Where’s Fabio when you need him?
A third consecutive decline in sales and profits for Harlequin Enterprises’ hypersuccessful publishing programs is sending a few ripples through the mass market romance industry. In an article for The New York Times, Edward Wyatt points to an overall diversification in the type of fiction that women are writing and reading: “Explosive growth in the market for women’s fiction, particularly in newer genres like chick lit and women’s thrillers, has been drawing readers away from traditional romance novels, those formulaic bodice-rippers stocked with hunky heroes and love-conquers-all endings.” Not surprisingly, executives at Harlequin see the drop as nothing more than a short-term lull, and go as far as to predict a turnaround by the end of the year.
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Read the New York Times article on romance novels
