Harlequin Books: Difference between revisions
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=== Mills & Boon === | === Mills & Boon === | ||
These reprints proved to be very successful for Harlequin. They tweaked the books and created a very specific romantic formula that included a happy ending. Explicit content was removed.<ref name=":0" /> In the 1970s under president Lawrence Heisey's guidance, books were distributed for free in grocery stores with the purchase of some cleaners and other household items, attempting to expose their target audience, housewives, to their books. In 1971, Harlequin purchased Mills & Boon, taking over the company that had helped them find their footing in the publishing industry.<ref name=":0" /><ref>“History of Harlequin Enterprises Limited – FundingUniverse.” ''FundingUniverse'', <nowiki>https://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/harlequin-enterprises-limited-history/</nowiki>. Accessed 30 September 2025.</ref> | These reprints proved to be very successful for Harlequin. They tweaked the books and created a very specific romantic formula that included a happy ending. Explicit content was removed.<ref name=":0" /> In the 1970s under president Lawrence Heisey's guidance, books were distributed for free in grocery stores with the purchase of some cleaners and other household items, attempting to expose their target audience, housewives, to their books. In 1971, Harlequin purchased Mills & Boon, taking over the company that had helped them find their footing in the publishing industry.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">“History of Harlequin Enterprises Limited – FundingUniverse.” ''FundingUniverse'', <nowiki>https://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/harlequin-enterprises-limited-history/</nowiki>. Accessed 30 September 2025.</ref> | ||
=== Torstar Purchase === | === Torstar Purchase === | ||
Harlequin continued to have great success, which attracted the company Torstar. Starting in 1975, Torstar began to collect shares in the company until it completely owned Harlequin in 1981.<ref name=":1" /> Despite this new ownership, Harlequin continued to gain great success from its book giveaways. When the Berlin Wall fell in Germany, Harlequin gave away over 720,000 books, greatly boosting sales international sales.<ref name=":0" /> | |||
=== The Romance Wars === | === The Romance Wars === | ||
In the late 1970s, Harlequin began to have two major problems. The first was that their formula was beginning to fail them as readers wanted different things and leaned towards less conservative views on sex in media.<ref name=":2">Anderson, Kacia. “Harlequin Acquires Silhouette – UNSUITABLE.” ''Sites@Duke Express'', <nowiki>https://sites.duke.edu/unsuitable/harlequin-acquires-silhouette/</nowiki>. Accessed 30 September 2025.</ref> The second was Harlequin overestimating itself. It cut ties with Simon & Schuster, believing they could do everything themselves, and they refused to meet the desire for more America-centric stories. This led to their business in the United States being threatened by Simon & Schuster's Silhouette and other publishers in the states.<ref name=":2" /> Silhouette profited off of Harlequin's refusal to publish more U.S. authors, and this was bad for business. To resolve this, in 1984, Harlequin purchased Silhouette, allowing Harlequin to have an important place in U.S. publishing once more.<ref name=":2" /> | |||
=== News Corp Purchase === | === News Corp Purchase === | ||
Revision as of 07:29, 30 September 2025
Introductory Information
Harlequin is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers that is renowned for its many romance publications.[1]
Mission
Harlequin strives to publish a variety of interesting and diverse romance novels that both represent many different identities, and are enjoyable to all sorts of romance readers. [1][2]
History
The Beginning
Richard H.G. Bonnycastle founded Harlequin Books in Winnipeg, Canada in 1948. In this first stage, the company only focused on producing reprints of other, cheaper books.[1] It was only when Mary Bonnycastle, the wife of the founder, took on editorial duties a few years later, that the company began to shift toward the romantic side of books. She realized many women fancied the romantic works of the British company Mills & Boon, and she sought paperback rights so Harlequin could reprint some of their works.[1]
Mills & Boon
These reprints proved to be very successful for Harlequin. They tweaked the books and created a very specific romantic formula that included a happy ending. Explicit content was removed.[1] In the 1970s under president Lawrence Heisey's guidance, books were distributed for free in grocery stores with the purchase of some cleaners and other household items, attempting to expose their target audience, housewives, to their books. In 1971, Harlequin purchased Mills & Boon, taking over the company that had helped them find their footing in the publishing industry.[1][3]
Torstar Purchase
Harlequin continued to have great success, which attracted the company Torstar. Starting in 1975, Torstar began to collect shares in the company until it completely owned Harlequin in 1981.[3] Despite this new ownership, Harlequin continued to gain great success from its book giveaways. When the Berlin Wall fell in Germany, Harlequin gave away over 720,000 books, greatly boosting sales international sales.[1]
The Romance Wars
In the late 1970s, Harlequin began to have two major problems. The first was that their formula was beginning to fail them as readers wanted different things and leaned towards less conservative views on sex in media.[4] The second was Harlequin overestimating itself. It cut ties with Simon & Schuster, believing they could do everything themselves, and they refused to meet the desire for more America-centric stories. This led to their business in the United States being threatened by Simon & Schuster's Silhouette and other publishers in the states.[4] Silhouette profited off of Harlequin's refusal to publish more U.S. authors, and this was bad for business. To resolve this, in 1984, Harlequin purchased Silhouette, allowing Harlequin to have an important place in U.S. publishing once more.[4]
News Corp Purchase
Present Day
Structure
Finances
News
Catalog
Notable Titles and Authors
Formats
Brand Identity
Editorial Staff
Audience
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Corporate Harlequin: Home, https://corporate.harlequin.com/. Accessed 26 September 2025.
- ↑ “Harlequin Publishing.” Harlequin, https://corporate.harlequin.com/wp-content/themes/harlequin-corporate/img/Harlequin_2022_Press_Kit_Nov_2022.pdf.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 “History of Harlequin Enterprises Limited – FundingUniverse.” FundingUniverse, https://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/harlequin-enterprises-limited-history/. Accessed 30 September 2025.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Anderson, Kacia. “Harlequin Acquires Silhouette – UNSUITABLE.” Sites@Duke Express, https://sites.duke.edu/unsuitable/harlequin-acquires-silhouette/. Accessed 30 September 2025.
