The Cool Canadian History of Harlequin
COOL ROMANCE LITERATURE for HOT CANADIAN WOMENCanadian publishing executive Richard Bonnycastle founded Harlequin in 1949. In its early years the company published a wide range of American and British paperbacks, including mysteries, Westerns, and cookbooks.
It was not until 1957 that Harlequin began buying rights from Mills & Boon, a British publisher of romance fiction since 1909. Mary Bonnycastle, wife of the founder, noticed the enormous popularity of "these nice little books with happy endings," and suggested the company concentrate on them. By 1964 Harlequin was publishing romance fiction exclusively.
Harlequin Enterprises is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canadian communications giant Torstar Corporation, publisher of Canada's largest metropolitan daily newspaper, the Toronto Star.
Cool Canadian Facts about Harlequin's Canadian Enterprise
- Last year Harlequin sold more than 160 million books worldwide — more than 5.5 books a second.
- Harlequin books are sold in more than 100 international markets and translated into more than 23 languages around the world.
- During the past four decades, Harlequin characters have kissed each other over 20,000 times, shared about 30,000 hugs, and headed for the altar at least 7,000 times.
- If you set out to read all of the Harlequin books sold over the past 10 years, and averaged about two hours per book, you would be reading for the next quarter of a million years.
- Approximately one in every six mass-market paperbacks sold in North America is a Harlequin or a Silhouette novel.
- More than 50 million women read Harlequin books worldwide.
Harlequin Enterprises is located in Don Mills, Ontario, just north of downtown Toronto.
Harlequin Enterprises
225 Duncan Mill Rd.
Don Mills, Ontario (Canada)
M3B 3K9 Don Mills Road.
Red Dress Ink books reflect the lifestyles and independent attitudes of today's modern women in unique stories that range from edgy to laugh-out-loud funny. These books say I'm single, I'm female and I'm having a really good time (despite what my mother may have told you).
SOURCE:www.eharlequin.com
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