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DellArte Press (formerly Harlequin Horizons)

Bubastes

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Un-frickin-believable. As jennontheisland said, they figured out how to make money from their slush pile. As a money maker, it's genius. But boy, it's sleazy.
 

Richard White

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Mick,

This isn't self-publishing.

This is vanity publishing. There is a difference.

Self-publishing, I keep all the money after paying expenses.

Vanity publishing means the publisher keeps the majority of the money and the writer pays all the expenses.

Self-publishing =/= vanity publishing
 

Jersey Chick

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This is getting better by the moment.

I also thought their critique service was iffy at best - but this?

It'll make money (for now), but what happens when/if readers who pick up vanity slush begin to equate it will all of HQ?

Might not seem like such a brilliant move then.
 
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I never had much respect for Harlecrap as I call them, but what little I did have just vanished.
 

Erin

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Oh, they don't just publish books for money.

They also make Hollywood quality movie trailers.
http://www.harlequinhorizons.com/Servicestore/ServiceDetail.aspx?ServiceId=BS-6224

For a mere $19,999 (yup, that's a comma) your trailer may end up in front of a movie producer!

The dreams they sell....

Just keeps getting better....What's next? Think of all the money they'll make from poor suckers who don't know any better. That's the travesty.

I've always had respect for Harlequin as forerunners in the romance field. But this whole enterprise turns me off.
 
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jennontheisland

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I think their marketing team got a little carried away with all the up-sells.

You want fries with that?

This is absolutely disgusting. And shit like this will forever keep the romance genre the butt of jokes in the literary world.

I'm starting to think Harlequin likes it that way.
 

M.R.J. Le Blanc

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I second that disgusting. Harlequin I think has sunk to the bottom of the pool, and obviously plans to stay there. I hope every one of their authors walk.
 

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I'm willing to bet that when Harlequin's faithful readers signed up for HQ newsletters and email alerts and agreed to receive book marketing e-mails, they never dreamed they'd be getting emails about vanity published books -- or that HQ would be charging each author nearly twelve thousand dollars (yes, $11,995.00) to have their book advert-blurb emailed to those unsuspecting readers.

http://www.harlequinhorizons.com/Servicestore/ServiceDetail.aspx?ServiceId=BS-6193

I do think this is going to sink HQ. If they start spamming their faithful readers with ads for books, and said readers buy said books, and said books are the crap you find in the bottom of the slush pile, HQ will lose those readers -- and there goes the bottom line.
 
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I second that disgusting. Harlequin I think has sunk to the bottom of the pool, and obviously plans to stay there. I hope every one of their authors walk.
I hope the good ones do, at least.

(Yeah I know I probably pissed off a few folks with my former post, but Harlequin's actions justify it IMO).

They'll get lost in this vanity/slush clusterfuck and please God, refuse to be associated with it.

No one's going to want to hack through slushfail that's been vanity published to get to the gems. Hell, if they were gems, someone would want to pay the authors for their books, not rip them off!

Whether you're a good author or not (and there are good ones out there), the fact remains much of the romance genre is derided for being formulaic and conveyor belt. Controversial? Yes. Do I agree with that? Yes. Unashamedly so. I've read enough to form an opinion. And I'm talking about my own genre here, if you include erotic romance.

tt42 and I have often discussed the raising of standards one book at a time, one author at a time. At a stroke, Harlecrapquin have just opened the doors to the market being flooded by shit that wasn't good enough to pay for, but whose authors are apparently good enough to extort.
 

wannawrite

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Crap. And to think, I have spent the past year busting my ass, trying to get published by them. Now am wondering what, exactly, I was working so hard for. I always recognized that they were cheesy...reputable, but cheesy. But now? I repeat...Crap. This just sucks.
 

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Harlequin's done some great stuff. I thought their Luna (fantasy romance) line was awesome and loved the books I read from that imprint. But this.....they've turned Judas on the whole industry.
 

Jersey Chick

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The thing is, how many people think it's perfectly normal practice to pay to be published? That's the scary thing about this new line - there are a lot of want to be authors who don't know that this is vanity publishing. True, it only takes a bit of research to realize that it isn't the norm, but how many people only do that research after it's too late (Take a look at the PA threads)?

And, to all the authors who worked their asses off to get through those doors - it's a slap to them as well. If it were me, I'd be pissed off that someone else just has to write a check to call themselves a Harlequin author, where I (hypothetically) wrote and rewrote and polished and waited for months on end before getting that offer.
 

ChristineR

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Ten million opt in e-mail addresses? Who are these people? Does Harlequin really have that many getting their e-mail alerts? I'm visualizing thousands of pissed off women looking at a crappy vanity book that they bought because of an e-mail with Harlequin's name on it.
 

michael_b

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I cannot believe the fees they've tacked on this 'marketing' crap that will not work. I can foresee tales of mortgaged homes on the thought that, 'If I can just get my book in front of a 10 million readers, or a movie producer they're going to love it so much they'll grab it up.'

Those fees are nothing short of absurd, and sad because some poor unsuspecting 'author' is going to step in a huge steaming pile of sorrow and pain.

And 10 million readers? Yeah, I can see a lot of people being angered by the vanity press spam, especially after they've bought a book that should never have seen the light of day as written.
 

Richard White

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I wish this was March.

Then I could believe they would announce this was all a big April Fool's joke.

Unfortunately, the only fooling will be on the unsuspecting writers.
 

Amy R.

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Harlequin Horizons can help more aspiring writers achieve their dreams...

And aspiring writers can help Harlequin make more money.

At first glance, it looks like a win-win... Or maybe not.
 

michael_b

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The thing is, how many people think it's perfectly normal practice to pay to be published?

I have a very small ebook publishing company and on average I get one new author a month asking me how much it would cost them to be published with my company. I always carefully explain Yog's Law to them. It's amazing how shocked and grateful they are when they find out the author doesn't pay, the publisher does.
 

BenPanced

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The thing is, how many people think it's perfectly normal practice to pay to be published? That's the scary thing about this new line - there are a lot of want to be authors who don't know that this is vanity publishing. True, it only takes a bit of research to realize that it isn't the norm, but how many people only do that research after it's too late (Take a look at the PA threads)?

And, to all the authors who worked their asses off to get through those doors - it's a slap to them as well. If it were me, I'd be pissed off that someone else just has to write a check to call themselves a Harlequin author, where I (hypothetically) wrote and rewrote and polished and waited for months on end before getting that offer.
I've been wondering what sort of effect this is going to have on their current commercial roster, as well. I've never read anything they've published but I'd heard enough people say they treat their authors well enough to come back.

Now? Not so sure.
 
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BenPanced

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Oh, for the luvva Mike...
The Booksellers Package is designed for authors who desire to leave a lasting legacy in the form of a hardcover book. A hardcover book shows the world that you are a serious author ready to make your mark on the writing world.
Yeah, tell that to the authors who've built a "legacy" on the spines of your paperbacks...

Holyoake, Massachusetts!
US Copyright Registration Service: $204.00
Yup. Make with the clickety on the link. I wish I was kidding.

40 different kinds of epic fail going on here.
 
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jennontheisland

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Worse fail: there are authors on another board I belong to who think this is a good idea.