Diary of a Mad Editor

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.