Self-Publishing... Imprint?

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

While not strictly crowdfunding-related, I found this article about Harlequin setting up a self-published author imprint peculiar and somewhat relevant. It sounds almost as if Harlequin is setting up a vanity press and stamping it with their brand name. Whatever the case, it's an interesting publishing direction.

Thoughts?

Comments

Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

As described, that does sound like a vanity press.

However, I think it's also an early inkling of something yet to come in publishing: an imprint or publisher devoted to materials that don't go through historic gatekeeping routes, but not a vanity press.

What would that look like? How would it be different? Maybe it would be started by a bunch of crowdfunding writers banding together to publish their material so it isn't just random pieces of "self-published" stuff but a group effort with something in common. Maybe it would be started by crowdfunding fans who are tired of watching their favorite writers get shafted by presses and distributors who discriminate against self-published material. Maybe instead of taking manuscripts from a conventional publisher's slush pile or from a vanity press, it would take the best manuscripts from a field of successful crowdfunding projects.

We've talked about doing stuff like this here. I'd love to see progress in this direction. If we had a full website with directories for projects and creators and supporters, and a way for supporters to vote on or review projects, and maybe an annual award -- then we would have a largish field of projects to consider and some data for identifying the most promising ones that lots of people might enjoy seeing in hardcopy. So instead of a conventional publishing company, we might devise one in which the gatekeeping would be done mainly by hordes of fans. We might have stuff like editing and illustration and layout done by members with those skills, chosen from available people who might be paid in cash or barter or even donate those services as their contribution to supporting a beloved project.

Thoughts?

[natf.livejournal.com]

I have yet to form an opinion on this but did read Scalzi's take on the issue (http://whatever.scalzi.com/2009/11/20/writers-organizations-to-harlequin-if-youre-not-going-to-act-like-a-real-publisher-were-not-going-to-treat-you-like-one/).

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

So I read also. I am curious what other publishers' take on it would be, though.