Some Harlequin books are going digital-first.
Several of the publisher’s imprints will release e-books over the coming months, publishing books for a digital audience, according to Publishers Weekly.
“In a retail environment that’s increasingly challenging for new and emerging authors, digital publication and promotion allows us to continue to encourage author discovery and growth, bring books to market more quickly, leverage popular digital trends and offer authors an outlet for their nontraditional and ancillary streams,” Loriana Sacilotto, Harlequin’s EVP of global editorial told PW.
Harlequin Teen will publish a title every other month, beginning with “Stir Me Up” by author Sabrina Elkins on October 1. Harlequin Mira and Harlequin HQN will launch the first two titles in January and will publish one title a month, according to PW.
With this announcement, the company also said it would launch Harlequin-E, a digital series starting in the fall. It will focus on mystery, romance, erotic romance, young adult, fantasy, fantasy romance, sci-fi and sci-fi romance categories, featuring stories with a 10,000-minimum word count.
Harlequin is looking for authors to join Harlequin-E, even self-published ones. Click here for more information.
This is certainly one publisher that seems to be looking for ways to engage new authors. And while Harlequin says it will take on writers for these new efforts who are already part of the family, this step into the digital market seems to be a good one for both the company and authors–aspiring or otherwise.
Romance authors know Harlequin is a place to find the readers they’re looking for, while Harlequin itself clearly recognizes there are worthy authors out there, just waiting to be discovered.
