New All Digital Publisher

[John McFetridge]

All this talk of changes to the publishing business and today there's an announcement of a new, all-digial publisher starting up.

Well, not really starting up, it's a division Harlequin called Carina Press (shouldn't they come up with something other than "press" if the books will be digital?) and they're looking for more than just romance. The Submissions guidelines says, "We expect to publish a majority of romance and erotic romance but are also very interested in women’s fiction, science fiction, fantasy, futuristic, mystery, thrillers, horror, and niches. If you have something new and fresh we would be happy to read your story!"

This blog entry is pretty much a mission statement.

Harlequin have certainly been successful selling printed books, maybe they'll do okay with digital books, too.

[Eric Christopherson]

Oh, what interesting times we're experiencing (the allusion to the Chinese curse is up to your discretion)!

[Donna Carrick]

Yes, Eric, the Chinese curse is not lost on me. I believe I've been living it from birth! As it relates to the writer's world, these are indeed interesting times.

[Pepper Smith]

They've apparently been doing very well reissuing some of their older romance titles in digital format. They were one of the first print houses to go after digital in a big way. Maybe they've worked out enough of the kinks in the business model to make it work.

It'll be interesting to see what happens, anyway.

[Pepper Smith]

Okay, I'm leaning heavily toward taking back what I said. Harlequin has now opened a new venture with Author Solutions, entitled "Harlequin Horizons." Yep, they're pointing their rejected slush authors toward a self-publishing program. Romance Writers of America has yanked Harlequin's status as an approved publisher, and they're being listed on P&E as a vanity publisher.

Hmm.

The thing that disturbs me about the digital press they've opened is that they're mentioning it in their press releases right alongside the new self-publishing house. It makes me leery of it, because it could just be another route they send rejected slush.

Sigh. As if this business wasn't difficult enough already...

[Benjamin Sobieck]

Is Rich Text Format the new standard in manuscript submissions? I've never seen anyone request anything other than .doc or .docx.

[Pepper Smith]

Most of the epubs that I'm familiar with want .rtf. It's supposed to work across platforms, unlike .doc, and it is supposedly much more difficult to conceal viruses in .rtf.

[Benjamin Sobieck]

Good to know, Pepper.

As an aside, the readers (Kindle, etc.) generally take PDF uploads. That format retains formatting characteristics.

[minervaK]

Considering the grammatical, punctuation and spelling errors in the mission statement, I'm not optimistic. But I'm a grouch, don't go by me.

MK
www.minervakoenig.com

[Benjamin Sobieck]

The standard is reversed when submitting a query.

[I. J. Parker]

I've never had much respect for Harlequin.

[Robin Richmond]

As a book dealer digital books are not helpful. I like rerading an old fashion book!

[Anthony Flacco]

I wholeheartedly agree. A book is printed and bound, has form and mass, is something you hold in your hands, and it exists over time -- perhaps decades, maybe longer -- whether or not your batteries dry up.