance--6's resignation stemmed from wanting to be an individual again rather than a cog in a corrupt machine, and to reduce him to a number was a slap in the face. Here, it's just another fetishized idea left over from the source material. And like everything else in the miniseries, nothing comes of it. Similarly, when it's revealed in the original that Number 6 is also Number 1, it was McGoohan's way of saying your destiny is in your own hands. The whole series can be interpreted as a therapeutic exploration of one man's psyche. After all, we eventually come to realize that the Village was specifically created for 6; there were no other prisoners. Here, when 6 takes over as Number 2--and as head of the shady security firm--it's an empty gesture. Worse, it's essentially a failure. 6 has basically lost. He's turned into the very thing he was fighting, and the viewer is left with a profoundly unsatisfying ending. I'm just scratching the surface of all the wrongness here. The TV Nerd says skip AMC's The Prisoner like your life depends on it. In fact, I'm trying very hard to forget I ever saw it myself. (23 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, November 28th, 2009
12:15 pm	Harlequin Horizons Changes Name, Remains Stupid Idea 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. No word yet on whether this will bring Harlequin back into the good graces of the Romance Writers of America (RWA). As you may remember, RWA hit back pretty hard when Harlequin announced it was partnering with Author Solutions to get into the vanity publishing racket. There has also been no word yet on the resolution of Harlequin/DellArte's two other enormous and egregious issues . Will Harlequin continue to use their rejection letters to shuttle authors to the vanity program they co-own, and will Harlequin continue to claim, hilariously, that DellArte authors have a chance to become actual Harlequin authors with traditional contracts and publishing deals if they sell enough copies, despite the fact that DellArte books will clearly not be carried in bookstores? Stay tuned. I have a feeling this shitshow isn't over yet. In the meantime, a blogger going by the name of Falconesse has provided an excellent financial breakdown of exactly why choosing vanity presses like DellArte, and others like it, to publish ostensibly commercial novels is a terrible idea that will only break your heart and empty your bank account. (Money shot: "[The] author would need to sell TEN THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FOUR BOOKS before she could even start making any money.") (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, November 26th, 2009
9:59 am	Happy Nostalgia Day! Thanksgiving for me is a day that's filled with childhood nostalgia. As a kid, Thanksgiving was less about the big meal and seeing family, and more about getting two days off from school and, big surprise, what was on TV. You see, back in the 1970s, New York TV station WWOR used to show the same three movies every Thanksgiving day, and lucky for me, we got that station up in Connecticut, where I lived at the time. Those three movies, which I made sure every year not to miss, were: King Kong, Son of Kong (above), and Mighty Joe Young. It was essentially six hours of the same story over and over again, and the movies were in black and white, but I didn't care, it was freaking giant apes fighting men and/or other monsters! How awesome was Thanksgiving? Giant ape awesome! Still, Thanksgiving paled in comparison to Black Friday. On the day after the big meal, WWOR continued its monster mash with three Godzilla movies. Because there were more to choose from, the Godzilla movies varied from year to year, but I remember the lineup often including the original, Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster and Godzilla vs. Mothra (which back then was titled Godzilla vs. the Thing for some reason, and confused me as a kid because I thought Godzilla would be fighting that big stone guy from the Fantastic Four). How awesome was the day after Thanksgiving? Fire-breathing lizard monster awesome! WWOR has changed hands a dozen times since then and been rebranded with a dozen new names. Amazingly, it's back to being called WWOR now, but their Thanksgiving slate has changed since the good old days. Now they're spending the holiday showing syndicated programming like The 700 Club, Divorce Court and reruns of That 70s Show. A shame, but of course in this age of home video we don't need King Kong and Godzilla to be on TV today, we can make it happen ourselves. Still, in the name of nostalgia, I give you this, friends who were in or near NYC in the 1970s and 1980s. A little something to remember a time gone by. Things weren't better then, or simpler, they were just newer and more interesting because I was kid, and everything was new and interesting to me. But the moment I heard that music, it all came rushing back and filled me with that familiar, Thanksgiving nostalgia. So have a good one, everybody, and I hope this day brings you some sweet pangs of nostalgia as well. (18 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
10:34 am	Another Example of Why Proofreading Is Your Friend From the menu of a local sushi place: The Black Dragon Roll isn't so much spicy as it is racist! (9 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
3:05 pm	The Harlequin Horizons Saga: New Moon On Saturday, the Horror Writers Association (HWA) stepped into the fray and joined RWA, SFWA and MWA by releasing a public statement expressing their disappointment in Harlequin over the ridiculous Harlequin Horizons pay-to-be-published vanity program they plan to start including information about in their rejection letters (or maybe it's just called Horizons now, since Harlequin already backtracked approximately a millimeter by offering to remove their name from the program--but not stop the program itself). I don't know if the following is HWA's statement in its entirety, it's just what was left in the comments of my previous post on the matter: HWA asks that Harlequin acknowledge that the imprint does not represent a genuine opportunity for aspiring authors to hone their skills, because no editors will be vying for or editing the manuscripts. HWA supports the basic principal that writers should be paid for their work, not pay because they aspire to write. The HWA does not believe that changing the name of the imprint in an attempt to disguise the relationship with Harlequin, changes the intent. We call on Harlequin to discontinue this imprint immediately. If this matter does not find a positive resolution, the HWA will take appropriate action, which may include removing Harlequin from the list of HWA approved publishers, declining future membership applications from authors published by Harlequin and declaring that books published by Harlequin will not be eligible for the Stoker Award. Deborah LeBlanc President The Horror Writers Association I'm glad to see HWA taking a stance, even if it's several days after everyone else. While HWA's relationship with Harlequin is nowhere near as strong as RWA's, or even SFWA's or MWA's, I reckon, the cumulative stance of these four major writers organizations against Harlequin's questionable business decision have a collective weight that makes it all the harder to ignore. Here's hoping the Horizons program gets dropped entirely in the next few weeks, or sooner. On a side note, I didn't know HWA had a list of approved publishers! I'm told it's something they're currently working on, and I think it's a great idea. I also didn't know HWA is going to start disqualifying vanity press publications from Bram Stoker Award eligibility, but I think that's kind of a great idea too. (65 Comments |Comment on this)
10:21 am	Doctor Who: "Waters of Mars" Thanks to my secret inside source, I got a sneak peek at "Waters of Mars," the second of four 2009 Doctor Who specials that are taking the place of a regular season. No spoilers here--it won't air on BBC America until Saturday, December 19--but I will say that it's quite good overall. I didn't like it much at the start, though. It struck me initially as just another Russell T. Davies zombie episode, and the incidental music is pretty bad, reminiscent of the awful music used during the serials of the 1980s. But by the halfway mark the episode pivots into something much more interesting, an exploration of what happens when the Doctor meddles with important moments in history. Can he prevent something from happening? Can he make things happen? It gets especially cool in the last few minutes when the Doctor goes absolutely apeshit crazy, and then in the final moment we get a completely unexpected visit from a previously seen character. Being a lifelong Who fan, I especially enjoyed the Doctor's passing reference to the Ice Warriors, the vaguely turtle-like creatures who built an empire on Mars in the distant past, and who were first seen on the program in the serial "The Ice Warriors" in 1967, when Patrick Troughton played the second Doctor. It would make sense that in returning to Mars the Doctor would mention the Ice Warriors, and it's these little moments of attention to detail that bring out the nerd-joy in me. I'm hoping that the passing reference means they'll show up again sometime soon. Also, it's just been announced that the third special, "The End of Time, Part One," will air on BBC America on Saturday, December 26! (12 Comments |Comment on this)
12:50 am	R.I.P. Horus Nimblefingers Today was the third adventure of an ongoing Dungeons & Dragons campaign I play on occasion with author David Wellington (as the DM), comics writer Fred Van Lente, Orbit Books' sales and marketing guru Alex Lencicki, and my girlfriend. These campaigns are brutal. Lethal, even. I guess that's what you get when your DM is a horror novelist. My character, Horus Nimblefingers, was the only remaining character from the first adventure. All the others died, and most of their replacements did too. Unfortunately, today Horus finally bit the big one, impaled twice by the scimitars of some underground (and possibly randy) lizard people, and then thrown against the wall like so much spaghetti by their giant stone god--after poking out the god's ruby eyes, of course, thinking that a statue couldn't possibly come to life. Good times. Anyway, Horus' teammates then looted his still-warm body, the bastards, and discovered among his possessions--a police badge! Horus was undercover, sent to infiltrate the Thieves Guild and bring the head of the guild, Cutbill, to justice! Not that it matters anymore, since all the other thief characters are already dead. I think that whole plotline is going by the wayside now. Oh, and my girlfriend's halfling character, No-Face McButt, got turned into a crippled and mostly headless zombie. But she's still one of the good guys. Anyway, Fred Van Lente live-Twittered the game again. Check it out if you like. "Currently dueling to the death in the Sex Palace of the Lizard People. Film at 11." (15 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, November 20th, 2009
10:45 am	Well, That Was Quick The saga of Harlequin Horizons continues to unfold like the world's most compelling soap opera! After the Romance Writers of America (RWA) applied an almost instantaneous smackdown yesterday, the Mystery Writers of America (MWA) came down hard and fast too, sending Harlequin a strongly worded letter and detailing in a public statement the consequences that might befall Harlequin if they continue down this road: If MWA and Harlequin are unable to reach an agreement, MWA will take appropriate action which may include removing Harlequin from the list of MWA approved publishers, declining future membership applications from authors published by Harlequin and declaring that books published by Harlequin will not be eligible for the Edgar Awards. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) also released a strongly worded statement, saying in part: SFWA calls on Harlequin to openly acknowledge that Harlequin Horizon titles will not be distributed to brick-and-mortar bookstores, thus ensuring that the titles will not be breaking into the real fiction market. SFWA also asks that Harlequin 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. Further, SFWA believes that work published with Harlequin Horizons may injure writing careers by associating authors’ names with small sales levels reflected by the imprint’s lack of distribution, as well as its emphasis upon income received from writers and not readers. SFWA supports the fundamental principle that writers should be paid for their work, and even those who aspire to professional status and payment ought not to be charged for the privilege of having those aspirations. Until such time as Harlequin changes course, and returns to a model of legitimately working with authors instead of charging authors for publishing services, SFWA has no choice but to be absolutely clear that NO titles from ANY Harlequin imprint will be counted as qualifying for membership in SFWA. Further, Harlequin should be on notice that while the rules of our annual Nebula Award do not expressly prohibit self-published titles from winning, it is highly unlikely that our membership would ever nominate or vote for a work that was published in this manner. I didn't see a statement from the Horror Writers Association (HWA) on the matter, but I'm no longer a member and might have missed any internal memos sent to the membership. (Through a technical oversight, I still have access to HWA's message board, but I didn't see anything there about it.) Yesterday, just two days after Harlequin Horizons was announced, Donna Hayes, the CEO of Harlequin, released a statement basically giving in to the pressure, mostly RWA's, though the cumulative effect of MWA's and SFWA's public stances shouldn't be discounted. But when I say they gave in, I mean they only sort of did. Here is the statement Hayes released, with some commentary on my part: Harlequin was very surprised and dismayed to receive notice late yesterday that the RWA has decided that Harlequin is no longer eligible for RWA-provided conference resources. We were even more 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. And what would those private discussions have accomplished? Very little, I suspect, other than Harlequin asking RWA to reconsider and RWA either standing its ground or caving to the biggest and arguably most powerful publisher of their genre. It's sad but true that public shaming often results in swifter and more appropriate action than internal dialogue does in these kinds of situations. Harlequin has been a significant supporter of the RWA for many years in several ways, including: • financial sponsorships at the annual conference • sending editors to the national and regional chapter conferences throughout the year to meet with and advise aspiring authors and participate in panel discussions on writing • celebrating our authors, most of whom are RWA members, annually with the largest publisher party at the conference. It is disappointing that the RWA has not recognized that publishing models have and will continue to change. This is bullshit. Vanity publishing is not an emerging business paradigm within the industry. Instead, it's an age-old scam that preys on the hopes and dreams of aspiring writers, and does nothing for them in return but cause heartbreak, grief and the arrested development of their careers. When a writer pays a company to publish his or her book, it's not publishing, it's printing, and that's only a sliver of what real publishers provide. Also important are things like distribution, promotion and advertising, things vanity publishers will only do if you pay them extra. It's not a publishing model, it's a get-rich-quick scheme on behalf of everyone involved--except the author. For the author, it's a lose-money-fast scheme. As a leading publisher of women's fiction in a rapidly changing environment, Harlequin's intention is to provide authors access to all publishing opportunities, traditional or otherwise. Again I call bullshit--vanity presses are not publishing opportunities, they're money-draining traps--but this is clearly Harlequin just trying to save face after making a boneheaded decision. Most importantly, however, we have heard the concerns that you, our authors, have expressed regarding the potential confusion between this venture and our traditional business. As such, we are changing the name of the self-publishing company from Harlequin Horizons to a designation that will not refer to Harlequin in any way. We will initiate this process immediately. We hope this allays the fears many of you have communicated to us. It's a start, but I don't know how happy RWA or others will be with this development. SFWA has already said they won't accept a simple name change in lieu of ending the program altogether. And I think they're right to do so. Changing the name doesn't change the practice. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, the personal decision to call it a pig doesn't change the fact that it's a duck. Harlequin will still be in the vanity press business, only it won't use the Harlequin name for that particular arm of its enterprise. Luckily, without the Harlequin name attached I suspect a lot fewer aspiring authors will be tempted to partake, which means the program won't be as fruitful as they'd hoped, which in turn means it might get shut down rather quickly. And, if I may posit a conspiracy theory, that might be exactly what Harlequin is hoping for. Citing a lack of business in shutting the program down, rather than citing the displeasure of writers' organizations, might be just the face-saving excuse they're looking for to put this mess behind them. We are committed to connecting with our authors and aspiring authors in a significant way and encourage you to continue to share your thoughts with us. Sincerely Donna Hayes Publisher and Chief Executive Officer Harlequin Enterprises Limited Here, Hayes and I agree. I encourage people to continue sharing their thoughts about this stupid vanity publishing program with Harlequin too! (27 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, November 19th, 2009
9:21 am	The Harlequin Horizons Saga Continues It seems like every morning there's newer and more fabulous information to share about Harlequin's bone-headed vanity-publishing plan, Harlequin Horizons. For some background on this story if you're new to this blog, check here and here. But today's news is actually good news. Or rather, awesome news! And it comes from the Romance Writers of America (RWA), whom I now love with a passion (no pun intended). In response to the Harlequin Horizons program, the RWA released this statement: Dear Members: Romance Writers of America was informed of the new venture between Harlequin Enterprises and ASI Solutions to form Harlequin Horizons, a vanity/subsidy press. Many of you have asked the organization to state its position regarding this new development. As a matter of policy, we do not endorse any publisher’s business model. Our mission is the advancement of the professional interests of career-focused romance writers. One of your member benefits is the annual National Conference. RWA allocates select conference resources to non-subsidy/non-vanity presses that meet the eligibility requirements to obtain those resources. Eligible publishers are provided free meeting space for book signings, are given the opportunity to hold editor appointments, and are allowed to offer spotlights on their programs. With the launch of Harlequin Horizons, Harlequin Enterprises no longer meets the requirements to be eligible for RWA-provided conference resources. This does not mean that Harlequin Enterprises cannot attend the conference. Like all non-eligible publishers, they are welcome to attend. However, as a non-eligible publisher, they would fund their own conference fees and they would not be provided with conference resources by RWA to publicize or promote the company or its imprints.... Aside from her very clear, principled stand, you kind of have to read between the lines of RWA President Michelle Monkou's letter to truly understand the awesome here. Essentially, RWA is doing to Harlequin exactly what Harlequin is doing to its submitting authors--namely, RWA is telling Harlequin that they are no longer invited to its annual conference, but they can still come if they pay RWA to do so. Now not only does Harlequin have to pay what I hope are exorbitant fees in order to have a presence at the biggest and most important romance writers conference in the country, if not the world, but also their booth will now probably be relegated to the RWA conference's version of the BEA's "vanity press row." Way to turn the tables on Harlequin, RWA! I applaud you! (15 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
2:46 pm	This Is Too Much Fun I made another one: (18 Comments |Comment on this)
2:27 pm	I Made This Just For You! I found a place online where you can make your own motivational posters, so I made this one. Enjoy! (4 Comments |Comment on this)
10:24 am	More Ways Harlequin Horizons Will Rip You Off So I visited the Harlequin Horizons website to see what services they offer for your money. Most of it is the usual: editorial services, internet marketing, advertising. And then I found this. Harlequin Horizons charges $20,000 for a "Hollywood" style book trailer! $20,000! Seriously, this is just looking worse and worse. Always remember, folks, money flows to the writer. Anything else is just a scam designed to separate you from your hard-earned cash. (24 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
1:46 pm	What Happens When Dying Publishing Houses Need to Make Money Fast Hey, amateur romance writers, still reeling from the latest Harlequin rejection informing you that your bodice-ripping masterpiece just didn't rip it up to their level? Wondering if your pirate/bandit/cruelly egotistical heir to an aristocratic fortune who is tamed by your heroine's passionate lovemaking just isn't roguish enough for the masses? Do you have so much money even in the Great Recession that it's burning a hole in your pocket? Then you're in luck! Author Solutions has teamed up with Harlequin to form Harlequin Horizons, a new imprint for self-published romance authors. The imprint will recruit writers in two ways: authors whose manuscripts have been rejected by Harlequin will be made aware of the Harlequin Horizons option and authors who sign with Author Solutions will be given the opportunity to be published under the Harlequin Horizons imprint. According to an Author Solutions spokesperson, the imprint will offer special services aimed at the romance market, including unique marketing and distribution services. All services are on a pay-for-service basis. No, friends, your eyes aren't deceiving you, it's true! You next rejection letter from Harlequin will tell you that your book just wasn't right for them but they'll still publish it if you pay them to. It's like every author's dream come true! I know you're reaching for your credit card right now, but wait, there's more! You're wondering if this can get any better. Well, yes! Yes it can! Author Solutions will handle all aspects of the venture, although Harlequin Horizons will exist as an imprint of Harlequin, and the publisher will be able to monitor sales and sign authors to a traditional imprint. That's right, romance writers! After paying Harlequin to publish your book, they'll decide if it's selling well enough to sign you to a real publishing deal! It won't be hard for them, all they have to do is change the imprint logo on the cover, after all. No sweat. So don't worry that you might be causing them too much extra work! It's not like the advance Harlequin will pay you is likely to cover your self-publishing expenses anyway. Also, with a traditional contract they will ostensibly be able to make even more money off of you, in addition to what you already paid them, with a more publisher-friendly royalty schedule. Everybody wins! And by everybody, I mean Harlequin and Author Solutions! I know what you're thinking. Jeez, I'm still putting Harlequin through such a hassle if they give me a real contract, what with having to pay to print the books themselves and all. I don't know if I want to be a bother. Don't worry. The average romance novel has such a short shelf life that odds are yours won't sell enough copies to catch Harlequin's eye anyway, provided your book even gets into bookstores, so the whole part about signing the self-published authors to a traditional imprint probably won't even come into play. Phew! Now you don't have to be a bother to anyone! Like I said, everybody wins! (39 Comments |Comment on this)
9:42 am	Oh My God, Yes By the very funny--and astute--cartoonist Jeffrey Koterba. (20 Comments |Comment on this)