Will Romance Survive?

Found on Twitter (link at bottom) – Harlequin is closing/CLOSED their Dare line. Blaze is already gone. (check it out for yourself here) Does this mean the powerhouse of the industry has turned its back on “wild” romance? Will we only see tame heroes and heroines who (Ooo…) do the eating downstairs off-page? Probably.

What does this mean to authors? Well, for one, a wider range of obscurity. While Carina Press still accepts the word “pussy” in manuscripts, they don’t pay as well as the big H. So, without a payoff, and a nice fat BIG-O, does this move mean an exit strategy for the clown king of pocket paperbacks? I’m not convinced they can hang onto the market. Sex sells. The movie industry went harder, naughtier, grittier, and more questionable. Do they not want to compete anymore? Why, Harlequin, why?

Join the discussion: On Twitter https://twitter.com/mel_thegreat/status/1409978007335235589?s=20