New business model for publishing?

Romance writing is a distinct genre and may be seen as quite separate from writing children's books, but the business models are similar. Both of these branches of writing have a well-defined audience and a stable group of authors producing most of the best-selling books. Perhaps less noticed is the fact that both genres also have a huge number of would-be authors hammering at their publishing portals. Harlequin Publishers, which dominates the romance field, has lately taken a highly-debated step into letting their wannabes work under the Harlequin label. The newly-launched imprint Harlequin Horizons (which is being pressured to change its name) allows authors to buy a publishing packet that enables them to publish their own book under a quasi-Harlequin imprint. The publisher would collect the up-front money, but authors will get royalties for the sale of the books, which they must publicize for themselves. Sounds like an ordinary vanity press, doesn't it? That's what the Romance Writers of America and the Mystery Writers of America think and they are demanding that Harlequin remove itself from the self-publishing business if it wants to keep its reputation as a respectable publisher. But all publishers of print materials are hard-pressed these days to keep profits high. Will other groups, even perhaps children's book publishers, consider launching similar initiatives? No one publisher dominates children's publishing the way Harlequin does for romance, but a firm like Scholastic is so big it could surely encompass one more arm and make a little extra money from all the slush pile contributors who beg to get in. There's no indication this is happening, but librarians should keep an eye on all branches of publishing. The future may be upon us sooner than we think.