This was a mistake as Simon & Schuster picked up the writers Harlequin had earlier rejected for their newly former “Silhouette Books”. A year later Harlequin cut off its contract with Simon & Schuster and Pocket Books. Interestingly, around this time Harlequin rejected a manuscript by Nora Roberts (and we all know about her later success). In 1975 they signed their first American author, Janet Dailey.
At this time 70% of sales came from the US even though the company contracted only British authors. Bonnycastle disliked this, but they sold well in the UK and, as a result, they decided to distribute them in Canada and soon “Harlequin Presents” was outselling the other line.įast-forward to 1975 and Torstar acquired over half of the interest in Harlequin and, in 1981, the balance. This line, called “Harlequin Presents”, used three specific authors: Anne Hampson, Anne Mather and Violet Winspear. In 1973 at Boon’s urging Harlequin introduced a second line which contained more sensual content. A small number of books were released each month known as “Harlequin Romance”. They creatively gave away samples with other products and would send books directly to readers who agreed to purchase more, rather than using traditional advertising.Īround this same time, Harlequin only published one line of category romances. They focused on the line of books rather than singular titles. Harlequin decided to sell their books “where the women” were (i.e., supermarkets etc.).
And just one year later they bought Mills & Boon.ĭespite Harlequin’s success, North American booksellers were reluctant to stock their books. In 1970, Harlequin contracted with Pocket Books and Simon & Schuster and began to distribute the Mills & Boon novels in the US. A few years later the Bonnycastle family relocated operations to Toronto where the company became a major force in the industry. Harlequin then conducted a market test with that same novel and discovered it out sold the more “chaste” novels they had been publishing.īy 1964 this genre became extremely popular and sales increased. Bonnycastle read one of the more explicit Mills & Boon novels and enjoyed it. Harlequin didn’t realize just how popular this genre was. This partnership was made on a simple handshake during a lunch in London with Alan Boon.Īt this point Harlequin had a “decency code” and rejected the more explicit content that Mills & Boon submitted to them for reprinting. She enjoyed reading the British romances of Mills & Boon and at her urging in 1957, Harlequin acquired the North American distribution rights. Upon the death of Bonnycastle, the chief editor duties passed to his wife. In 1953, they began to publish ‘medical’ romances. Harlequin continued to struggle and more changes happened. Although the company had strong sales, they still struggled to stay afloat.Īfter the death of one of Harlequin’s founders in the mid-1950s, the remaining founder and chief editor Richard Bonnycastle acquired more interest in the company. At that time Harlequin published a wide range of books at the reasonable price of 25 cents! They reprinted works by James Hadley Chase, Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Somerset Maugham and their biggest success was in 1951 when Jean Plaidy’s Beyond the Blue Mountain sold 30,000 copies. Their first product was Nancy Bruff’s The Manatee. In May 1949 Harlequin was founded in Winnipeg, Manitoba as a paperback reprinting company. What’s interesting is that Harlequin has deeper roots in Canada. Harlequin was owned by Torstar Corporation, the largest newspaper publisher in Canada from 1981 to 2014, then purchased by News Corp (now a division of Harper Collins). Most of my research has deemed this as “women’s fiction” but I’m not sure if I agree with that, I’ll let you decide, but I digress.
#Harlequin romance novels published 1970 series
Harlequin or rather Harlequin Enterprises is a Toronto-based company that publishes a series of romance novels. Yes, I know, Harlequin, but I feel this genre is an under appreciated one.įor those wanting to know more about ‘Harlequin’ romances there is more to this name than meets the eye. The first thing that popped into mind was Harlequin books.
As we approach warmer summer days and nights, I think back to my teen years and what I enjoyed to read on my summer vacations.