Print Publishers Close Imprints
This week Harlequin and Silhouette announced the demise of their shorter contemporary romance lines. These stories were no longer "sweet" and free of explicit details--so I believe their readers were migrating to the inspirational line. How many authors have books written, submitted and even contracted for these lines? How many might eventually submit these (revised) manuscripts to e-publishers?
Here's an excerpt from the offical announcement:
As a company, Harlequin is committed to the success of our series
publishing business. We believe it is our responsibility to develop,
evolve and enrich our publishing programs in order to bring new
opportunities to our authors and fresh and relevant reading
experiences to our readers.
The development of new programs is the backbone of our approach to
the business, and I'm pleased to announce the launch of a new six-
book series starting in September 2006. High on romance, low on
explicit sexual details, this short, contemporary series delivers
feel-good reads that capture the intense emotions and excitement of
falling in love - within a variety of international settings. We
believe this new editorial will help us better serve our existing and
potential global readers.
From September 2006, Harlequin Romance and Silhouette Romance will
cease publication due to declining retail presence globally. The new
series will effectively replace these two series, and many of our
existing HR and SR authors will continue to be published in the new
series. For the others, there are a large number of other series and
programmes within Harlequin Enterprises which may offer new
publishing opportunities, and your editor will be happy to discuss
these with you.
I realize that for some there will be a period of uncertainty.
Please let me assure you that we will do everything possible to
mitigate that uncertainty. Members of our editorial staff will be
speaking personally with agents and all of the authors who are
directly affected by the changes that we are making, and we look
forward to working with our authors and the agents who represent them
to continue to publish the stories that our readers want to read.
Yours sincerely,
Randall Toye
Global Editorial Director, Series
Harlequin Enterprises Limited
Here's an excerpt from the offical announcement:
As a company, Harlequin is committed to the success of our series
publishing business. We believe it is our responsibility to develop,
evolve and enrich our publishing programs in order to bring new
opportunities to our authors and fresh and relevant reading
experiences to our readers.
The development of new programs is the backbone of our approach to
the business, and I'm pleased to announce the launch of a new six-
book series starting in September 2006. High on romance, low on
explicit sexual details, this short, contemporary series delivers
feel-good reads that capture the intense emotions and excitement of
falling in love - within a variety of international settings. We
believe this new editorial will help us better serve our existing and
potential global readers.
From September 2006, Harlequin Romance and Silhouette Romance will
cease publication due to declining retail presence globally. The new
series will effectively replace these two series, and many of our
existing HR and SR authors will continue to be published in the new
series. For the others, there are a large number of other series and
programmes within Harlequin Enterprises which may offer new
publishing opportunities, and your editor will be happy to discuss
these with you.
I realize that for some there will be a period of uncertainty.
Please let me assure you that we will do everything possible to
mitigate that uncertainty. Members of our editorial staff will be
speaking personally with agents and all of the authors who are
directly affected by the changes that we are making, and we look
forward to working with our authors and the agents who represent them
to continue to publish the stories that our readers want to read.
Yours sincerely,
Randall Toye
Global Editorial Director, Series
Harlequin Enterprises Limited
posted by Robin Bayne at 7:06 PM
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