Publishing is changing, the latest clue being Torstar\u2019s vanity publishing line, DellArte (clever me, I said Torstar instead of Harlequin)*.<\/p>\n
But we all agree on this one point, right? I mean, publishing can be DOOMED, or it can be METAMORPHOSING, or it can be LA LA LA I CAN\u2019T HEAR YOU!!! but something\u2019s going on.<\/p>\n
And we all know MWA, RWA, and all those types delisted Harlequin, which won\u2019t make a damn bit of difference to Harlequin (or Torstar, hee!).<\/p>\n
Mrs. Giggles<\/a> and Karen Scott<\/a> both get it about the DellArte thing: Say somebody wants to pay to play.<\/p>\n So what?<\/p>\n But then on Karen\u2019s blog the thread turned to what RWA should do about it and she said (I\u2019m sure mostly tongue-in-cheek):<\/p>\n Since the RWA took the step of delisting HQN, they may as well go the whole hog and have a fulsome \u2018Vanity Press Is Evil\u2019 programme that informs authors about the pitfalls of going the vanity\/self-pubbing route, rather than leaving it to the likes of Writer Beware. Merely delisting HQN is far too much of a passive-aggressive way of tackling this potentially world-altering, humanity-defying problem.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n You know what I think RWA should do instead of having a Vanity Press Is Evil program? I think the RWA should have a program to inform, instruct, and help those members who are interested in self-publishing, provide a publishing punchlist, which publishing services cost what (and what\u2019s reasonable), how to do it right<\/em>, with the understanding that no matter which self-publishing route you go, you are<\/em> going to pay to play. The opportunities for information mining (read: conference workshops read: ka-ching) are endless.<\/p>\n DellArte would be cast as the devil by default, just on their prices.<\/p>\n But then, that would be a proactive thing to do.<\/p>\n The RWA is reactive. This is an organization that grits its teeth when forced to acknowledge the fact of successful e-publishers like Ellora\u2019s Cave\/Cerridwen Press, Samhain Publishing, Loose Id, et al.<\/p>\n Oh well. It was an idea.<\/p>\n