“Harlequin Horizons,” the romance publisher’s new self=publishing arm, has stirred up a hornet’s nest.
I put the name in quotes because Harlequin has announced that it changing the name of its new venture effective immediately.
According to a press release, authors expressed concern that the original name would cause confusion between this venture and Harlequin’s traditional publishing business.
That’s not all, though. Romance Writers of America has decided that Harlequin Enterprises is no longer eligible for RWA-provided conference resources because and informed its membership of this without even talking to Harlequin first.
And that’s not all, though. The Mystery Writers of America has issued a release saying that they are concerned about a conflict-of-interest created by Harlequin Horizons’ self-publishing program and the eHarlequin Manuscript Critique service. They feel that there is a possibility that writers could think that it is necessary to use one service to get the other.
It’s going to be a busy week at the Harlequin executive offices.
