Harlequin

Harlequin is both synonymous with romance and a major publishing entity. Under the Harlequin umbrella are many different types of romance ranging from inspirational to traditional to sexy. Each imprint has its own personality and devoted fanbase.

Established in 1949, Harlequin reinforced its business model when it acquired Mills & Boon in 1968. The publisher made it a point to provide consumers with an identifiable, reliable product. By breaking out types of romances into "imprints", Harlequin could guarantee that its readers received a sweet or sexy read without any surprises. This branding extends to the size, shape, and even color of the books. Harlequin does not change the basic look of its product without careful consideration -- generally lines are updated when they begin to look old-fashioned.

Though there were many entries into the Series or Category market over the years, Harlequin was largely able to fend off competition. This ended in 1980 when business needs lead Harlequin to bring its distribution in-house. Simon & Schuster, who had handled that aspect of the business, responded by creating a division known as Silhouette. Silhouette was subsquently purchased by Harlequin, effectively ending all competition in the market.

Harlequin's success comes on several fronts, including its ability to make its product available in non-traditional settings, such as grocery stores (though other publishers now take advantage of this approach). Harlequin's "Reader Service", a book club that delivers all titles in a specific line to a reader each month, creates a steady revenue stream while satisfying the appetites of voracious readers. Unlike many publishers, Harlequin takes a front-list approach, focusing only on the sales generated by the initial release of a book. Most publishers rely upon front-list for initial numbers, but count on back-list sales for a long-tail revenue stream. The rise of retailers such as Amazon.com have affected Harlequin's approach to back-list product, but not in a significant manner. Harlequin, of course, retains the rights to all titles it publishes for a length of time, and often re-issues popular authors such as Nora Roberts and Jennifer Crusie.

For twenty years, Harlequin was lead by Brian Hickey. Hickey was replaced by Donna Hayes in 2001.

See Also

• The Romance Wars

Current Harlequin Imprints

• Blaze
• HQN - Harlequin enters the single-title market.
• Intrigue - Harlequin's romantic suspense line.
• Love Inspired - This imprint is devoted to inspirational (mainly Christian) romances.
• Mira - Mira is Harlequin's high-end single title imprint.
• Presents - This imprint is devoted to glamore and passion, often with International settings
• Superromance - Longer titles focusing on family issues.
• Violet - Violet is Harlequin's manga line. Currently, only existing titles are being reprinted.

Current Silhouette Imprints

• Bombshell
• Intimate Moments
• Romance

Defunct Harlequin Imprints

• Flipside
• Love and Laughter - The Love and Laughter line featured short, humorous stories. The line later became Flipside. While humor remains a popular topic, dedicated Harlequin lines never seem to catch on with readers.
• Temptation - Temptation was Harlequin's long-running sensual line. As the hotter Blaze line drew off readers, Temptation finally ceased publication in 2005.
  • Heat - Blaze was the original "flash" on Temptions drawing readers looking for hotter, sexier reads. After Blaze became its own line, the Heat "flash" debuted.