After 40 Years, Romance Publisher Harlequin to End Historical Romance Line

[Aglaea]

Copying a People.com article (It's titled the same as this thread, so to find the real article just search the full title).

One of the most successful romance novel publishers in the world is shutting down its historical romance line.


Harlequin Enterprises is planning to shut down its historical line in September 2027, a representative from parent company Harper Collins confirmed to PEOPLE in a statement. Retail efforts and digital publishing in the U.S. and U.K. will cease as a part of the shutdown.


"As Harlequin continues to evolve its series romance publishing program, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue publishing the Historical Romance series after September 2027 due to changing global market conditions," the statement said. "We are deeply grateful to the talented authors who have helped shape the series and shared unforgettable stories with generations of readers."


Harlequin — known for novels and series including Lynne Graham's Bond of Hatred, Maya Banks' The Tycoon's Pregnant Mistress series and other romances — will not acquire any new works for the line moving forward, the outlet reported, citing an email sent to Harlequin authors.


First launched in 1988, the historical line has been one of Harlequin's most successful lines in previous decades, but the publisher drastically limited the distribution of its physical historical titles in the U.S. beginning in the late 2010s.


An author who spoke to Reactor said that the publisher's historical romance program has seen major reductions over the last several years, particularly when it comes to a smaller retail presence, tighter genre focus and fewer monthly releases.


The author added that the decision to end retail and digital publishing in the U.S. and U.K. was surprising — though they believe that the company is planning to use foreign language rights to continue publishing historical novels in countries where historical romances titles are still popular.


"Harlequin is committed to the success of the series romance business," a statement from Harper Collins continued. "After this change takes effect, Harlequin Series imprints will continue to publish more than 45 new titles every month, offering a wide selection of romance stories for readers."


The publisher recently tightened their historical line to only feature books set in the Regency and Victorian period — and the company was still acquiring books under these guidelines last year, the outlet reported.


Despite the change, the historical line has still played significant part in Harlequin's international sales, per Reactor, including in 2014 — when Harlequin was acquired by HarperCollins and its parent company, News Corp.


At the time, HarperCollins said that it hoped their acquisition would "extend HarperCollins' global platform, particularly in Europe and Asia Pacific, helping to fuel its international growth strategy," per Reactor.


Harlequin was founded in 1949 and has been credited as of the largest publishers to help establish the romance genre in the U.S. in the 1960s, as well as helping expand into international markets in the 1970s and 1980s — which marked a major part of its business over the last several decades.


When the historical line was launched in the 1980s, it quickly became one of the company's bestselling collections and established its presence as a major romance publisher.