It Ain’t a Mystery, But I’m Still Puzzled
Published December 5th, 2009 | 
This past week much has been made about Mystery Writer’s of America’s decision to delist Harlequin for it’s dalliance with pay-to-publish services. Many self-publishers are up in arms over this decision because it’s prejudiced against those who self-publish.
Given that MWA has always excluded self-publishers and vanity publishers in its membership guidelines, I’m not sure why anyone should be surprised by this move. Harlequin is clearly in violation of MWA’s bylaws.
That being said, I think MWA’s prejudice is ridiculous. Given that more and more traditional publishers are experimenting with new business models and alternative streams of revenue. Given that more and more writers are pursuing publication through alternative means. Given that many small independent and micro-presses and their writers do not meet criteria for MWA inclusion. The MWA is hurting itself more than it’s hurting Harlequin. It is risking making itself completely irrelevant as a group and the Edgar Award meaningless.
I say this with love MWA, but seriously — you should be promoting quality writing, not exclusivity. Believe me, I do understand MWA’s decision to exclude Harlequin and we should all be mindful of publishing practices that could be construed as unethical, but MWA’s bylaws also clearly speak to a larger prejudice.
Let’s set aside the argument over the difference between self-publishers and vanity publishers for the time being and just focus on those micro-presses who do small runs under MWA’s 500 copy minimum, whose titles are only available for sale a brick ‘n’ mortar booksellers by special order. Let’s say Joe Schmoe, a cutting edge mystery writer writes THE GREATEST MYSTERY NOVEL EVER, but there’s only about 300 copies of his book printed and it’s only available for sale via Amazon and the publisher’s website. Granted, this scenario is unlikely, but it’s not impossible and it’s becoming less and less unlikely that this could happen.
Let’s say in the year Joe Schmoe’s book is published, A-list Mystery Writer X releases his upteenth serial detective novel — a book most critics and readers agree isn’t quite as good as the author’s earlier work (and certainly not as good as Joe Schmoe’s book that hardly anyone’s even heard of at this point). But, as circumstances would have it, Writer X’s book is better than the latest novels by Writers Y, Z, and M, so he wins his fifth or sixth or seven Edgar Award even though Joe probably should’ve won save for the fact that he doesn’t qualify for membership or consideration for the award.
My point is this: If Joe Schmoe could become a member of MWA and win their award, maybe more people would hear about Joe’s wonderful book and this would lead to a larger print run and perhaps even a contract with a major publishing house. What is the purpose of organizations like the MWA if not to make it possible for this sort of thing to happen? And if organizations like the MWA are not looking out for writers like Joe Schmoe, isn’t their purpose ultimately to perpetuate the big circle-jerk that’s killing traditional publishing? Am I alone in thinking this way? Seriously. These publishing traditionalists are so pregnant with self-righteousness and indignant rage against self-publishing that I feel like handing these clowns prenatal vitamins and a lifetime supply of diapers.
Posted in Current Events, Happy Horseshit, Publishing, Rants, The Writing Life, fiction, random thoughts5 Responses to It Ain’t a Mystery, But I’m Still Puzzled
You are not alone.
Last year, I met William Mize at Necronomicon here in Tampa. He spoke alongside an author who publishes her books through Lulu.com, saying that he had published his first book through iUniverse. It was a hit, he said, and was even nominated for a Shamus Award in 2001.
However, once they realized he had self-published the novel, they rewrote their awards rules to exclude self-published books. He was the first, and last, self-published author to be nominated for such an award.
It’s a shame that these associations — MWA, RWA, SFWA, and the like — exclude based solely on publication choice instead of merit. It drives me as nuts as when I am told by someone they will not purchase any book that is self or independently published simply because there is no one investing in the product and no quality control.
S.L. has hit right on the head and is correct.
I even joked, in correspondence with Bob Randisi that they should call it the Mize Rule. Not soon afterward, I dropped out of both the PWA and the MWA. Just sayin’.
There are quite a few small presses that don’t meet MWA’s elite requirements simply because they issue smaller first print runs (often a wise move for a variety of reasons). Those same presses contract with professional book editors, book designers, cover artists, etc. Manuscripts are carefully considered for quality, marketability, and reader demand. If anything, small presses need to be even more selective in what they publish than the larger houses.
It is unfortunate that organizations like MWA don’t care to look beyond their biases to learn what independent publishers are doing these days and all that small presses could offer them.
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