I agree. There's a long history of good work being self-published - Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" comes immediately to mind. But vanity publishers are just what the name implies. And with Harlequin, it's worse because they way they announced the new imprint is that maybe if you vanity published and there were enough sales, Harlequin might actually decided to publish it, even though they originally rejected it. And worse, in my mind, is that rejected manuscripts will be "introduced" to this new option.
Note that other publishers are doing this as well. Thomas Nelson Publishers, a major independent Christian publisher, launched West Bow Press. The thing is, Thomas Nelson won't actually have much to do with West Bow Press, as the books will be will be designed, printed, and distributed by Author Solutions, the self-publishing mega-company whose brands include AuthorHouse, iUniverse, Trafford, Xlibris, and WordClay. What chafes my chaps about this deal is that Thomas Nelson will be offering a referral fee to agents.
In a blog post (http://michaelhyatt.com/2009/10/should-you-consider-self-publishing.html) Thomas Nelson CEO wrote that the company was looking "to work with agents and consultants as 'WestBow Press Affiliates,' so that they can help more authors realize their dream of getting published. Rather than simply send a rejection letter, they can now offer a legitimate alternative and earn a referral fee in the process."
Thomas Nelson has also been reported as saying that while their editors won't edit the self-published manuscripts, they'll monitor sales to identify potential big sellers.
I know publishers are doing this because of the economy, and you do what you gotta do to stay in business. But the problem is that a lot of people will be misled into thinking this is an end run around the normal submission process with a major book publisher. And you and I both know that while it's true that it's not unusual for a book to be rejected by major publishers but eventually get accepted, and even do well ("Jonathon Livingston Seagull" anyone?), the odds are still not good. And going the route from self-published to book publisher published is even more difficult.
I think some technical books are better off being self-published, because they (usually) have a smaller audience and the author may do much better in terms of sales IF they have some reputation in the field or easily demonstrated competence and IF they have some or can get some marketing know-how. But again, self-publishing is NOT vanity publishing.
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Note that other publishers are doing this as well. Thomas Nelson Publishers, a major independent Christian publisher, launched West Bow Press. The thing is, Thomas Nelson won't actually have much to do with West Bow Press, as the books will be will be designed, printed, and distributed by Author Solutions, the self-publishing mega-company whose brands include AuthorHouse, iUniverse, Trafford, Xlibris, and WordClay. What chafes my chaps about this deal is that Thomas Nelson will be offering a referral fee to agents.
In a blog post (http://michaelhyatt.com/2009/10/should-you-consider-self-publishing.html) Thomas Nelson CEO wrote that the company was looking "to work with agents and consultants as 'WestBow Press Affiliates,' so that they can help more authors realize their dream of getting published. Rather than simply send a rejection letter, they can now offer a legitimate alternative and earn a referral fee in the process."
Thomas Nelson has also been reported as saying that while their editors won't edit the self-published manuscripts, they'll monitor sales to identify potential big sellers.
I know publishers are doing this because of the economy, and you do what you gotta do to stay in business. But the problem is that a lot of people will be misled into thinking this is an end run around the normal submission process with a major book publisher. And you and I both know that while it's true that it's not unusual for a book to be rejected by major publishers but eventually get accepted, and even do well ("Jonathon Livingston Seagull" anyone?), the odds are still not good. And going the route from self-published to book publisher published is even more difficult.
I think some technical books are better off being self-published, because they (usually) have a smaller audience and the author may do much better in terms of sales IF they have some reputation in the field or easily demonstrated competence and IF they have some or can get some marketing know-how. But again, self-publishing is NOT vanity publishing.