Harlequin Horizons: Bad idea for aspiring authors or another avenue to make dreams come true?

Its a bad idea.

First, let us clarify the different types of publishing venues.

Traditional print publishers such as HarperCollins, Penguin, Random House, Simon & Schuster, Dorchester, Kensington and until recently Harlequin Enterprises offer writers an advance.  They PAY their writers for their work before it is published.  The publishing house assumes full responsibility and risk for the production of the book to getting the product into bookstores and ultimately into the consumers hands.  The Author was paid up front for the work they will put into or have put into writing the book.  They have been paid to provide the publisher with a service; the written word.  If the book in question does not do well, the author may never receive a royalty check, but the author was already paid for the book.  If the book does well, royalty checks roll in, publisher buys next book (pays author) and the process begins again.  It is not rocket science.  The bottom line is profit.  If an author doesn’t make the publishing company a profit, the author may never see another contract with that publishing house again.  However, author still was paid up front for services rendered.

ePublishers such as Ellora’s Cave, Samhain, and The Wild Rose Press (I understand I am missing many and I do apologize) work off what is referred to as the “No Advance/Royalty Only” business model.  The royalty rate for an eBook is generally higher, but the author gets no money up front.  Many ePublishers, like the ones I have listed are reputable companies.  They have an editorial staff, they provide cover art for their books and they provide distribution for their books.  The publisher takes 100% of the risk of publishing.  If the book doesn’t sell a single copy, it is on the publisher.  The risk to the author in this model?  They could receive no royalties if their book does not sell well.  This is a viable way to publish if an author is willing to take less or no money.  Not a great option, but the author risks nothing but the value they put on their time.  Many ePublished authors receive decent royalty checks.  Many do not seek tradition print publication.  Many of these companies do put the books into print through what is known as Print-On-Demand technology.  The problem here is that these publishers do not have the distribution capabilities that the tradition print publishers have.  You will not see many, if any, of these books in a bookstore.  You can however order them on-line through various venues.  The key here is that the author does not pay for this service, but for every book sold, they receive a royalty from that sale.  So, no money upfront, but money on the backside and the author does not have to shell out one penny.

Self-Publishing companies like LuLu the author will pay for everything from the design of the book, to the printing of the book, to getting the book into the consumer’s hands.  The author takes on 100% of the risk.  However, the author also gets 100% of the profit, if there is one.  Sure, these self-publishing companies are making money because you are paying them to make your book and the fee they charge you are above their costs, but once you pay the fee, you are done.  They get nothing.  You are now publisher of your own book.  You take 100% of the risk and you get 100% of net profit or loss.

Vanity Publishers or Subsidy Publishers such as Author Solutions who teamed up with Harlequin to create Harlequin Horizons is not self-publishing, even if they call it that.  It is a vanity press.  With vanity/subsidy, the author pays for “publication” of the book.  For the fee, the vanity/subsidy publisher will provide X number of copies as well as suggest marketing, editing and other services to produce the book, all at a fee.  In addition, the publisher may also retain a portion of the sales for offering the book through their distribution channels.  Using Harlequin Horizons as an example a writer will pay $599 for the basic package, but the will also pay 50% of the net price to the publisher leaving the author to 50% of the net price as a royalty.  The net price could be substantially less than the cover price, drastically reducing your “royalty.”  In this type of publishing model, there is 100% risk to the author but not 100% of the reward.

Why is this a bad idea?  Well, as always, buyers beware.  None of these options is illegal.  They are all methods of publishing.  However, Vanity Publishing is somewhat predatory.  Most writers who decide to go true-self publishing understand they are taking a risk.  That it is up to them to sell their book.  No one is offering them, for an added fee, the promise of distribution channels.  Vanity Publishers are telling authors that if they buy their package, or say buy their “return insurance” their books will show up on the bookstores computer as a returnable item making their book more appealing.  This is taking advantage of writers who do not understand the business of publishing. 

Harlequin, a leader for many years in the Romance Genre, is now telling writers that if we reject your for print publication, go to our Vanity Press, pay us money, and we will print your book.  This is not a good idea for any writer.  It is one thing to take a risk and then either receive 100% of the rewards from that risk, or nothing at all through true self-publishing than to pay someone to publish your book, have them earn dollars before you even recoup your costs that you paid to them to publish your work.  The Vanity Press is going to make money no matter what because the author paid them.  The author won’t make money until he/she has sold past the dollar amount he/she paid up front.  This does not include the time (and time is money) that the author will have to spend promoting their book and trying to get into distribution channels that probably won’t take them because they are unknown. 

The business of writing a novel is just that, a business.  An author writes party because they are compelled to write.  It is a passion.  Every other professional out there expects to be paid, writers should be no different.  Sure, when you start a business, you might have to spend a few bucks to get it up and running.  Writers spend that on their ass, writing.  They also go to workshops, take classes, go to conferences to learn the craft of writing, as well as the business end.  This is the start up costs for a writer.

Another way of looking at the Vanity Press Business Model is that a Vanity Press is not trying to figure out how to attract readers, but they are in the business of attracting more writers.  The more writers they get to buy their packages, the more money the make.  How many books the author sells means nothing.  This is bad all around.  The business plan for a Vanity Press is not to sell books, it is to sell publishing packages to aspiring writers under the pretense of fulfilling a publishing dream.

Writers should not pay to have their work published, not unless they get a 100% of the reward or loss, whichever way it goes.