Harlequin—which everyone on the planet has heard of—has just opened up a vanity publishing imprint and a manuscript critique service. Apparently, some of the ways they're selling these things are a little squirrelly, as in, prospective customers might buy into it thinking it's a legitimate publishing service or it'll either help them get published.

For instance, you might pay Harlequin to critique your manuscript, thinking they'll tell you what you need to do to get published by them. The rule of thumb in the publishing world is that you should NEVER pay. Don't pay for editing, critiquing, publishing, anything, ever. Well, there might be a few times when it's okay to pay, but they're rare (and good publishers generally pay to enter their books in competitions, if there are any fees).

There are a LOT of disreputable people and companies out there, places that charge people for things, like editing, critiquing, printing, etc. And lots of vanity publishing companies, where you pay to print your own book. There are a bunch of people and organizations that try to help people NOT get bilked, like . (Yet no matter how many people warn them, some people will just keep on giving PublishAmerica, one of the biggest scammers around, their money.)

People like seeing their name on the cover of a book, and when you want something enough, a little nudging can make you believe it's all coming true. The brother of one of my exes had my ex really conned into believing that he was a Published Poet. Really held it over her. And then I showed her how she, too, could be published by that same company for $XXXX. I understand there was an interesting conversation sometime after that.

Anyway, some organizations have rules about joining their organizations—or about tiers of membership. You don't get the same respect if you pay to play. If you're published because you've worked on your craft, studied, wrote and rewrote, it's likely more people want to read you, want to hear you, and want to talk with you. It's also likely that traditionally published folks will want to hang out with others of the same ilk, or at least know who's who, etc. Anyway, different professional organizations have different levels for different types of publishers and writers. And sometimes it's as simple as... If people can pay a given company to get their books published, then that company isn't accepted as an eligible company, so if you get published by them, you can't join the organization.

What all of this means is that, because Harlequin is getting into those other avenues, all Harlequin writers might, for instance, have problems joining Mystery Writers of America. Romance Writers of America is also, apparently, reassessing Harlequin's position in its organization.
stacia_seaman and
writer_beware2

have much better written and informative takes on it all.

I have to admit, I was really excited when I joined MWA and realized that I didn't have to do too much work to do so—Bella Books was already on their list of approved publishers, which meant I was able to join and all that, so I'm an active/eligible/whatever is the cool-writer-group-name of RWA and MWA (I joined RWA mostly because they have a great annual conference where one can learn lots of stuff from talented and wonderfully qualified people whose names you see all over the place, including in the line at the grocery store).