Oh dear.
Hmm. Well, I hope he got a good contract with Harlequin. Honestly, he may be better off as a self-publisher.
Here is one of the many articles I've read on how Harlequin has a habit of unfairly compensating and poorly treating its writers. Self-publishing isn't for everyone and it takes a lot of rational thought over whether or not to invest the time to either learn how to do everything yourself or in which small services to hire to help you with the bits you can't do yourself.
But, honestly, if you're good enough Harlequin accepts your manuscripts you might be better off going on your own. Wish him luck either way. :) He might have one of the few good contracts out there, after all. So Harlequin might ultimately be the best place for him.
