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Harlequin Enterprises

Harlequin Enterprises ULC (known simply as Harlequin) is a romance and women's fiction publisher founded in Winnipeg, Canada, in 1949. From the 1960s, it grew into the largest publisher of romance fiction in the world.

Harlequin Enterprises
Parent companyHarperCollins
Founded1949; 74 years ago (1949) in Winnipeg, Manitoba
Founder
Country of originCanada
Headquarters locationToronto, Ontario
Publication typesBooks
Fiction genresRomance, action
ImprintsCarina, Canary Street, Kimani, Love Inspired, Mira, Hanover Square, Park Row, Graydon House
Revenue$585 million[1]
Official websitewww.harlequin.com

Based in Toronto since 1969,[2] Harlequin was owned by the Torstar Corporation, the largest newspaper publisher in Canada, from 1981 to 2014. It was then purchased by News Corp[3][4] and is now a division of HarperCollins.[5][6] In 1971, Harlequin purchased the London-based publisher Mills & Boon Limited and began a global expansion program opening offices in Australia and major European markets such as Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Netherlands and Scandinavia. Harlequin launched an audiobook program in 2015.[7]

History edit

Early years edit

Harlequin was founded in 1948 by Richard Bonnycastle in Winnipeg, Manitoba, as a paperback reprinting company.[6][8][9] He founded the business while working at Winnipeg's Advocate Printers, a branch of Toronto's Bryant Press, as a way to keep the presses busy.[10]

The business would be owned by Advocate Printers, Doug Weld of Bryant Press, and 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 Bonnycastle took charge of the production.[10]

Harlequin released its first book, Nancy Bruff's The Manatee, in May 1949.[10] In the beginning, Harlequin typically acquired rights from other publishers, though a few original books were published as well.[10] Among the novels they reprinted were works by James Hadley Chase, Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Somerset Maugham. Their biggest success was Jean Plaidy's Beyond the Blue Mountain (1951). Of the 30,000 copies sold, only 48 were returned.[11]

Although the new company had strong sales in its nascent years, profit margins were limited, and the operation struggled to stay solvent. Following the death of Palmer in the mid-1950s, Bonnycastle acquired his 25% interest in Harlequin. With the company still struggling to survive, soon Weld departed and Bonnycastle, now in full control, transferred Weld's shares to secretary Ruth Palmour.[10]

In 1954, the company's chief editor died, and Bonnycastle's wife, Mary, began proofreading books at home and took over his duties.[12][10][8] Mary enjoyed reading the romances of British publisher Mills & 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 & Boon in the Commonwealth of Nations.[13]

The first Mills & Boon novel to be reprinted by Harlequin was Anne Vinton's The Hospital in Buwambo (Mills & Boon No 407).[2]

Mills & Boon partnership edit

The contract with Mills & Boon was based solely on a handshake, given each year when Richard Bonnycastle visited London. He would lunch at the Ritz Hotel with Editorial Director Alan Boon, the son of Gerald Mills, co-founder of Mills & Boon. The two would informally agree to extend their business agreement for an additional year.[14]

Mary Bonnycastle and her daughter Judy Burgess exercised editorial control over which Mills & Boon novels were reprinted by Harlequin. They had a "decency code" and rejected more sexually-explicit material that Mills & Boon submitted for reprinting. Upon realizing the genre was popular, Richard 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.[15] Overall, intimacy in the novels never extended beyond a chaste kiss between the protagonists.[13]

The romances proved to be hugely popular, and by 1964 the company was exclusively publishing Mills & Boon novels under the Harlequin imprint. Although Harlequin had the rights to distribute the Mills & 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 built the company into a major force in the publishing industry.[2] In 1970, Bonnycastle, Jr. contracted with Pocket Books and Simon & Schuster to distribute Harlequin romance fiction novels in the United States.[2]

On October 1, 1971, Harlequin purchased Mills & Boon.[16] This move was made primarily to secure the talents of Alan Boon and his editorial team. John Boon, another of the co-founder's sons, remained with the company as Managing Director overseeing British operations and English language exports to markets around the world, including Australia, India and South Africa.[14]

As North American booksellers were reluctant to stock mass-market paperbacks, Harlequin chose to sell its books "where the women are,"[17] distributing them in supermarkets, drug stores and other retail outlets.[14] The company focuses on selling the line of books as a brand name, rather than individual titles. Headed by Larry Heisey, the marketing team modelled its techniques on those of Procter & Gamble. As well as selling through retail outlets, Harlequin established a direct marketing division taking as its inspiration the systems used by Reader's Digest. 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.[14] Harlequin Reader Service sold directly to readers who agreed to purchase a set number of books each month.[17]

At the time that Harlequin purchased Mills & Boon, the company only published one line of category romances. The Harlequin Romance line released six novels each month. At John Boon's urging, in 1973 Harlequin introduced a second line named Harlequin Presents. Designed partially to highlight three popular and prolific authors, Anne Hampson, Anne Mather, and Violet Winspear, 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 Harlequin Presents novels were outselling Harlequin Romance.[14]

In late 1975 Toronto Star Ltd. acquired a 52.5% interest in Harlequin, and in 1981 acquired the balance of the shares.[18]

Romance wars edit

By 1975, 70% of Harlequin's sales came from the United States.[2] Despite this fact, the company contracted with only British writers. Harlequin contracted its first American author in late 1975 when they purchased a novel by Janet Dailey.[19][20] 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."[21] 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."[22]

 
Silhouette Books logo

Harlequin terminated its distribution contract with Simon & Schuster and Pocket Books in 1976. This left Simon & Schuster with a large sales force and no product.[14] To fill this gap, and to take advantage of the untapped talent of the American writers Harlequin had rejected, Simon & Schuster formed Silhouette Books in 1980.[23] 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.[24]

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.[25]

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.[26] The sudden increase in category romance lines meant an equally sudden increase in demand for writers of the new style of romance novel. By 1984, the market was saturated with category lines and readers had begun to complain of redundancy in plots.[27] 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."[28] Harlequin's return rate, which had been less than 25% in 1978 when it was the primary provider of category romance, swelled to 60%.[29]

In 1984, Harlequin purchased Silhouette from Simon & Schuster.[30] Despite the acquisition, Silhouette continued to retain editorial control and to publish various lines under their own imprint.[16] 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.[31]

International expansion edit

Torstar Corporation, which owns Canada's largest daily newspaper, the Toronto Star, purchased Harlequin in 1981 and began actively expanding into other markets.[32] 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 adaptability to the particulars of their respective markets."[33]

Harlequin began expanding into other parts of Europe in 1974,[citation needed] 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 & 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 Austria, Switzerland, and West Germany. As of 1998, Germany represented 40% of Harlequin's total European business.[34]

During this same period, Harlequin opened an office in the Netherlands. 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.[34] 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.[35] Scandinavia offered unique problems however, as booksellers refused to sell the category romances, complaining that the books' short life span of one month created too much work for too little compensation. Booksellers and distributors also worried that the uniformity of Harlequin's book covers made advertising too difficult. Instead, Harlequin novels in Scandinavia are classified as magazines and sold in supermarkets, at newsstands, or through subscription. Harlequin retains their North American-style direct marketing. Its message in Scandinavia is very similar to that of North America, but its target audience differs slightly.[36]

The 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall 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.[37] The same year, Harlequin's German joint venture began distributing books in Hungary. By 1991 the company was selling 7 million romances in Hungary, and by 1992 Harlequin had sold 11 million books in 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 in Harlequin novels each year.[38] 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.[39]

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 print runs of 550,000 copies each. An additional ten titles were offered in English, with print runs of 200,000 copies each.[38]

International editions edit

In total,[when?] Harlequin has offices in Amsterdam, Athens, Budapest, Granges-Pacot, Hamburg, London, Madrid, Milan, New York, Paris, Stockholm, Sydney, Tokyo, and Warsaw as well as licensing agreements in nine other countries.[citation needed]

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 personally, receiving a favorable review of the book from someone else, or reading a tip sheet about the novel.[40] The editors accept a novel for one of four reasons:[41]

  • Anticipated high sales
  • Perceived quality
  • A setting or topic that fits into a monthly theme
  • Direct orders from the Harlequin head office

The novels published overseas are not necessarily contemporaries of those sold in North America or Europe. 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.[42] 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.[43]

Current edit

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 Books, which released only 219 romance titles.[1] 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.[44]

The company is considered one of the most profitable publishers. 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.[1] Despite its profitability, and a 37.2% pay hike for Harlequin President and CEO Donna Hayes in 2011,[45] the firm's royalty program for authors is controversial. 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.[46] 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 Mystery Writer's Association, Romance Writers of America, and Science Fiction Writers Association for schemes of making their authors pay for publishing.[47]

Class action lawsuit edit

In 2012, a class action lawsuit was filed against Harlequin Enterprises, Ltd. from authors alleging the publisher had fraudulently licensed e-book publishing rights at low rates to one of its subsidiaries in order to pay royalties only on the licensing fees instead of on the full sales receipts; the publisher responded that its authors "have been recompensed fairly and properly".[48]

The lawsuit alleges that Harlequin deprives plaintiffs and the other authors in the class of e-book royalties due them under publishing agreements entered into between 1990 and 2004.

Imprints edit

 
Harlequin Nocturne series

Harlequin edit

Name Description
Harlequin American Romance American protagonists and settings. Four titles released per month.[49] Re-released as Harlequin Treasury Harlequin American Romance 90s.[50]
Harlequin Blaze Erotica. Imprint was ended in 2017 and superseded by Harlequin Dare.[51] As of March 2022 Harlequin Dare has been ended and Harlequin Blaze is releasing four titles per month.[52][53]
Harlequin Dare Erotica; four titles released per month.[54] Launched in 2017.[51] Defunct as of June 2021.[53]
Harlequin Desire Wealthy and successful American protagonist-focused. Six titles released per month[55][56]
Harlequin Duets Defunct. Re-released as Harlequin Treasury Harlequin Duets 90s collection.[57]
Harlequin E[58]
Harlequin Everlasting Love[59] Defunct[60]
Harlequin Flipside Defunct as of 2004[61]
Harlequin Ginger Blossom Defunct romance manga reprints. Formerly Harlequin Violet[62]
Harlequin Heartwarming Wholesome family- and community-focused plots. Four titles released per month[55][63]
Harlequin Historical Historical romance. Six titles released per month.[64] Included Harlequin Historical Undone.[58] Only distributed outside of the United States as of 2004.[61][65]
Harlequin Intrigue Romantic suspense. Six titles released per month[66]
Harlequin KISS Flirty first-encounter contemporary romances. Four titles released per month.[67][68]
Harlequin Love And Laughter Defunct. Re-released as the Harlequin Treasury Harlequin Love & Laughter 90s collection.[69]
Harlequin Medical Romance Medical-focused protagonists and plots. Six titles released per month.[55][70]
Harlequin Mystique 1977-1982[citation needed]
Harlequin NEXT[59] Launched in 2005.[61] Defunct.[60]
Harlequin Nocturne Paranormal romance. Two titles released per month.[71] Includes Harlequin Nocturne Cravings series.[72]
Harlequin Nonfiction[73]
Harlequin Presents Glamorous and wealth-based plots that often feature "alpha male" protagonists. Eight titles released per month.[74] Includes Harlequin Presents Extra erotica series.
Harlequin Romance Uplifting, feel-good plots. Four titles released per month[55][75]
Harlequin Romantic Suspense Romantic suspense. Four titles released per month[76]
Harlequin Signature Select Defunct. Harlequin/Silhouette imprint.[citation needed]
Harlequin Special Edition Relatable protagonists. Six titles released per month[77]
Harlequin Special Releases[78]
Harlequin Superromance Emotional plots with happy endings. Four titles released per month[79]
Harlequin Temptation Only distributed outside of the United States as of 2004.[61]
Harlequin Treasury[58]
Harlequin Western Romance Westerns and cowboy protagonists. Four titles released per month.[80]

Harlequin Treasury collections edit

The Harlequin Treasury imprint re-released a number of titles as collections.[81]

  • Harlequin Treasury Harlequin American Romance 90s[50]
  • Harlequin Treasury Harlequin Duets 90s[57]
  • Harlequin Treasury Harlequin Historical 90s[82]
  • Harlequin Treasury Harlequin Intrigue 90s
  • Harlequin Treasury Harlequin Love & Laughter 90s[69]
  • Harlequin Treasury Harlequin Presents 90s
  • Harlequin Treasury Harlequin Romance 90s
  • Harlequin Treasury Harlequin Superromance 90s
  • Harlequin Treasury Harlequin Temptation 90s
  • Harlequin Treasury Love Inspired 90s
  • Harlequin Treasury Silhouette Desire 90s[83]
  • Harlequin Treasury Silhouette Intimate Moments 90s
  • Harlequin Treasury Silhouette Romance 90s
  • Harlequin Treasury Silhouette Special Edition 90s
  • Harlequin Treasury Silhouette Yours Truly 90s

Kimani Press edit

Kimani Press, which focuses on African-American protagonists, was formed by Harlequin in December 2005, with the purchase of the Arabesque, Sepia, and New Spirit Imprints from BET Books.

Name Description
Kimani Arabesque[84] "The soul of romance, passion, adventure and intrigue."
Kimani New Spirit[59] Defunct
Kimani Romance[85] These stories "feature sophisticated, soulful and sensual African-American and multicultural heroes and heroines who develop fulfilling relationships as they lead lives full of drama, glamour and passion."
Kimani Sepia[59] Defunct
Kimani Special Releases
Kimani TRU[86] Young adult
Kimani Press[87]

Silhouette Books edit

Name Description
Silhouette Bombshell Launched 2004.[61] Defunct.
Silhouette Desire Defunct. Re-released as Harlequin Treasury Silhouette Desire 90s.[83]
Silhouette Intimate Moments Defunct. Re-released as Harlequin Treasury Silhouette Intimate Moments 90s.
Silhouette Nocturne Defunct[60][88]
Silhouette Romance Defunct. Re-released as Harlequin Treasury Silhouette Romance 90s.
Silhouette Special Edition Defunct. Re-released as Harlequin Treasury Silhouette Special Edition 90s.
Silhouette Special Releases Defunct[58]
Silhouette Yours Truly Defunct. Re-released as Harlequin Treasury Silhouette Yours Truly 90s.[89]

Love Inspired edit

Inspirational romance.

Name Description
Love Inspired[90]
Love Inspired Classics[91]
Love Inspired Cold Case[92]
Love Inspired Historical[93] Historical fiction
Love Inspired Inspirational Romance[94]
Love Inspired Mountain Rescue[95]
Love Inspired Novels[96]
Love Inspired Special Releases[97]
Love Inspired Suspense[98][99] Romantic suspense

Other edit

Name Description
Carina Press[100]
Carina Adores[101] LGBTQ+ romance
Canary Street Press[102]
DellArte Press 2009-2015[103]
Gold Eagle Defunct as of 2014
Graydon House[104]
Hanover Square Press[105] crime, thrillers, high-concept fiction, narrative history, journalism. memoir[106]
Heartsong Presents[58]
Canary Street[107] Formerly HQN, launched 2004[61]
Inkyard Press Formerly Harlequin TEEN[108][109]
LUNA 2004–2017[110][61]
MIRA Books[111]
Park Row Books[112]
Red Dress Ink 2004–2014[113][61]
Rogue Angel Defunct[60]
Spice Defunct; now published under HQN.[114] Included Spice Briefs (defunct).[115]
Worldwide Library[116]
Worldwide Mystery[117]
Worldwide Suspense[118]

MIRA Books edit

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 Books imprint to publish single-title romances. Most of their early novels were written by well-known Harlequin authors, including Heather Graham Pozzessere, whose novel Slow Burn (2001)[119] launched the imprint.[120] 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.[121]

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 Steeple Hill and Steeple Hill Café imprints;[61] African-American romance under its Kimani Press imprints; male action-adventure books under Gold Eagle imprint; and single-title romances under the Canary Street imprint.[citation needed]

Harlequin Horizons/DellArte Press edit

In 2009, Harlequin Enterprises announced the creation of a vanity press imprint, Harlequin Horizons.[122][123]

The Mystery Writers of America, Romance Writers of America, and Science Fiction Writers of America denounced the move and revoked the eligibility of Harlequin's other imprints for their associations' conferences and awards.[122][124] Following the backlash, the imprint changed its name to DellArte Press.[125]

Harlequin More Than Words edit

Harlequin Enterprises operates Harlequin More Than Words, a community investment program to reward women's work in communities across North America. The company 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. Authors contributing to the More Than Words anthology include Diana Palmer, Debbie Macomber, Susan Wiggs, and Linda Lael Miller. The first anthology was published in 2004, with a new volume published annually. Proceeds from the sale of the book are reinvested in the Harlequin More Than Words program.

See also edit

References edit

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  2. ^ a b c d e Hemmungs Wirten (1998), p. 64.
  3. ^ Greenfield, Jeremy (2 May 2014). "Three Reasons News Corp Bought Harlequin, World's Biggest Romance Book Publisher". Forbes.
  4. ^ . Archived from the original on 2014-08-08. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
  5. ^ Greenfield, Jeremy Greenfield (May 2, 2014). "News Corp Acquires Harlequin, Adds to HarperCollins Portfolio". Digital Book World.
  6. ^ a b "HarperCollins Canada | Harlequin". HarperCollins Canada | Harlequin. Retrieved 2023-03-18.
  7. ^ "Harlequin & HarperCollins Launch New Audiobook Imprint".
  8. ^ a b "Home - Corporate Harlequin". Retrieved 2023-03-18.
  9. ^ Faircloth, Kelly (March 19, 2015). "How Harlequin Became the Most Famous Name in Romance". Pictorial. Jezebel.com. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  10. ^ a b c d e f "Harlequin Enterprises Limited Company History". Funding Universe.
  11. ^ Hemmungs Wirten (1998), p. 63.
  12. ^ "ENTERPRISE: What Women Want, Or Kitsch Rewarded". Time. 5 November 1973 – via content.time.com.
  13. ^ a b Thurston (1987), p. 42.
  14. ^ a b c d e f Hemmungs Wirten (1998), p. 66.
  15. ^ Regis (2003), p. 185
  16. ^ a b Regis (2003), p. 156.
  17. ^ a b Thurston, pp. 46-47.
  18. ^ "History of Harlequin Enterprises Limited – FundingUniverse". www.fundinguniverse.com.
  19. ^ Thurston (1987), pp. 46-47.
  20. ^ Regis (2003), pp. 155-156
  21. ^ Regis (2003), p. 159.
  22. ^ Regis (2003), pp. 158, 183, 184.
  23. ^ Regis (2003), pp. 156, 159.
  24. ^ Regis (2003), p. 184
  25. ^ Hemmungs Wirten (1998), p. 67.
  26. ^ Barrett, Mary Ellin (January 9, 1983), "Pure as the Driven Slush" (PDF), Family Weekly, retrieved 2007-05-24
  27. ^ Thurston, p. 188.
  28. ^ Thurston, p. 128.
  29. ^ Thurston, p. 190.
  30. ^ Korda, Michael (1999). Another Life: A Memoir of Other People. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-679-45659-7.
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  32. ^ Hemmungs Wirten (1998), p. 69.
  33. ^ Hemmungs Wirten (1998), pp. 21-22.
  34. ^ a b Hemmungs Wirten (1998), p. 101.
  35. ^ Hemmungs Wirten (1998), p. 102.
  36. ^ Hemmungs Wirten (1998), p. 103.
  37. ^ Hemmungs Wirten (1998), p. 19.
  38. ^ a b Hemmungs Wirten (1998), p. 68.
  39. ^ Hemmungs Wirten (1998), p. 20.
  40. ^ Hemmungs Wirten (1998), p. 112.
  41. ^ Hemmungs Wirten (1998), p. 115.
  42. ^ Hemmungs Wirten (1998), p. 121.
  43. ^ Hemmungs Wirten (1998), pp. 130, 133.
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  45. ^ . Archived from the original on 2012-10-08.
  46. ^ "Attorney to Harlequin: What Have You Been Smoking?". The Passive Voice. 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
  47. ^ "RWA, MWA and SFWA Angered by Harlequin's New Self-Publishing Imprint". Publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
  48. ^ Woods, Stuart (July 19, 2012), , Quill & Quire, archived from the original on 2012-08-22.
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  50. ^ a b "Harlequin Treasury Harlequin American Romance 90s - Harlequin.com". www.harlequin.com. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  51. ^ a b Amanda Diehl (2017-03-20). "Harlequin Unveils New Imprint: Dare". BOOK RIOT. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  52. ^ "Harlequin Blaze - Harlequin.com". www.harlequin.com. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
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  60. ^ a b c d . 2011-07-10. Archived from the original on 10 July 2011. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
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  65. ^ "Update on the closing of Harlequin Blaze / Harlequin Historical". Dear Author. 2016-04-27. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
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  67. ^ "Harlequin KISS - Harlequin.com". www.harlequin.com. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
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Sources edit

  • Hemmungs Wirten, Eva (1998). "Global Infatuation: Explorations in Transnational Publishing and Texts. The Case of Harlequin Enterprises and Sweden" (PDF). Section for Sociology of Literature at the Department of Literature, Number 38. Uppsala University. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
  • Regis, Pamela (2003), A Natural History of the Romance Novel, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, ISBN 0-8122-3303-4
  • Thurston, Carol (1987), The Romance Revolution, Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, ISBN 0-252-01442-1

External links edit

  • Harlequin homepage
  • Harlequin More Than Words
  • How Harlequin Became the Most Famous Name in Romance
  • Harlequin Enterprises ULC and Harlequin at Open Library

harlequin, enterprises, known, simply, harlequin, romance, women, fiction, publisher, founded, winnipeg, canada, 1949, from, 1960s, grew, into, largest, publisher, romance, fiction, world, parent, companyharpercollinsfounded1949, years, 1949, winnipeg, manitob. Harlequin Enterprises ULC known simply as Harlequin is a romance and women s fiction publisher founded in Winnipeg Canada in 1949 From the 1960s it grew into the largest publisher of romance fiction in the world Harlequin EnterprisesParent companyHarperCollinsFounded1949 74 years ago 1949 in Winnipeg ManitobaFounderRichard Bonnycastle Jack Palmer Doug WeldCountry of originCanadaHeadquarters locationToronto OntarioPublication typesBooksFiction genresRomance actionImprintsCarina Canary Street Kimani Love Inspired Mira Hanover Square Park Row Graydon HouseRevenue 585 million 1 Official websitewww wbr harlequin wbr comBased in Toronto since 1969 2 Harlequin was owned by the Torstar Corporation the largest newspaper publisher in Canada from 1981 to 2014 It was then purchased by News Corp 3 4 and is now a division of HarperCollins 5 6 In 1971 Harlequin purchased the London based publisher Mills amp Boon Limited and began a global expansion program opening offices in Australia and major European markets such as Germany France Italy Spain Greece Netherlands and Scandinavia Harlequin launched an audiobook program in 2015 7 Contents 1 History 1 1 Early years 1 2 Mills amp Boon partnership 1 3 Romance wars 1 4 International expansion 2 International editions 3 Current 3 1 Class action lawsuit 4 Imprints 4 1 Harlequin 4 1 1 Harlequin Treasury collections 4 2 Kimani Press 4 3 Silhouette Books 4 4 Love Inspired 4 5 Other 4 5 1 MIRA Books 4 5 2 Harlequin Horizons DellArte Press 5 Harlequin More Than Words 6 See also 7 References 7 1 Sources 8 External linksHistory editEarly years edit Harlequin was founded in 1948 by Richard Bonnycastle in Winnipeg Manitoba as a paperback reprinting company 6 8 9 He founded the business while working at Winnipeg s Advocate Printers a branch of Toronto s Bryant Press as a way to keep the presses busy 10 The business would be owned by Advocate Printers Doug Weld of Bryant Press and Jack Palmer head of the Canadian distributor of the Saturday Evening Postand the Ladies Home Journal Palmer oversaw marketing for the new company and Bonnycastle took charge of the production 10 Harlequin released its first book Nancy Bruff s The Manatee in May 1949 10 In the beginning Harlequin typically acquired rights from other publishers though a few original books were published as well 10 Among the novels they reprinted were works by James Hadley Chase Agatha Christie Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Somerset Maugham Their biggest success was Jean Plaidy s Beyond the Blue Mountain 1951 Of the 30 000 copies sold only 48 were returned 11 Although the new company had strong sales in its nascent years profit margins were limited and the operation struggled to stay solvent Following the death of Palmer in the mid 1950s Bonnycastle acquired his 25 interest in Harlequin With the company still struggling to survive soon Weld departed and Bonnycastle now in full control transferred Weld s shares to secretary Ruth Palmour 10 In 1954 the company s chief editor died and Bonnycastle s wife Mary began proofreading books at home and took over his duties 12 10 8 Mary enjoyed reading the romances of British publisher Mills amp 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 amp Boon in the Commonwealth of Nations 13 The first Mills amp Boon novel to be reprinted by Harlequin was Anne Vinton s The Hospital in Buwambo Mills amp Boon No 407 2 Mills amp Boon partnership edit The contract with Mills amp Boon was based solely on a handshake given each year when Richard Bonnycastle visited London He would lunch at the Ritz Hotel with Editorial Director Alan Boon the son of Gerald Mills co founder of Mills amp Boon The two would informally agree to extend their business agreement for an additional year 14 Mary Bonnycastle and her daughter Judy Burgess exercised editorial control over which Mills amp Boon novels were reprinted by Harlequin They had a decency code and rejected more sexually explicit material that Mills amp Boon submitted for reprinting Upon realizing the genre was popular Richard 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 15 Overall intimacy in the novels never extended beyond a chaste kiss between the protagonists 13 The romances proved to be hugely popular and by 1964 the company was exclusively publishing Mills amp Boon novels under the Harlequin imprint Although Harlequin had the rights to distribute the Mills amp 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 built the company into a major force in the publishing industry 2 In 1970 Bonnycastle Jr contracted with Pocket Books and Simon amp Schuster to distribute Harlequin romance fiction novels in the United States 2 On October 1 1971 Harlequin purchased Mills amp Boon 16 This move was made primarily to secure the talents of Alan Boon and his editorial team John Boon another of the co founder s sons remained with the company as Managing Director overseeing British operations and English language exports to markets around the world including Australia India and South Africa 14 As North American booksellers were reluctant to stock mass market paperbacks Harlequin chose to sell its books where the women are 17 distributing them in supermarkets drug stores and other retail outlets 14 The company focuses on selling the line of books as a brand name rather than individual titles Headed by Larry Heisey the marketing team modelled its techniques on those of Procter amp Gamble As well as selling through retail outlets Harlequin established a direct marketing division taking as its inspiration the systems used by Reader s Digest 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 14 Harlequin Reader Service sold directly to readers who agreed to purchase a set number of books each month 17 At the time that Harlequin purchased Mills amp Boon the company only published one line of category romances The Harlequin Romance line released six novels each month At John Boon s urging in 1973 Harlequin introduced a second line named Harlequin Presents Designed partially to highlight three popular and prolific authors Anne Hampson Anne Mather and Violet Winspear 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 Harlequin Presents novels were outselling Harlequin Romance 14 In late 1975 Toronto Star Ltd acquired a 52 5 interest in Harlequin and in 1981 acquired the balance of the shares 18 Romance wars edit By 1975 70 of Harlequin s sales came from the United States 2 Despite this fact the company contracted with only British writers Harlequin contracted its first American author in late 1975 when they purchased a novel by Janet Dailey 19 20 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 21 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 22 nbsp Silhouette Books logoHarlequin terminated its distribution contract with Simon amp Schuster and Pocket Books in 1976 This left Simon amp Schuster with a large sales force and no product 14 To fill this gap and to take advantage of the untapped talent of the American writers Harlequin had rejected Simon amp Schuster formed Silhouette Books in 1980 23 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 24 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 25 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 26 The sudden increase in category romance lines meant an equally sudden increase in demand for writers of the new style of romance novel By 1984 the market was saturated with category lines and readers had begun to complain of redundancy in plots 27 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 28 Harlequin s return rate which had been less than 25 in 1978 when it was the primary provider of category romance swelled to 60 29 In 1984 Harlequin purchased Silhouette from Simon amp Schuster 30 Despite the acquisition Silhouette continued to retain editorial control and to publish various lines under their own imprint 16 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 31 International expansion edit Torstar Corporation which owns Canada s largest daily newspaper the Toronto Star purchased Harlequin in 1981 and began actively expanding into other markets 32 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 adaptability to the particulars of their respective markets 33 Harlequin began expanding into other parts of Europe in 1974 citation needed 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 amp 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 Austria Switzerland and West Germany As of 1998 Germany represented 40 of Harlequin s total European business 34 During this same period Harlequin opened an office in the Netherlands 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 34 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 35 Scandinavia offered unique problems however as booksellers refused to sell the category romances complaining that the books short life span of one month created too much work for too little compensation Booksellers and distributors also worried that the uniformity of Harlequin s book covers made advertising too difficult Instead Harlequin novels in Scandinavia are classified as magazines and sold in supermarkets at newsstands or through subscription Harlequin retains their North American style direct marketing Its message in Scandinavia is very similar to that of North America but its target audience differs slightly 36 The 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall 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 37 The same year Harlequin s German joint venture began distributing books in Hungary By 1991 the company was selling 7 million romances in Hungary and by 1992 Harlequin had sold 11 million books in 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 in Harlequin novels each year 38 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 39 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 print runs of 550 000 copies each An additional ten titles were offered in English with print runs of 200 000 copies each 38 International editions editIn total when Harlequin has offices in Amsterdam Athens Budapest Granges Pacot Hamburg London Madrid Milan New York Paris Stockholm Sydney Tokyo and Warsaw as well as licensing agreements in nine other countries citation needed 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 personally receiving a favorable review of the book from someone else or reading a tip sheet about the novel 40 The editors accept a novel for one of four reasons 41 Anticipated high sales Perceived quality A setting or topic that fits into a monthly theme Direct orders from the Harlequin head officeThe novels published overseas are not necessarily contemporaries of those sold in North America or Europe 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 42 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 43 Current editThis section needs to be updated Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information June 2022 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 Books which released only 219 romance titles 1 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 44 The company is considered one of the most profitable publishers 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 1 Despite its profitability and a 37 2 pay hike for Harlequin President and CEO Donna Hayes in 2011 45 the firm s royalty program for authors is controversial 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 46 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 Mystery Writer s Association Romance Writers of America and Science Fiction Writers Association for schemes of making their authors pay for publishing 47 Class action lawsuit edit In 2012 a class action lawsuit was filed against Harlequin Enterprises Ltd from authors alleging the publisher had fraudulently licensed e book publishing rights at low rates to one of its subsidiaries in order to pay royalties only on the licensing fees instead of on the full sales receipts the publisher responded that its authors have been recompensed fairly and properly 48 The lawsuit alleges that Harlequin deprives plaintiffs and the other authors in the class of e book royalties due them under publishing agreements entered into between 1990 and 2004 Imprints editThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed May 2014 Learn how and when to remove this template message nbsp Harlequin Nocturne seriesHarlequin edit Name DescriptionHarlequin American Romance American protagonists and settings Four titles released per month 49 Re released as Harlequin Treasury Harlequin American Romance 90s 50 Harlequin Blaze Erotica Imprint was ended in 2017 and superseded by Harlequin Dare 51 As of March 2022 Harlequin Dare has been ended and Harlequin Blaze is releasing four titles per month 52 53 Harlequin Dare Erotica four titles released per month 54 Launched in 2017 51 Defunct as of June 2021 53 Harlequin Desire Wealthy and successful American protagonist focused Six titles released per month 55 56 Harlequin Duets Defunct Re released as Harlequin Treasury Harlequin Duets 90s collection 57 Harlequin E 58 Harlequin Everlasting Love 59 Defunct 60 Harlequin Flipside Defunct as of 2004 61 Harlequin Ginger Blossom Defunct romance manga reprints Formerly Harlequin Violet 62 Harlequin Heartwarming Wholesome family and community focused plots Four titles released per month 55 63 Harlequin Historical Historical romance Six titles released per month 64 Included Harlequin Historical Undone 58 Only distributed outside of the United States as of 2004 61 65 Harlequin Intrigue Romantic suspense Six titles released per month 66 Harlequin KISS Flirty first encounter contemporary romances Four titles released per month 67 68 Harlequin Love And Laughter Defunct Re released as the Harlequin Treasury Harlequin Love amp Laughter 90s collection 69 Harlequin Medical Romance Medical focused protagonists and plots Six titles released per month 55 70 Harlequin Mystique 1977 1982 citation needed Harlequin NEXT 59 Launched in 2005 61 Defunct 60 Harlequin Nocturne Paranormal romance Two titles released per month 71 Includes Harlequin Nocturne Cravings series 72 Harlequin Nonfiction 73 Harlequin Presents Glamorous and wealth based plots that often feature alpha male protagonists Eight titles released per month 74 Includes Harlequin Presents Extra erotica series Harlequin Romance Uplifting feel good plots Four titles released per month 55 75 Harlequin Romantic Suspense Romantic suspense Four titles released per month 76 Harlequin Signature Select Defunct Harlequin Silhouette imprint citation needed Harlequin Special Edition Relatable protagonists Six titles released per month 77 Harlequin Special Releases 78 Harlequin Superromance Emotional plots with happy endings Four titles released per month 79 Harlequin Temptation Only distributed outside of the United States as of 2004 61 Harlequin Treasury 58 Harlequin Western Romance Westerns and cowboy protagonists Four titles released per month 80 Harlequin Treasury collections edit The Harlequin Treasury imprint re released a number of titles as collections 81 Harlequin Treasury Harlequin American Romance 90s 50 Harlequin Treasury Harlequin Duets 90s 57 Harlequin Treasury Harlequin Historical 90s 82 Harlequin Treasury Harlequin Intrigue 90s Harlequin Treasury Harlequin Love amp Laughter 90s 69 Harlequin Treasury Harlequin Presents 90s Harlequin Treasury Harlequin Romance 90s Harlequin Treasury Harlequin Superromance 90s Harlequin Treasury Harlequin Temptation 90s Harlequin Treasury Love Inspired 90s Harlequin Treasury Silhouette Desire 90s 83 Harlequin Treasury Silhouette Intimate Moments 90s Harlequin Treasury Silhouette Romance 90s Harlequin Treasury Silhouette Special Edition 90s Harlequin Treasury Silhouette Yours Truly 90sKimani Press edit Main article Kimani Press Kimani Press which focuses on African American protagonists was formed by Harlequin in December 2005 with the purchase of the Arabesque Sepia and New Spirit Imprints from BET Books Name DescriptionKimani Arabesque 84 The soul of romance passion adventure and intrigue Kimani New Spirit 59 DefunctKimani Romance 85 These stories feature sophisticated soulful and sensual African American and multicultural heroes and heroines who develop fulfilling relationships as they lead lives full of drama glamour and passion Kimani Sepia 59 DefunctKimani Special ReleasesKimani TRU 86 Young adultKimani Press 87 Silhouette Books edit Name DescriptionSilhouette Bombshell Launched 2004 61 Defunct Silhouette Desire Defunct Re released as Harlequin Treasury Silhouette Desire 90s 83 Silhouette Intimate Moments Defunct Re released as Harlequin Treasury Silhouette Intimate Moments 90s Silhouette Nocturne Defunct 60 88 Silhouette Romance Defunct Re released as Harlequin Treasury Silhouette Romance 90s Silhouette Special Edition Defunct Re released as Harlequin Treasury Silhouette Special Edition 90s Silhouette Special Releases Defunct 58 Silhouette Yours Truly Defunct Re released as Harlequin Treasury Silhouette Yours Truly 90s 89 Love Inspired edit Main article Love Inspired Inspirational romance Name DescriptionLove Inspired 90 Love Inspired Classics 91 Love Inspired Cold Case 92 Love Inspired Historical 93 Historical fictionLove Inspired Inspirational Romance 94 Love Inspired Mountain Rescue 95 Love Inspired Novels 96 Love Inspired Special Releases 97 Love Inspired Suspense 98 99 Romantic suspenseOther edit Name DescriptionCarina Press 100 Carina Adores 101 LGBTQ romanceCanary Street Press 102 DellArte Press 2009 2015 103 Gold Eagle Defunct as of 2014Graydon House 104 Hanover Square Press 105 crime thrillers high concept fiction narrative history journalism memoir 106 Heartsong Presents 58 Canary Street 107 Formerly HQN launched 2004 61 Inkyard Press Formerly Harlequin TEEN 108 109 LUNA 2004 2017 110 61 MIRA Books 111 Park Row Books 112 Red Dress Ink 2004 2014 113 61 Rogue Angel Defunct 60 Spice Defunct now published under HQN 114 Included Spice Briefs defunct 115 Worldwide Library 116 Worldwide Mystery 117 Worldwide Suspense 118 MIRA Books edit Main article Mira Books 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 Books imprint to publish single title romances Most of their early novels were written by well known Harlequin authors including Heather Graham Pozzessere whose novel Slow Burn 2001 119 launched the imprint 120 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 121 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 Steeple Hill and Steeple Hill Cafe imprints 61 African American romance under its Kimani Press imprints male action adventure books under Gold Eagle imprint and single title romances under the Canary Street imprint citation needed Harlequin Horizons DellArte Press edit In 2009 Harlequin Enterprises announced the creation of a vanity press imprint Harlequin Horizons 122 123 The Mystery Writers of America Romance Writers of America and Science Fiction Writers of America denounced the move and revoked the eligibility of Harlequin s other imprints for their associations conferences and awards 122 124 Following the backlash the imprint changed its name to DellArte Press 125 Harlequin More Than Words editHarlequin Enterprises operates Harlequin More Than Words a community investment program to reward women s work in communities across North America The company 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 Authors contributing to the More Than Words anthology include Diana Palmer Debbie Macomber Susan Wiggs and Linda Lael Miller The first anthology was published in 2004 with a new volume published annually Proceeds from the sale of the book are reinvested in the Harlequin More Than Words program See also editList of Harlequin Romance novels Laser Books Lawrence HeiseyReferences edit a b c Wyatt Edward August 17 2004 Sorry Harlequin She Sighed Tenderly I m Reading Something Else The New York Times archived from the original on 2014 05 03 retrieved 2007 08 27 a b c d e Hemmungs Wirten 1998 p 64 Greenfield Jeremy 2 May 2014 Three Reasons News Corp Bought Harlequin World s Biggest Romance Book Publisher Forbes Torstar Corporation Completes Sale of Harlequin Enterprises Limited Archived from the original on 2014 08 08 Retrieved 2014 08 03 Greenfield Jeremy Greenfield May 2 2014 News Corp Acquires Harlequin Adds to HarperCollins Portfolio Digital Book World a b HarperCollins Canada Harlequin HarperCollins Canada Harlequin Retrieved 2023 03 18 Harlequin amp HarperCollins Launch New Audiobook Imprint a b Home Corporate Harlequin Retrieved 2023 03 18 Faircloth Kelly March 19 2015 How Harlequin Became the Most Famous Name in Romance Pictorial Jezebel com Retrieved March 29 2015 a b c d e f Harlequin Enterprises Limited Company History Funding Universe Hemmungs Wirten 1998 p 63 ENTERPRISE What Women Want Or Kitsch Rewarded Time 5 November 1973 via content time com a b Thurston 1987 p 42 a b c d e f Hemmungs Wirten 1998 p 66 Regis 2003 p 185 a b Regis 2003 p 156 a b Thurston pp 46 47 History of Harlequin Enterprises Limited FundingUniverse www fundinguniverse com Thurston 1987 pp 46 47 Regis 2003 pp 155 156 Regis 2003 p 159 Regis 2003 pp 158 183 184 Regis 2003 pp 156 159 Regis 2003 p 184 Hemmungs Wirten 1998 p 67 Barrett Mary Ellin January 9 1983 Pure as the Driven Slush PDF Family Weekly retrieved 2007 05 24 Thurston p 188 Thurston p 128 Thurston p 190 Korda Michael 1999 Another Life A Memoir of Other People New York Random House ISBN 0 679 45659 7 Hemmungs Wirten 1998 pp 67 68 Hemmungs Wirten 1998 p 69 Hemmungs Wirten 1998 pp 21 22 a b Hemmungs Wirten 1998 p 101 Hemmungs Wirten 1998 p 102 Hemmungs Wirten 1998 p 103 Hemmungs Wirten 1998 p 19 a b Hemmungs Wirten 1998 p 68 Hemmungs Wirten 1998 p 20 Hemmungs Wirten 1998 p 112 Hemmungs Wirten 1998 p 115 Hemmungs Wirten 1998 p 121 Hemmungs Wirten 1998 pp 130 133 Torstar Corporation Announces Fourth Quarter and 2006 Full Year Results Press release Torstar Corporation February 28 2007 Archived from the original on 2007 03 03 Retrieved 2007 08 27 The Top Pay Grade Archived from the original on 2012 10 08 Attorney to Harlequin What Have You Been Smoking The Passive Voice 2011 07 14 Retrieved 2012 07 19 RWA MWA and SFWA Angered by Harlequin s New Self Publishing Imprint Publishersweekly com Retrieved 2012 07 19 Woods Stuart July 19 2012 Harlequin faces lawsuit for unpaid digital royalties Quill amp Quire archived from the original on 2012 08 22 Harlequin American Romance Harlequin com www harlequin com Retrieved 2022 03 15 a b Harlequin Treasury Harlequin American Romance 90s Harlequin com www harlequin com Retrieved 2022 03 15 a b Amanda Diehl 2017 03 20 Harlequin Unveils New Imprint 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Harlequin com www harlequin com Retrieved 2022 03 15 Love Inspired Love Inspired Suspense www loveinspired com Retrieved 2022 03 15 Carina Press Harlequin com www harlequin com Retrieved 2022 03 15 Carina Adores Harlequin com www harlequin com Retrieved 2023 03 19 Canary Street Press Harlequin com www harlequin com Retrieved 2023 03 19 Harlequin Has Closed Author Solutions Front Company DellArte Press The Digital Reader 2015 02 13 Retrieved 2022 03 15 Graydon House Harlequin com www harlequin com Retrieved 2022 03 15 Hanover Square Press Harlequin com www harlequin com Retrieved 2022 03 15 Hanover Square Press Harlequin com www harlequin com Retrieved 2022 06 27 HQN Harlequin com www harlequin com Retrieved 2022 03 15 Harlequin Teen Harlequin com www harlequin com Retrieved 2022 03 15 Inkyard Press Harlequin com www harlequin com Retrieved 2022 03 15 Harlequin LUNA Harlequin com www harlequin com Retrieved 2022 03 15 MIRA Harlequin com www harlequin com Retrieved 2022 03 15 Park Row Books Harlequin com www harlequin com Retrieved 2022 03 15 Harlequin Red Dress Ink Harlequin com www harlequin com Retrieved 2022 03 15 SPICE Harlequin com www harlequin com Retrieved 2022 03 15 eHarlequin com eBook Boutique 2008 05 17 Archived from the original on 17 May 2008 Retrieved 2022 03 15 Harlequin eBook Store 2010 05 22 Archived from the original on 22 May 2010 Retrieved 2022 03 15 Worldwide Mystery Harlequin com www harlequin com Retrieved 2022 03 15 Worldwide Suspense Harlequin com www harlequin com Retrieved 2022 03 15 Pozzessere Heather Graham 2001 Slow Burn MIRA Books ISBN 978 1 55166 000 4 Review Slow Burn Publishers Weekly Retrieved May 2 2014 Hemmungs Wirten 1998 p 84 a b Lopresti Rob 2009 12 02 Helplessly Hoping Self publishing Vanity Presses University of Washington Bellingham Criminal Brief Strauss Victoria 2009 11 18 Harlequin Horizons Another Major Publisher Adds A Self Publishing Division Publishing Pitfalls Writer Beware Andriani Lynn 20 November 2009 RWA MWA and SFWA Angered by Harlequin s New Self Publishing Imprint Publishers Weekly retrieved 2015 06 24 Andriani Lynn 7 December 2009 Mystery Writers Boots Harlequin from Approved Publishers List Publishers Weekly archived from the original on 2009 12 12 retrieved 2009 12 11 Sources edit Hemmungs Wirten Eva 1998 Global Infatuation Explorations in Transnational Publishing and Texts The Case of Harlequin Enterprises and Sweden PDF Section for Sociology of Literature at the Department of Literature Number 38 Uppsala University Retrieved 2015 03 25 Regis Pamela 2003 A Natural History of the Romance Novel Philadelphia Pennsylvania University of Pennsylvania Press ISBN 0 8122 3303 4 Thurston Carol 1987 The Romance Revolution Urbana and Chicago University of Illinois Press ISBN 0 252 01442 1External links editHarlequin homepage Harlequin More Than Words How Harlequin Became the Most Famous Name in Romance Harlequin Enterprises ULC and Harlequin at Open Library Retrieved from https en wikipedia org 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