Harlequin Enterprises Ltd
Encyclopedia
Harlequin Enterprises Limited is a Toronto
, Ontario-based company that is a publisher of series romance
and women's fiction
. Owned by the Torstar Corporation, the largest newspaper publisher in Canada, the company publishes approximately 120 new titles each month in 29 different languages in 107 international markets on six continents. These books are written by over 1,300 authors worldwide, offering readers a broad range of fiction including romance
, psychological thriller
s and relationship novels. The company reported sales of 131 million books in 2006--half overseas and 96% outside of Canada.
as a paperback reprinting company. The business was a partnership between Advocate Printers and Doug Weld of Bryant Press, Richard Bonnycastle
, plus Jack Palmer, head of the Canadian distributor of the Saturday Evening Post and the Ladies' Home Journal
. Palmer oversaw marketing for the new company and Richard Bonnycastle
took charge of the production. http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Harlequin-Enterprises-Limited-Company-History.html
The company's first product was Nancy Bruff's novel The Manatee. For its first few years, the company published a wide range of books, all offered for sale for 25 cents. Among the novels they reprinted were works by Agatha Christie
, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, James Hadley Chase
, and Somerset Maugham. Their biggest success was Jean Plaidy's 1951 release, Beyond the Blue Mountain. Of the 30,000 copies sold, only 48 were returned. Although the new company had strong sales, profit margins were limited and the operation struggled to stay solvent.
Following the death of Jack Palmer in the mid-1950s, Richard Bonnycastle acquired his twenty-five percent interest in Harlequin. Still struggling to survive, soon Doug Weld departed and Richard Bonnycastle, now in full control, transferred Weld's shares to key staff member, Ruth Palmour.
In 1953 Harlequin began to publish medical romances. When the company's chief editor died the following year, Bonnycastle's wife, Mary, took over his duties. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,908131-2,00.html Mary Bonnycastle enjoyed reading the romances of British publisher Mills and Boon, and, at her urging, in 1957 Harlequin acquired the North American distribution rights to the category romance novels which had been published by Mills and Boon in the Commonwealth of Nations
. The first Mills and Boon novel to be reprinted by Harlequin was Anne Vinton's The Hospital in Buwambo (Mills and Boon No 407).
with Alan Boon, the son of a Mills and Boon founder, and the two would informally agree to extend their business agreement for an additional year.
Mary Bonnycastle and her daughter Judy Burgess exercised editorial control over which Mills and Boon novels were reprinted by Harlequin. They had a "decency code" and rejected more sexually explicit material that Mills and Boon submitted for reprinting. Upon realizing that the genre was popular, Richard Bonnycastle finally decided to read a romance novel. He chose one of the more explicit novels and enjoyed it. On his orders, the company conducted a market test with the novel he had read and discovered that it outsold a similar, tamer novel. Overall, intimacy in the novels never extended beyond a chaste kiss between the protagonists.
The romances proved to be hugely popular, and by 1964 the company was exclusively publishing Mills and Boon novels. Although Harlequin had the rights to distribute the Mills and Boon books throughout North America, in 1967 over 78% of their sales took place in Canada, where the sell-through
rate was approximately 85%. Richard Bonnycastle died in 1968 and his son, Richard Bonnycastle, Jr.
, took over the company. He immediately organized the 1969 relocation of operations to Toronto
, Ontario
where he would build the company into a major force in the publishing industry. In 1970, Bonnycastle, Jr. contracted with Pocket Books
and Simon and Schuster to distribute the Mills and Boon novels in the United States.
On October 1, 1971, Harlequin purchased Mills and Boon. John Boon, another founder's son, remained with the company, overseeing British operations. North American booksellers were reluctant to stock mass market paperbacks, Harlequin chose to sell their books "where the women are", distributing them in supermarkets and other retail stores. The company focuses on selling the line of books, rather than individual titles. Rather than traditional advertising, the company focused on giveaways. A sampling of books within a line would be given away, sometimes in conjunction with other products, in the hopes that readers would continue to buy books within that line. Harlequin then began a reader service, selling directly to readers who agreed to purchase a certain number of books each month.
At the time that Harlequin purchased Mills and Boon, the company published only one line of category romances. Six novels were released each month in this line, known as Harlequin Romance. At the urging of John Boon, in 1973 Harlequin introduced a second line, Harlequin Presents. Designed partially to highlight three popular and prolific authors, Violet Winspear
, Anne Hampson
, and Anne Mather
, these novels were slightly more sensual than their Harlequin Romance counterparts. Although Mary Bonnycastle disapproved of the more sensual nature of these novels, they had sold well in Great Britain
, and the company chose to distribute them in North America as well. Within two years the Harlequin Presents novels were outselling Harlequin Romance.
In late 1975, Toronto Star Ltd. acquired a 52.5 percent interest in Harlequin and in 1981 acquired the balance of the shares. http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Harlequin-Enterprises-Limited-Company-History.html http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Harlequin-Enterprises-Limited-Company-History.html.
. Dailey's novels provided the romance genre's "first look at heroines, heroes and courtships that take place in America, with American sensibilities, assumptions, history, and most of all, settings." Harlequin was unsure how the market would react to this new type of romance, and was unwilling to fully embrace it. In the late 1970s, a Harlequin editor rejected a manuscript by Nora Roberts
, who has since become the top-selling romance author, because "they already had their American writer."
Harlequin terminated its distribution contract with Simon and Schuster and Pocket Books in 1976. This left Simon and Schuster with a large sales force and no product. To fill this gap, and to take advantage of the untapped talent of the American writers Harlequin had rejected, Simon and Schuster formed Silhouette Books in 1980. Silhouette published several lines of category romance, and encouraged their writers to experiment within the genre, creating new kinds of heroes and heroines and addressing contemporary social issues.
Realizing their mistake, Harlequin launched their own line of America-focused romances in 1980. The Harlequin Superromance line was the first of its lines to originate in North America instead of in Britain. The novels were similar to the Harlequin Presents books, but were longer and featured American settings and American characters.
Harlequin had also failed to adapt quickly to the signs that readers appreciated novels with more explicit sex scenes, and in 1980, several publishers entered the category romance market to fill that gap. That year, Dell launched Candlelight Ecstasy, the first line to waive the requirement that heroines be virginal. By the end of 1983, sales for the Candlelight Ecstasy line totaled $30 million. Silhouette also launched similar lines, Desire and Special Edition, each of which had a 90-100% sellout rate each month. The sudden increase in category romance lines meant an equally sudden increase in demand for writers of the new style of romance novel. This tight market caused a proportionate decrease in the quality of the novels that were being released. By 1984, the market was saturated with category lines and readers had begun to complain of redundancy in plots. The following year, the "dampening effect of the high level of redundancy associated with series romances was evident in the decreased number of titles being read per month." Harlequin's return rate, which had been less than 25% in 1978, when it was the primary provider of category romance, swelled to 60%.
In 1984, Harlequin purchased Silhouette. Despite the acquisition, Silhouette continued to retain editorial control and to publish various lines under their own imprint. Eight years later, Harlequin attempted to purchase Zebra, but the deal did not go through. Despite the loss of Zebra, Harlequin maintained an 85% share of the North American category romance market in 1992.
, purchased Harlequin in 1981. The company began actively expanding into other markets. Although the authors of Harlequin novels universally share English as a first language, each Harlequin office functions independently in deciding which books to publish, edit, translate, and print, "to ensure maximum adaptibility to the particulars of their respective markets."
Harlequin began expanding into other parts of Europe in 1974, when it entered into a distribution agreement with Cora Verlag, a division of German publisher Axel Springer AG
. The companies signed a two-year agreement to release two Mills and Boon novels each month in magazine format. The books sold well, and when the agreement came up for renewal Harlequin instead purchased a 50% interest in Cora Verlag. The new joint venture
format allowed Harlequin to receive more of the profits, and allowed them to gain continued distribution in West Germany
, Austria
, and Switzerland
. As of 1998, Germany represented 40% of Harlequin's total European business.
During this same period, Harlequin opened an office in Holland. Although this office lost money in its first year, by its third year in business it had accumulated a profit. In 1979, the company expanded in Scandinavia
with an office in Stockholm
. Expansion was rapid in both Finland
and Norway
. Within two years of its opening, Harlequin held 24% of the market for mass market books in Sweden
. Scandinavia offered unique issues however, as booksellers refused to sell the category romances, complaining that the books' short life span (one month) created too much work for too little compensation. Booksellers and distributors also worried that the uniformity of the Harlequin book covers made advertising too difficult. Instead, Harlequin novels in Scandinavia are classified as magazines, and sold in supermarkets, at newststands, or through subscription. Harlequin has retained their North American style direct marketing. The direct marketing message is very similar in Scandinavia to that of North America, but the target audience differs a bit.
The fall of the Berlin Wall
in 1989, gave Harlequin an opportunity to extend into previously closed markets. Cora Verlag distributed over 720,000 romance novels at border checkpoints to introduce East Germans to the company's books. The same year, Harlequin's German joint venture began distributing books in Hungary
. Within two years, the company was selling 7 million romances in that country, and by the third year, Harlequin sold 11 million books in Hungary, a nation which at the time contained only 5.5 million women. At the same time, Harlequin's wholly owned subsidiary in Poland
was able to order initial print runs of 174,000 copies of each title, and the Czech Republic
was purchasing over $10 million each year of Harlequin novels. In 1992, Harlequin had its best year (as of 1998), selling over 205 million novels in 24 languages on 6 continents. The company released a total of 800 new titles in English, with 6,600 foreign editions.
Harlequin moved into the Chinese market in January 1995. In China, the company produced books in both Mandarin and English
. Twenty titles were offered each year in Mandarin, with 550,000 copies offered of each. An additional ten titles were offered in English, with print runs of 200,000 copies each.
In total, Harlequin has offices in New York, London, Tokyo, Milan, Sydney, Paris, Madrid, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Athens, Budapest, Granges-Pacot and Warsaw, as well as licensing agreements in nine other countries.
The novels published overseas are not necessarily contemporaries of those sold in North America, or even those sold in other European countries. International editors are allowed to choose from Harlequin's backlist, and books published in a particular country may have been published in North America six or seven years previously. As the novels are translated into the country's native tongue, the names of the hero or heroine may be changed and the title might not be translated literally. Furthermore, each novel is usually shortened by 10-15% from its original English version. This is usually accomplished by removing references to American pop culture, removing puns that do not translate well, and tightening the descriptive passages.
, whose novel Slow Burn launched the imprint. For its first few years, MIRA produced four novels each month. Of these, one would be an original novel, while the other three were repackaged backlist
by other Harlequin authors.
Harlequin has expanded its range of books, offering everything from romance novels under its various Harlequin and Silhouette imprints; thrillers and commercial literary fiction under the MIRA imprint; erotic fiction under the Spice imprint; Bridget Jones
-style 'Chick lit
' under its Red Dress Ink imprint; fantasy books under the LUNA imprint; inspirational fiction published under the name Steeple Hill and Steeple Hill Café; African-American romance under its Kimani Press
imprints; male action adventure books under Gold Eagle imprint and single title romances under the HQN imprint.
imprint, Harlequin Horizons.
The Romance Writers of America
, Science Fiction Writers of America, and Mystery Writers of America
denounced the move and revoked the eligibility of Harlequin's other imprints for their associations' conferences and awards. Following the backlash the imprint changed its name to DellArte Press.
, which released only 219 romance titles. In 2006, Harlequin published books in 26 languages in 109 international markets. They sold a total of 131 million books, similar to the company's sales in 2005.
The company is considered one of the most profitable in publishing. Over $585 million worth of books sold in 2003, for gross profits of $124 million and a profit margin of 21%. Its large profit margin can be tied in part to the amount of advance that its authors receive. These advances are often smaller than the industry average, and can total to only a few thousand dollars for a series romance. Despite its profitability, and a 37.2% pay hike for Harlequin President and CEO, Donna Hayes in 2011, there is controversy with its royalty program for authors. In 2011, the Romance Writers Association sent a letter to all members to "exercise due diligence in reviewing contracts" with Harlequin because "several members of RWA have expressed concern regarding" Harlequin's digital royalty rate changes and non-compete clauses. This is not the first time Harlequin had been called out by the Romance Writers Association regarding Harlequin's treatment of their authors. In 2009, Harlequin was called out by the Romance Writers of America, Mystery Writer's Association, and the Science Fiction Writers Association for schemes of making their authors pay for publishing.
, Debbie Macomber
, Susan Wiggs
and Linda Lael Miller
. The first book was published in October 2004, with a new volume published annually. Proceeds from the sale of the book are reinvested in the Harlequin More Than Words program.
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario-based company that is a publisher of series romance
Romance novel
The romance novel is a literary genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries. Novels in this genre place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Through the late...
and women's fiction
Women's fiction
Women's fiction is an umbrella term for books that are marketed to female readers, and includes many mainstream novels, romantic fiction, "chick lit,"and other sub genres. It is distinct from Women's writing, which refers to literature written by women...
. Owned by the Torstar Corporation, the largest newspaper publisher in Canada, the company publishes approximately 120 new titles each month in 29 different languages in 107 international markets on six continents. These books are written by over 1,300 authors worldwide, offering readers a broad range of fiction including romance
Romance novel
The romance novel is a literary genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries. Novels in this genre place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Through the late...
, psychological thriller
Psychological thriller
Psychological thriller is a specific sub-genre of the broad ranged thriller with heavy focus on characters. However, it often incorporates elements from the mystery and drama genre, along with the typical traits of the thriller genre...
s and relationship novels. The company reported sales of 131 million books in 2006--half overseas and 96% outside of Canada.
Early years
Harlequin was founded in May 1949 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
as a paperback reprinting company. The business was a partnership between Advocate Printers and Doug Weld of Bryant Press, Richard Bonnycastle
Richard H. G. Bonnycastle
Richard Henry Gardyn Bonnycastle was a Canadian lawyer, fur trader, adventurer, and a businessman who helped found and then owned the romance novel publishing company, Harlequin Enterprises....
, plus Jack Palmer, head of the Canadian distributor of the Saturday Evening Post and the Ladies' Home Journal
Ladies' Home Journal
Ladies' Home Journal is an American magazine which first appeared on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States...
. Palmer oversaw marketing for the new company and Richard Bonnycastle
Richard H. G. Bonnycastle
Richard Henry Gardyn Bonnycastle was a Canadian lawyer, fur trader, adventurer, and a businessman who helped found and then owned the romance novel publishing company, Harlequin Enterprises....
took charge of the production. http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Harlequin-Enterprises-Limited-Company-History.html
The company's first product was Nancy Bruff's novel The Manatee. For its first few years, the company published a wide range of books, all offered for sale for 25 cents. Among the novels they reprinted were works by Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, James Hadley Chase
James Hadley Chase
James Hadley Chase is the best-known pseudonym of the British writer Rene Brabazon Raymond who also wrote under the names James L. Docherty, Ambrose Grant, and Raymond Marshall. Chase is one of the best known thriller writers of all time...
, and Somerset Maugham. Their biggest success was Jean Plaidy's 1951 release, Beyond the Blue Mountain. Of the 30,000 copies sold, only 48 were returned. Although the new company had strong sales, profit margins were limited and the operation struggled to stay solvent.
Following the death of Jack Palmer in the mid-1950s, Richard Bonnycastle acquired his twenty-five percent interest in Harlequin. Still struggling to survive, soon Doug Weld departed and Richard Bonnycastle, now in full control, transferred Weld's shares to key staff member, Ruth Palmour.
In 1953 Harlequin began to publish medical romances. When the company's chief editor died the following year, Bonnycastle's wife, Mary, took over his duties. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,908131-2,00.html Mary Bonnycastle enjoyed reading the romances of British publisher Mills and Boon, and, at her urging, in 1957 Harlequin acquired the North American distribution rights to the category romance novels which had been published by Mills and Boon in the Commonwealth of Nations
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
. The first Mills and Boon novel to be reprinted by Harlequin was Anne Vinton's The Hospital in Buwambo (Mills and Boon No 407).
Mills and Boon partnership
The contract with Mills and Boon was based solely on a handshake, given each year when Bonnycastle visited London. He would lunch at the Ritz HotelRitz Hotel
The Ritz London is a luxury 5-star hotel located in Piccadilly and overlooking Green Park in London.- History :Swiss hotelier César Ritz, former manager of the Savoy Hotel, opened the hotel on 24 May 1906...
with Alan Boon, the son of a Mills and Boon founder, and the two would informally agree to extend their business agreement for an additional year.
Mary Bonnycastle and her daughter Judy Burgess exercised editorial control over which Mills and Boon novels were reprinted by Harlequin. They had a "decency code" and rejected more sexually explicit material that Mills and Boon submitted for reprinting. Upon realizing that the genre was popular, Richard Bonnycastle finally decided to read a romance novel. He chose one of the more explicit novels and enjoyed it. On his orders, the company conducted a market test with the novel he had read and discovered that it outsold a similar, tamer novel. Overall, intimacy in the novels never extended beyond a chaste kiss between the protagonists.
The romances proved to be hugely popular, and by 1964 the company was exclusively publishing Mills and Boon novels. Although Harlequin had the rights to distribute the Mills and Boon books throughout North America, in 1967 over 78% of their sales took place in Canada, where the sell-through
Sell-through
In publishing, sell-through refers to a percentage of units shipped which are actually sold. In the case of books, the rest is returned to the publisher. Other items, such as software, are usually discounted....
rate was approximately 85%. Richard Bonnycastle died in 1968 and his son, Richard Bonnycastle, Jr.
Richard A. N. Bonnycastle
Richard Arthur Northwood Bonnycastle is a Canadian businessman who is the former owner and publisher of Harlequin Enterprises and an owner of Thoroughbred racehorses...
, took over the company. He immediately organized the 1969 relocation of operations to Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
where he would build the company into a major force in the publishing industry. In 1970, Bonnycastle, Jr. contracted with Pocket Books
Pocket Books
Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books.- History :Pocket produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in America in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing industry...
and Simon and Schuster to distribute the Mills and Boon novels in the United States.
On October 1, 1971, Harlequin purchased Mills and Boon. John Boon, another founder's son, remained with the company, overseeing British operations. North American booksellers were reluctant to stock mass market paperbacks, Harlequin chose to sell their books "where the women are", distributing them in supermarkets and other retail stores. The company focuses on selling the line of books, rather than individual titles. Rather than traditional advertising, the company focused on giveaways. A sampling of books within a line would be given away, sometimes in conjunction with other products, in the hopes that readers would continue to buy books within that line. Harlequin then began a reader service, selling directly to readers who agreed to purchase a certain number of books each month.
At the time that Harlequin purchased Mills and Boon, the company published only one line of category romances. Six novels were released each month in this line, known as Harlequin Romance. At the urging of John Boon, in 1973 Harlequin introduced a second line, Harlequin Presents. Designed partially to highlight three popular and prolific authors, Violet Winspear
Violet Winspear
Violet Winspear was a British writer of 70 romance novels in Mills & Boon from 1961 to 1987....
, Anne Hampson
Anne Hampson
Anne Hampson was a British writer of over 125 romance novels in Mills & Boon from 1969 to 1998. She published historical romance novels under the pseudonym Jane Wilby. Although she retired in 1998, in 2005 she published two romance and a crime novel...
, and Anne Mather
Anne Mather
Anne Mather is the pseudonym used by Mildred Grieveson , a popular British author of over 160 romance novels. She also signed novels as Caroline Fleming and Cardine Fleming....
, these novels were slightly more sensual than their Harlequin Romance counterparts. Although Mary Bonnycastle disapproved of the more sensual nature of these novels, they had sold well in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, and the company chose to distribute them in North America as well. Within two years the Harlequin Presents novels were outselling Harlequin Romance.
In late 1975, Toronto Star Ltd. acquired a 52.5 percent interest in Harlequin and in 1981 acquired the balance of the shares. http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Harlequin-Enterprises-Limited-Company-History.html http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Harlequin-Enterprises-Limited-Company-History.html.
Romance wars
By 1975, 70% of Harlequin's sales came from the United States. Despite this fact, the company contracted with only British writers. Harlequin contracted with its first American author in late 1975 when they purchased a novel by Janet DaileyJanet Dailey
Janet Anne Haradon Dailey is an American author of numerous romance novels as Janet Dailey . Her novels have been translated into nineteen languages and have sold over 300 million copies worldwide....
. Dailey's novels provided the romance genre's "first look at heroines, heroes and courtships that take place in America, with American sensibilities, assumptions, history, and most of all, settings." Harlequin was unsure how the market would react to this new type of romance, and was unwilling to fully embrace it. In the late 1970s, a Harlequin editor rejected a manuscript by Nora Roberts
Nora Roberts
Nora Roberts is a bestselling American author of more than 209 romance novels. She writes as J.D. Robb for the "In Death" series, and has also written under the pseudonym Jill March...
, who has since become the top-selling romance author, because "they already had their American writer."
Realizing their mistake, Harlequin launched their own line of America-focused romances in 1980. The Harlequin Superromance line was the first of its lines to originate in North America instead of in Britain. The novels were similar to the Harlequin Presents books, but were longer and featured American settings and American characters.
Harlequin had also failed to adapt quickly to the signs that readers appreciated novels with more explicit sex scenes, and in 1980, several publishers entered the category romance market to fill that gap. That year, Dell launched Candlelight Ecstasy, the first line to waive the requirement that heroines be virginal. By the end of 1983, sales for the Candlelight Ecstasy line totaled $30 million. Silhouette also launched similar lines, Desire and Special Edition, each of which had a 90-100% sellout rate each month. The sudden increase in category romance lines meant an equally sudden increase in demand for writers of the new style of romance novel. This tight market caused a proportionate decrease in the quality of the novels that were being released. By 1984, the market was saturated with category lines and readers had begun to complain of redundancy in plots. The following year, the "dampening effect of the high level of redundancy associated with series romances was evident in the decreased number of titles being read per month." Harlequin's return rate, which had been less than 25% in 1978, when it was the primary provider of category romance, swelled to 60%.
In 1984, Harlequin purchased Silhouette. Despite the acquisition, Silhouette continued to retain editorial control and to publish various lines under their own imprint. Eight years later, Harlequin attempted to purchase Zebra, but the deal did not go through. Despite the loss of Zebra, Harlequin maintained an 85% share of the North American category romance market in 1992.
International expansion
Torstar Corporation, which owns Canada's largest daily newspaper, the Toronto StarToronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
, purchased Harlequin in 1981. The company began actively expanding into other markets. Although the authors of Harlequin novels universally share English as a first language, each Harlequin office functions independently in deciding which books to publish, edit, translate, and print, "to ensure maximum adaptibility to the particulars of their respective markets."
Harlequin began expanding into other parts of Europe in 1974, when it entered into a distribution agreement with Cora Verlag, a division of German publisher Axel Springer AG
Axel Springer AG
Axel Springer AG is one of the largest multimedia companies in Europe, with more than 11,500 employees and with annual revenues of about €2.9 billion. The Company is active in a total of 36 countries, including Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Russia and Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland...
. The companies signed a two-year agreement to release two Mills and Boon novels each month in magazine format. The books sold well, and when the agreement came up for renewal Harlequin instead purchased a 50% interest in Cora Verlag. The new joint venture
Joint venture
A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...
format allowed Harlequin to receive more of the profits, and allowed them to gain continued distribution in West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. As of 1998, Germany represented 40% of Harlequin's total European business.
During this same period, Harlequin opened an office in Holland. Although this office lost money in its first year, by its third year in business it had accumulated a profit. In 1979, the company expanded in Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
with an office in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
. Expansion was rapid in both Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. Within two years of its opening, Harlequin held 24% of the market for mass market books in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. Scandinavia offered unique issues however, as booksellers refused to sell the category romances, complaining that the books' short life span (one month) created too much work for too little compensation. Booksellers and distributors also worried that the uniformity of the Harlequin book covers made advertising too difficult. Instead, Harlequin novels in Scandinavia are classified as magazines, and sold in supermarkets, at newststands, or through subscription. Harlequin has retained their North American style direct marketing. The direct marketing message is very similar in Scandinavia to that of North America, but the target audience differs a bit.
The fall of the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
in 1989, gave Harlequin an opportunity to extend into previously closed markets. Cora Verlag distributed over 720,000 romance novels at border checkpoints to introduce East Germans to the company's books. The same year, Harlequin's German joint venture began distributing books in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
. Within two years, the company was selling 7 million romances in that country, and by the third year, Harlequin sold 11 million books in Hungary, a nation which at the time contained only 5.5 million women. At the same time, Harlequin's wholly owned subsidiary in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
was able to order initial print runs of 174,000 copies of each title, and the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
was purchasing over $10 million each year of Harlequin novels. In 1992, Harlequin had its best year (as of 1998), selling over 205 million novels in 24 languages on 6 continents. The company released a total of 800 new titles in English, with 6,600 foreign editions.
Harlequin moved into the Chinese market in January 1995. In China, the company produced books in both Mandarin and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. Twenty titles were offered each year in Mandarin, with 550,000 copies offered of each. An additional ten titles were offered in English, with print runs of 200,000 copies each.
In total, Harlequin has offices in New York, London, Tokyo, Milan, Sydney, Paris, Madrid, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Athens, Budapest, Granges-Pacot and Warsaw, as well as licensing agreements in nine other countries.
International editions
Harlequin's success in overseas markets is a result of its "emphasis on locality and language, independence and autonomy." The editors in Harlequin's branch offices have a great deal of control over which Harlequin novels will be published in their market. An editor generally chooses a book after either reading it herself, receiving a favorable review of the book from someone else, or reading a tip sheet about the novel. The editors accept a novel for one of four reasons:- She believes it will sell well.
- She really liked the novel
- She is looking for a specific setting or topic for the month
- The Harlequin head office insists that the book be published.
The novels published overseas are not necessarily contemporaries of those sold in North America, or even those sold in other European countries. International editors are allowed to choose from Harlequin's backlist, and books published in a particular country may have been published in North America six or seven years previously. As the novels are translated into the country's native tongue, the names of the hero or heroine may be changed and the title might not be translated literally. Furthermore, each novel is usually shortened by 10-15% from its original English version. This is usually accomplished by removing references to American pop culture, removing puns that do not translate well, and tightening the descriptive passages.
MIRA
In the early 1990s, many of Harlequin's authors began leaving the company to write single-title romances for other publishers. To retain their top talent, in October 1994 Harlequin launched the MIRA imprint to publish single-title romances. Most of their early novels were written by well-known Harlequin authors, including Heather Graham PozzessereHeather Graham Pozzessere
Heather Graham Pozzessere is a best-selling US writer, who writes primarily romance novels...
, whose novel Slow Burn launched the imprint. For its first few years, MIRA produced four novels each month. Of these, one would be an original novel, while the other three were repackaged backlist
Backlist
A backlist is a list of older books available from a publisher, as opposed to titles newly published .Building a strong backlist has traditionally been seen as the way to produce a profitable publishing house, as the most expensive aspects of the publishing process have already been paid for and...
by other Harlequin authors.
Harlequin has expanded its range of books, offering everything from romance novels under its various Harlequin and Silhouette imprints; thrillers and commercial literary fiction under the MIRA imprint; erotic fiction under the Spice imprint; Bridget Jones
Bridget Jones
Bridget Jones is a franchise based on the fictional character with the same name. English writer Helen Fielding started her Bridget Jones's Diary column in The Independent in 1995, chronicling the life of Bridget Jones as a thirtysomething single woman in London as she tries to make sense of life...
-style 'Chick lit
Chick lit
Chick lit is genre fiction which addresses issues of modern womanhood, often humorously and lightheartedly. The genre sold well during the 1990s and 2000s, with chick lit titles topping bestseller lists and the creation of imprints devoted entirely to chick lit...
' under its Red Dress Ink imprint; fantasy books under the LUNA imprint; inspirational fiction published under the name Steeple Hill and Steeple Hill Café; African-American romance under its Kimani Press
Kimani Press
Kimani Press was formed by Harlequin Enterprises, Ltd. in December 2005, with the purchase of the Arabesque, Sepia and New Spirit Imprints from BET Books. Arabesque is the first line of original African-American romance novels from a major publishing house, and will publish two single-titles each...
imprints; male action adventure books under Gold Eagle imprint and single title romances under the HQN imprint.
Harlequin Horizons
In 2009, Harlequin Enterprises announced the creation of a vanity pressVanity press
A vanity press or vanity publisher is a term describing a publishing house that publishes books at the author's expense. Publisher Johnathon Clifford claims to have coined the term in 1959. However, the term appears in mainstream U.S...
imprint, Harlequin Horizons.
The Romance Writers of America
Romance Writers of America
Romance Writers of America is a national non-profit genre writers association. It provides networking and support to individuals seriously pursuing a career in romance fiction and supports top authors such as Nora Roberts and Judith McNaught.-History:...
, Science Fiction Writers of America, and Mystery Writers of America
Mystery Writers of America
Mystery Writers of America is an organization for mystery writers, based in New York.The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday....
denounced the move and revoked the eligibility of Harlequin's other imprints for their associations' conferences and awards. Following the backlash the imprint changed its name to DellArte Press.
Current
In 2002, Harlequin published 1,113 romance novels, more than half of all romances released in North America. The next most prolific publisher was Kensington BooksKensington Books
Kensington Publishing Corp. is an American book publisher.- Overview :Kensington was founded in 1974 by Walter Zacharius, formerly of Lancer Books. Steven Zacharius became president and CEO in 2005. Vice president Michael Rosamilia has been the CFO since 1989. Laurie Parkin is the vice president...
, which released only 219 romance titles. In 2006, Harlequin published books in 26 languages in 109 international markets. They sold a total of 131 million books, similar to the company's sales in 2005.
The company is considered one of the most profitable in publishing. Over $585 million worth of books sold in 2003, for gross profits of $124 million and a profit margin of 21%. Its large profit margin can be tied in part to the amount of advance that its authors receive. These advances are often smaller than the industry average, and can total to only a few thousand dollars for a series romance. Despite its profitability, and a 37.2% pay hike for Harlequin President and CEO, Donna Hayes in 2011, there is controversy with its royalty program for authors. In 2011, the Romance Writers Association sent a letter to all members to "exercise due diligence in reviewing contracts" with Harlequin because "several members of RWA have expressed concern regarding" Harlequin's digital royalty rate changes and non-compete clauses. This is not the first time Harlequin had been called out by the Romance Writers Association regarding Harlequin's treatment of their authors. In 2009, Harlequin was called out by the Romance Writers of America, Mystery Writer's Association, and the Science Fiction Writers Association for schemes of making their authors pay for publishing.
Harlequin Category Romance Imprints
- Harlequin Romance
- Harlequin American Romance -- small-town
- Harlequin Blaze -- more explicit
- Harlequin Historicals
- Harlequin Intrigue
- Harlequin Presents
- Harlequin Presents Extra
- Harlequin Superromance
- Harlequin Nocturne
- Harlequin Romantic Suspense
- Harlequin Desire
- Harlequin Special Edition
- Harlequin Medical Romance
- Harlequin Showcase
- Harlequin Bestselling Author Collection
- Harlequin The Best of Betty Neels
Love Inspired Imprints
- Love Inspired
- Love Inspired Suspense
- Love Inspired Historical
- Love Inspired Classics
Kimani Press Imprints
- Kimani Press Kimani Romance
- Kimani Press Arabesque
- Kimani Press TRU
- Kimani Press Special Releases
Other Imprints
- Carina Press
- LUNA Books
- MIRA Books
- HQN Books
- Harlequin TEEN
- Harlequin Nonfiction
- Worldwide Library
- Gold Eagle
Harlequin More Than Words
Harlequin Enterprises runs Harlequin More Than Words, a community investment program to reward women's work in communities across North America. Harlequin Enterprises solicits nominations of women who are making notable contributions to their communities. Five women are chosen as Harlequin More Than Words award recipients each year, and a donation of $50,000 is divided equally among their charitable causes. A collection of romance-fiction short stories inspired by their lives is then written by five of Harlequin's leading authors. Some of the biggest names in women's fiction have donated their time and talent to the annual More Than Words anthology, including Diana PalmerDiana Palmer (author)
Susan Kyle, née Susan Eloise Spaeth is an award winning American writer well-known as Diana Palmer, who has published romantic novels since 1979. She has also written romances as Diana Blayne, Katy Currie, and under her married name Susan Kyle and a science fiction novel as Susan S...
, Debbie Macomber
Debbie Macomber
Debbie Macomber is a best-selling American author of over 150 romance novels and contemporary women's fiction. Over 140 million copies of her books are in print throughout the world, and four have become made-for-TV-movies...
, Susan Wiggs
Susan Wiggs
Susan Wiggs is an American author of historical and contemporary romance novels.-Early years:Wiggs began writing as a child, finishing her first novel, A Book About Some Bad Kids, when she was eight. She temporarily abandoned her dream of being a novelist after graduating from Harvard University,...
and Linda Lael Miller
Linda Lael Miller
Linda Lael Miller , is a best-selling American author of more than seventy contemporary and historical romance novels. She has also written under the pen name Lael St. James.-Personal life:...
. The first book was published in October 2004, with a new volume published annually. Proceeds from the sale of the book are reinvested in the Harlequin More Than Words program.
External links
- The Fales Library Guide to the Harlequin Romance Collection of Treva M. Taylor
- Harlequin homepage
- www.HarlequinMoreThanWords.com -- information about the charity and how to make a nomination
- Harlequin digital repository