Avon Publications is a company that creates and publishes romance fiction books. In the beginning, Avon was known for publishing paperback books and comic books in the United States. In the early 1970s, Avon changed its focus to publishing romance books. Many of these romance books became popular and stayed on bestseller lists, showing that there was a market and possible profits in publishing romance fiction. As of 2010, Avon is an imprint of HarperCollins.
Early history (1941–1971)
Avon Books was started in 1941 by the American News Company (ANC) to create a competitor for Pocket Books. ANC hired Joseph Meyers and Edna Meyers Williams, brother and sister, to help start the company. ANC purchased J.S. Ogilvie Publications, a publisher of dime novels that the Meyers partly owned, and renamed it "Avon Publications." Avon also began publishing comic books. Early Avon books looked similar to Pocket Books' paperbacks, which led Pocket Books to file a lawsuit. However, Avon quickly made its books different by focusing on stories that appealed to a wide audience, rather than stories with more literary themes. The first 40 books published by Avon were not numbered. Some of the first dozen had front and back pages with an illustration of a globe. Avon's focus on popular appeal led it to publish ghost stories, love stories with hints of romance, fantasy novels, and science fiction, which were very different from the more literary books published by Pocket Books.
In addition to regular-sized paperbacks, Avon also published smaller-sized paperbacks (similar in size to the current Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine) in series. These included books like Murder Mystery Monthly, Modern Short Story Monthly, and Avon Fantasy Reader. Many authors who are now highly valued by collectors were published in these editions, including A. Merritt, James M. Cain, H. P. Lovecraft, Raymond Chandler, and Robert E. Howard.
In 1953, Avon sold books priced between 25¢ and 50¢ (the "G" series was called "Giant"). These books sold more than 20 million copies each year. Time magazine described Avon's books as "westerns, mysteries, and stories about romance that could be illustrated with pictures of attractive women." Around this time, Avon also published books under other names, such as Eton (1951–1953), Novel Library, Broadway, and Diversey. The 35¢ "T" series, introduced in 1953, had strong mass-market appeal and included many examples of popular juvenile delinquent stories. The "T" series also included books tied to movies and classic mystery and science fiction stories.
In 1959, Avon was purchased by the Hearst Corporation.
In the late 1960s, interest in Satanism grew because of the founding of Anton LaVey's Church of Satan in 1966 and the success of Ira Levin's novel Rosemary's Baby in 1967. In 1968, an Avon editor named Peter Mayer asked Anton LaVey to write a book called The Satanic Bible. LaVey agreed, and in December 1969, The Satanic Bible was published as an Avon paperback.
History of Avon Romance (post-1972)
In 1972, Avon began publishing books in the modern romance genre with the release of Kathleen Woodiwiss's novel The Flame and the Flower. This book sold 2.35 million copies. In 1974, Avon published Woodiwiss's second novel, The Wolf and the Dove. That same year, two romance novels by new author Rosemary Rogers, Sweet Savage Love and Dark Fires, were also released. Dark Fires sold two million copies in its first three months, and Sweet Savage Love inspired the name of the genre: "sweet savage romances."
In 1999, News Corporation purchased Hearst's book division. Avon's hardcover books and non-romance paperbacks were moved to a sister company, Morrow, leaving Avon to focus only on romance publishing.
In 2006, Avon created a new line of books called Avon Red to publish erotica. In 2014, Avon started an event called KissCon to help romance readers connect with authors and build stronger reading communities.
For its 75th anniversary in 2016, Avon published 65 new romance books. It also released a special edition of Shanna, a romance novel by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, first published in 1977. Shanna was on the New York Times Best Seller list for over thirty weeks. The anniversary edition included an introduction written by Lisa Kleypas, a more recent bestseller and author represented by Avon.
Avon Comics
Between 1945 and the mid-1950s, Avon produced comic books. The comics covered topics such as horror fiction, science fiction, Westerns, romance, war, and talking animal stories. Many of these comics only lasted for a short time. The six comics that lasted the longest are listed in the complete list below.