Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware

Kevin Weiss, President and CEO of Author Solutions Inc., has issued a video statement addressing the responses by RWA, SFWA, MWA, and NINC to ASI’s recent partnerships with commercial publishers in launching pay-to-publish divisions.

According to ASI’s press release about the video statement,

Weiss takes exception to these guilds’ position that only traditionally-published books can succeed. “There are plenty of books in traditional publishing today that just don’t make it; it’s a hits business,” Weiss said. “It’s why the publishing industry is going through a transformation today and the consumer has everything to say about what is good content and what isn’t good content. To say that in order for a book to make it in the marketplace it has to blessed by a traditional publisher doesn’t make any sense in 2009.”

Which of course is not at all what the various “guilds'” statements said, but oh well. Weiss also scolds the “guilds” for being backward-looking, but does not address the conflict-of-interest and deceptive advertising concerns raised by several of the statements.

(Both Harlequin and Thomas Nelson are mentioned in the video, but the press release names only Harlequin–likely because Nelson has not, to date, been the target of the same level of criticism. This is unfair, in my view–I see no reason why, since Harlequin has been pilloried for DellArte Press, Nelson should be getting practically a free pass with West Bow Press.)