Harlequin Closing Lines Update
Harlequin is closing Next and Everlasting Love lines.
Here’s the latest info -
The final Next will be released in February 2008. Everlasting Love will be swallowed up into the Super Romance line with 1 title per month scheduled.
Official Announcement Info -
Harlequin NEXT and Harlequin Everlasting to cease publication
Harlequin Everlasting
Everlasting Love was developed to bring readers a new twist on the romance story, telling a love story that spanned the life of a romance, whether in years or decades. We are proud of the exceptional job Everlasting authors have done in bringing this concept to life.
However, Harlequin Everlasting Love, while still new to the market, has not been able find a large enough readership to sustain it as a stand-alone series.
Because Everlasting Love has added a rich program of outstanding editorial to our publishing schedule, our belief in this concept is very strong, and we want to keep it in the market. In order to do this, we are going to have to change the distribution for the series. January 2008 will be the final publication month for Everlasting Love as a stand-alone series. Instead, Everlasting will become a branded sub-series within Harlequin Superromance in early 2008. The frequency, depending on scheduling, will be approximately 1 title per month. Our hope is that with the broader distribution and shelf presence that Superromance receives, more readers will come to love this program as we do, and that Everlasting Love will establish a firm foothold with romance readers. We are also looking at additional distribution opportunities beyond those offered by our series, including publication in trade format.
Harlequin NEXT
Harlequin Enterprises is committed to the success of our series publishing business. We believe it is our responsibility to develop, evolve and enrich our various programs in order to bring new opportunities to our authors and fresh and relevant reading experiences to our readers.
Harlequin NEXT, as a series, was launched with this mission in mind: to provide entertainment for the woman entering the “next” stage in life. We are very proud of the inroads that the line and authors have made with the challenges of creating these superlative books.
However, the sales of Harlequin Next, though slow and steady, have not been strong enough to enable us to keep offering the line on our series racks. We have decided to cease publication of the mass market series edition of NEXT as of February 2008.
Harlequin is dedicated to NEXT as a brand, and to the women readers who make up the growing demographic that NEXT speaks to. With that in mind, we are discussing how to best keep the brand alive and growing in a distribution other than on the series racks. We have not yet completely formulated our plans, but we are looking very closely at the opportunity to publish NEXT in the trade-size format. This must be done with much input from our book trade partners, research on what we’ve learned these past two and a half years, and further learnings on how to reach and educate the consumer on the fine books that we are offering them.
NEXT has had an incredibly favorable reaction from reviewers and readers alike—and this is a credit to our authors’ talent and abilities. We are looking forward to creating a program that will enhance the NEXT brand and further garner sales and consumer attention that NEXT needs.
Randall Toye
Global Editorial Director, Series
Harlequin Enterprises Ltd.
That’s sad. I feel so bad for all the authors who wrote for these lines.
I know. It’s always sad to me when lines close. I hope the authors find another line or place for their work.