In response to criticism over its newly launched self-publishing imprint, Harlequin has changed the name from Harlequin Horizons to DellArte Press. As CEO Donna Hayes promised, the new name makes no mention of Harlequin, and neither does the accompanying website.

This still may not sway the negative opinions of the writers’ associations that spoke out against the new imprint. Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, in particular, is calling for complete disassociation from the self-publishing aspect, not just a name change.

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As we reported in May, President Obama’s mother will be a published author soon. S. Ann Dunham’s doctoral dissertation from the University of Hawaii will be released in print through Duke University Press next month, 14 years after her death.

Ken Wissoker, editorial director of Duke University Press, described Dunham’s dissertation as:

“a forerunner of much of today’s work on using direct micro-credits and small loans. The book is about what small villagers can do entrepreneurially to help themselves. Her message is very accessible: trust people in small villages to be able to do good things if they have resources.”

Plans to publish the disseration started before Obama was elected President, with the support and contribution of Dunham’s original academic advisor Alice Dewey, Dunham’s former classmate Nancy Cooper, the American Anthropological Asssociation, and Obama’s half-sister Maya Soetoro-Ng. Still, Wissoker says that the book “will also shed light on part of President Obama’s legacy and why his life brings something different to the presidency.”

Surviving Against the Odds: Village Industry in Indonesia will be published on December 3 in hardcover with an initial print run of 10,000. There will be a press conference, panel discussion, and reception held in Philadelphia to celebrate the release.