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The 80s was a very long time ago in publishing. I'm pretty sure it wasn't work for hire in the 90s.I know that in the US, the HQ paperbacks were so ubiquitous that thrift stores and used bookshops would not even take them for trade, much less cash value.
I had a friend who wrote for HQ back in the 80s...basically work for hire, one payment for book, publisher takes all rights. She said it made it hard to fall in love with her characters, and easy to write to a formula.
The royalty percentages have always been described as very much on the low side. The massive reach was well worth it, although the rise of digital has done significant damage to what was a well cornered market.
As far as digital sales go now Harlequin authors are also often but not always impeded by all the old school territory restrictions resulting in consumers wanting to buy your ebook and being blocked from buying it by their IPs, or location of their credit card.
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