Latest Changes at Harlequin

Susan Gable · Oct 2, 2007

Just to keep you all well-informed, here's the latest news from Harlequin:

LATEST of the Harlequin shake-up/shake-down-smackdowns:

1 - Next is dead as of Feb. '08.

2 - Everlasting is SORT OF dead. It's death has a direct impact on Superromance. Everlasting Love will no longer be its own line. It will
become a subgroup of Superromance, like Blaze used to be a subgroup
of Temptation.

My guess is that it means there will be 5 Supers per month, and one EL
Super.

Which sort of means one less slot a month for Supers. <sigh>

Anyway, there's the hottest information, right off the press.

Susan G.

Irysangel · Oct 2, 2007

I'm surprised that NEXT is dead. Haven't they had a few high profile books in that line? I guess the sales weren't what they were anticipating.

kristie911 · Oct 2, 2007

Hmmm...I think I'd better get my butt in gear and query Intrigue on the book I wrote specifically for that line before it disappears too!

clara bow · Oct 2, 2007

thanks for posting the info. heh heh, i bet you just beat Kristin Nelson to the punch!

Susan Gable · Oct 2, 2007

Irysangel said:
I'm surprised that NEXT is dead. Haven't they had a few high profile books in that line? I guess the sales weren't what they were anticipating.

I'm not surprised. Once again, it's a bad marketing call. NEXT books were NOT romances.

When a reader picks up a Harlequin SERIES book, they expect a romance. This is the same marketing booboo that killed Bombshell.

NEXT books would have been better served being published out of Mira.

The NEXT books were excellent books. They just weren't what readers expected from Harlequin. (Much like the Red Dress Ink books -- they made a new imprint for them, and that was the RIGHT CALL!) And the readers who were LOOKING for a read like what NEXT delivered, didn't even consider heading over the H/S racks to look for that kind of book.

No, sales weren't what they were expecting. I'd heard from a number of authors that they weren't earning out their advances. (And we're not talking huge advances, either. Repectable advances, but not big by any means.)

There's a part of me that thinks HQ needs to put a moritorium on new lines for a couple of years and work on rebuilding the lines that have been fairly stable. :Shrug:

It's just all part of the fun world of publishing.

Susan G.

cmckenziemitchinson · Oct 2, 2007

kristie911 said:
Hmmm...I think I'd better get my butt in gear and query Intrigue on the book I wrote specifically for that line before it disappears too!

Oh no, Kristie!! If Intrigue goes, I might as well hang up my hat. That is my number one target!!
Christy

ZannaPerry · Oct 2, 2007

Really, Next is gone? I just read a book published from Next.

tammieofmi · Oct 2, 2007

Well I was sort of surprised. I agree with the earlier post that the NEXT books weren't romance based which is what one comes to expect from Harlequin.

I love them - don't get me wrong. I enjoyed most of the ones I picked up. Absolutely loved the more contemporary looking bookcovers and I loved the idea of something geared more for the over 35 crowd.

But you have to wonder just how far can harlequin spread itself? I remember the flipside books from harlequin - comedy, small - they were really fun books but those are gone now to.

Josie · Oct 2, 2007

Oh Lordie Lordie

What is Harlequin doing?

If they declare a moratorium on Harlequin Intrigue...well I will have to give up on Harlequin.

Sheesh...

Susan Gable · Oct 2, 2007

Josie said:
Oh Lordie Lordie

What is Harlequin doing?

If they declare a moratorium on Harlequin Intrigue...well I will have to give up on Harlequin.

Sheesh...

You misunderstood what I was saying. I'm saying that the moratorium should be on starting NEW things. Intrigue is an ESTABLISHED thing. They need to spend some time focusing on those things, bringing in new readers for those things -- the things that are working NOW.

I think you're safe with that line. Although you have to understand that every time lines fold, that leaves Harlequin with pubbed authors who need new publishing slots.

I mean, take this changeover to Superromance for the Everlasting Love ms that they've already contracted. My friend has one that's already been turned in to her editor.

That EL will now be a Superromance -- which takes a slot from the Superromance authors they already have. Which in turn makes the competition for each slot even more pressing.

That's just the way it goes. For all of us.

Susan G.

Josie · Oct 2, 2007

Thanks, Susan. It's okay. I understand.

Just over-dramatizing--somewhat.

I know you established writers must be upset. It works like dominoes, one shove over and everything shoves over...

I wish they'd bring back more romantic comedy/humor. I loved those.

NEXT was a good line, but not romance.

Sigh

Josie

cmckenziemitchinson · Oct 2, 2007

Josie said:
I wish they'd bring back more romantic comedy/humor. I loved those.

I remember that line. It was called Duets. I still have the guidelines somewhere printed up in my folder of info. I was getting ready to target that line. I wanted to check the contact hadn't changed and when I went back to the site Poof! it was gone.

Susan's right, though, they could never get rid of Intrigue. I think my consumption alone keeps that line in business.

Susan Gable · Oct 3, 2007

cmckenziemitchinson said:
I remember that line. It was called Duets. I still have the guidelines somewhere printed up in my folder of info. I was getting ready to target that line. I wanted to check the contact hadn't changed and when I went back to the site Poof! it was gone.

Susan's right, though, they could never get rid of Intrigue. I think my consumption alone keeps that line in business.

One thing I've learned is never say NEVER. <G>

Romantic comedy is down all over the industry, not just in category. But have no fear -- these things are cyclic, and I have no doubt romcom will rise again.

It's like paranormal. When I started writing back in 2000, you couldn't really GIVE a paranormal romance ms away. Now they're all the rage.

Ebb and flow. Feast and famine. That seems to be the way of things.

Susan G.

Denise M · Oct 3, 2007

Latest on Next line- while it's still scheduled to end Feb 08, there is supposed to be some market studies regarding possibly releasing Next books as trade paperbooks sometime in the distant future- sometime- possibly-maybe.

Once again, the news from Harl is confusing at best.

Denise

Susan Gable · Oct 3, 2007

Denise M said:
Latest on Next line- while it's still scheduled to end Feb 08, there is supposed to be some market studies regarding possibly releasing Next books as trade paperbooks sometime in the distant future- sometime- possibly-maybe.

Once again, the news from Harl is confusing at best.

Denise

Thanks, D.! I meant to post that I'd "heard" that snippet late yesterday, but like you say, no one knows exactly what that means. (Probably Harlequin doesn't know exactly what it means yet, either. I imagine it will take them some time to work out the details.)

Susan G.

Denise M · Oct 3, 2007

Suze, I think I'd be in shock if they DID have any idea what they meant. I believe this latest start a line, close a line in less than two years as a reason to keep them in mind, but not see them as an exclusive opportunity, especially since I've finally started a new book and it's women's fiction, not a true romance.

Denise

Cathy C · Oct 3, 2007

Thanks for posting this info, Susan! I don't have any ears in H/S, so I appreciate those who do keeping the rest of us in the know.

Josie · Oct 3, 2007

Yes, Susan, of course thank you so much for keeping us posted.

You are always great about that.

I have a question. What about romantic comedy. Is it at the bottom as far as popularity I guess. What about paranormal romantic comedy which I also like. These stories can't be too long or they wear out the reader, so Harlequin's Duet were a super idea.

HI is my favorite at the moment.

Someone give me a swift hard kick to get me writing

ouch ouch

Cheers, Josie

Crinklish · Oct 5, 2007

Alas, Josie, you were one of only a handful of readers who seemed to think Duets was a good idea...at least, good enough to buy the books. But Susan's right--Harlequin's a little addicted to starting new lines every time they try to mine the market for more sales, but they've never really come to terms with the difference between selling to the single-title market and the series market. They want to get readers to "cross over," but the various requirements of the Harlequin rack makes it tough.

The NEXT news is an object lesson in how it's not enough to have a good book--you have to figure out how to get that book in front of the right readers for it. They developed editorial that would appeal to readers of the women's fiction Mira does, but in a category length that readers couldn't find or were unwilling to try. I wonder if they really will try to bundle them into trade 2-in-1s to get some more mileage out of the books they still own.

Josie · Oct 5, 2007

Thanks Crinklish

It is tough to get the right novel submitted at the right time. Rush rush

I love romantic comedy so I must to get my "fix" at other markets rather than H/S.

As far a writing one I don't know about single title.

Perhaps you or Susan could tell me, if you're still here. MIRA still accepts query letters without an agent. Am I correct? And I can read their guidelines (if any) on eHarlequin. Or maybe it's HQN?

Which one of those single titles accepts unagented query letters?

Thanks for your time and any input.

Cheers, Josie

ElleF · Oct 5, 2007

Hi Josie

Here is the guidelines page.

MIRA takes agented subs only, same for HQN. However, HQN will accept unagented query letters.

Hope this helps!

Josie · Oct 5, 2007

Hi ElleF

Thanks for the info.

Hope this finds you well and busy

Cheers, Josie

Crinklish · Oct 6, 2007

Also, Mira would be an unlikely home for romantic comedy anyway. They're moving toward a more suspense/mainstream fiction bent. HQN does a fair bit of it, though.

Josie · Oct 6, 2007

Thanks, Crinklish.

Come to think of it, I have read a few of the Mira's and the majority that I preferred were romantic suspense.

Shall look for HQN or two now.

Cheers, Josie

kristie911 · Oct 7, 2007

I think 75% of the books I own are MIRA books. I love their books...I've never picked one up and been disappointed.

They're sort of my "dream publisher"...okay, not sort of, they're my dream publisher.

Latest Changes at Harlequin

Susan Gable

Dreamer of dreams, teller of tales

Irysangel

She of Many Names

kristie911

Happy to be here

clara bow

Li'l Rug Bug

Susan Gable

Dreamer of dreams, teller of tales

cmckenziemitchinson

Christy Kate McKenzie

ZannaPerry

^ Just Me & a Sharpie

tammieofmi

Josie

Susan Gable

Dreamer of dreams, teller of tales

Josie

cmckenziemitchinson

Christy Kate McKenzie

Susan Gable

Dreamer of dreams, teller of tales

Denise M

Susan Gable

Dreamer of dreams, teller of tales

Denise M

Cathy C

Ooo! Shiny new cover!

Josie

Crinklish

Josie

ElleF

Josie

Crinklish

Josie

kristie911

Happy to be here