Harlequin Cutting Imprints

Really?! Steeple Hill? I thought that Inspie books were doing really well. I know S & H have been stepping on each other's toes for a few years now so that's not a huge surprise. But Steeple is a surprise.

I thought I heard they were moving Steeple Hill under Love Inspired? But I could be totally wrong.

Yeah, but the Steeple Hill books are carried in Christian stores too. What's the odds smaller stores WON'T shelve the Harlequin name? I think they're cutting their own throat on that one.

I'm following Angela James on Twitter and Facebook (Okay, I'm stalking her until I hear back on my Carina Press submission) and I know she was telling writers this was a good time to submit to the "Love Inspired" line. That line seems to be more Christian-oriented, so perhaps Harlequin is just moving brands and lines together, not cutting back on the numbers of books.

Cathy C said:

Really?! Steeple Hill?

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Same goes. I would have thought the 'brand' name was a valuable commodity, in and of itself. Is HQN going to lose that and get nothing in particular in return?

I, too, wonder if small stores that order Steeple Hill will switch to other publishers rather than order something outright marked 'HQN', especially right now when HQN is moving to brand some very hot lines.

I'm reminded of the kerfuffle some time back when Thomas Nelson required theological conformity from its authors.

Is marketing in Inspie different from other Romance?

This has me a little worried, because my company at work recently did a similar merger. We'd been operating under two company names for more than a decade, both well known in their particular area of service. (Two trucking companies that merged back in the 90's - but one hauled refrigerated and the other dry.) When they gave up the 2nd name and started operating under just one, they took a HUGE hit and lost a lot of regular costumers. Almost sending the refrigerated side out of business.

I know it's a different ball game in publishing, but that was what initially came to my mind. I hope it's different, because I tend to prefer the Silhouette Lines in most cases.

I noticed recently that Silhouette Nocturne is now Harlequin Nocturne, so maybe it is just a renaming and not an actual cutback of books.

I think the story makes it clear that is exactly what it is, to simplify marketing.

Love Inspireds are fine. They have been expanding. This has nothing to do with lines doing well or not. They are doing away with the layer between Harlequin and the line name. They are NOT cutting the lines, they are rebranding them

Also, Love Inspireds are generally NOT sold in Christian stores, so that's not an issue.

annie
http://dearhelenhartman.blogspot.com/
http://anniejonesjoywritingthroughlife.blogspot.com/

I think the issue would be more about *losing* distribution via Christian store channels--which I thought Steeple Hill had to some extent.

veinglory said:

I think the issue would be more about *losing* distribution via Christian store channels--which I thought Steeple Hill had to some extent.

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Nope. Not since they cut the trade size lines like 3 years ago.

They might be in some, but generally speaking they never really did make the big inroads into what was called the CBA.

annie
http://dearhelenhartman.blogspot.com/
http://anniejonesjoywritingthroughlife.blogspot.com/

Everything Silhouette XXX is going to be Harlequin XXXX (i.e. Silhouette Romantic Suspense is now Harlequin Romantic Suspense, etc), and everything Steeple Hill Love Inspired/Steeple Hill XXXX is simply going to be Love Inspired XXXX.

The only issue I see with this is how different the lines are. Harlequin Intrigue is a bit grittier and their ratio of romance to suspense tips a bit more towards suspense than Silhouette Romantic Suspense, and readers might be confused by two romantic suspense lines.

Yes, those of us who write for Intrigue are interested in finding out how that will work also. Traditionally, Intrigues are selling better than RS, so I guess we'll see.

Evangeline said:

Everything Silhouette XXX is going to be Harlequin XXXX (i.e. Silhouette Romantic Suspense is now Harlequin Romantic Suspense, etc), and everything Steeple Hill Love Inspired/Steeple Hill XXXX is simply going to be Love Inspired XXXX.

The only issue I see with this is how different the lines are. Harlequin Intrigue is a bit grittier and their ratio of romance to suspense tips a bit more towards suspense than Silhouette Romantic Suspense, and readers might be confused by two romantic suspense lines.

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I suppose this has been a long time coming, isn't it something like twenty years since Harlequin and Silhouette merged?