Harlequin Enterprises ULC, commonly known as Harlequin, is a company that publishes romance books, women's fiction, and other types of books under different imprints. It was started in Winnipeg, Canada, in 1949. In the 1960s, it became the largest publisher of romance fiction worldwide.

Harlequin moved its headquarters to Toronto in 1969. From 1981 to 2014, it was owned by Torstar Corporation, which is the largest newspaper publisher in Canada. In 2014, it was bought by News Corp and is now part of HarperCollins. In 1971, Harlequin purchased Mills & Boon Limited, a publisher based in London, and began expanding globally. It opened offices in Australia and several European countries, including Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Greece, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia. In 2015, Harlequin launched an audiobook program.

History

Harlequin was started in 1949 by Richard Bonnycastle in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He created the company while working at Advocate Printers, a branch of Toronto's Bryant Press. The goal was to keep printing machines busy.

The company was owned by Advocate Printers, Doug Weld of Bryant Press, and Jack Palmer, who managed the Canadian distribution of the Saturday Evening Post and the Ladies' Home Journal. Palmer handled marketing, while Bonnycastle oversaw production.

Harlequin released its first book, The Manatee by Nancy Bruff, in May 1949. At first, the company mostly reprinted books from other publishers, though some original works were also published. They reprinted novels by authors such as James Hadley Chase, Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Somerset Maugham. Their most successful book was Beyond the Blue Mountain by Jean Plaidy (1951). Out of 30,000 copies sold, only 48 were returned.

Although the company had strong sales early on, profits were low, and it struggled financially. After Jack Palmer died in the mid-1950s, Bonnycastle bought Palmer’s 25% share. Soon after, Doug Weld left, and Bonnycastle gave his shares to Ruth Palmour, the company secretary.

In 1954, Harlequin’s chief editor died, and Bonnycastle’s wife, Mary, began proofreading books at home and took over his role. Mary enjoyed reading romance novels from British publisher Mills & Boon. In 1957, Harlequin acquired the rights to distribute Mills & Boon’s romance novels in North America.

The first Mills & Boon novel Harlequin reprinted was The Hospital in Buwambo by Anne Vinton (Mills & Boon No. 407). The agreement with Mills & Boon was based on a handshake, renewed each year when Bonnycastle visited London. He would meet with Alan Boon, the editorial director of Mills & Boon, at the Ritz Hotel and agree to continue the partnership.

Mary Bonnycastle and her daughter Judy Burgess decided which Mills & Boon novels to reprint. They had rules to avoid more explicit content. Richard Bonnycastle later read a more explicit romance novel and found it popular. A market test showed it sold better than a less explicit book. Intimacy in the novels never went beyond a chaste kiss.

Romance novels became very popular. By 1964, Harlequin only published Mills & Boon novels under its name. Though it had rights to sell these books in North America, 78% of its sales were in Canada, where 85% of books sold. Richard Bonnycastle died in 1968, and his son, Richard Bonnycastle Jr., took over. He moved the company to Toronto in 1969 and expanded its influence in publishing. In 1970, he partnered with Pocket Books and Simon & Schuster to distribute Harlequin novels in the United States.

On October 1, 1971, Harlequin bought Mills & Boon to keep Alan Boon and his team. John Boon, another co-founder’s son, stayed as Managing Director, overseeing British operations and global exports.

Because North American stores were hesitant to sell paperbacks, Harlequin sold books in places like supermarkets and drugstores. The company focused on branding rather than individual titles. Marketing techniques were modeled after Procter & Gamble, and a direct sales team inspired by Reader’s Digest gave away books to attract readers. Harlequin Reader Service offered monthly book subscriptions.

When Harlequin bought Mills & Boon, it published only one line of romance novels, releasing six books each month. In 1973, a second line, Harlequin Presents, was introduced. These novels were slightly more sensual than the original line. Though Mary Bonnycastle disapproved, they sold well in Britain and were also distributed in North America. Within two years, Harlequin Presents outsold the original line.

In 1975, Toronto Star Ltd. bought a 52.5% share of Harlequin, later acquiring the rest in 1981. By 1975, 70% of Harlequin’s sales were in the United States, but it only hired British writers. In late 1975, Harlequin bought a novel by Janet Dailey, its first American author. Dailey’s books showed American settings and culture. Harlequin was unsure how the market would react and hesitated to fully embrace American writers. In the late 1970s, a Harlequin editor rejected a manuscript by Nora Roberts, who later became a top-selling romance author, because "they already had their American writer."

Harlequin ended its contract with Simon & Schuster and Pocket Books in 1976. This left Simon & Schuster without books to sell. To fill the gap, they created Silhouette Books in 1980, hiring American writers and allowing more creative freedom.

Realizing its mistake, Harlequin launched its own American-focused line in 1980, Harlequin Superromance. These books were longer and featured American settings and characters.

Harlequin had not adapted quickly to readers’ growing interest in more explicit content. In 1980, Dell launched Candlelight Ecstasy, the first line to allow non-virginal heroines. By 1983, Candlelight Ecstasy sales reached $30 million. Silhouette also launched similar lines, Desire and Special Edition, which sold out every month. The rise in new romance lines increased demand for writers who focused on explicit content. By 198…

International editions

Harlequin has offices in Amsterdam, Athens, Budapest, Granges-Pacot, Hamburg, London, Madrid, Milan, New York, Paris, Stockholm, Sydney, Tokyo, and Warsaw. The company also has licensing agreements in nine other countries.

Editors at Harlequin’s branch offices decide which novels will be published in their region. They choose a book after reading it themselves, receiving a positive review from someone else, or reading a summary about the novel. Editors accept a novel for one of these reasons:

• Expecting high sales
• Seeing the book as high quality
• The story’s setting or topic matching a monthly theme
• Receiving direct orders from Harlequin’s main office

Books published in other countries may not be the same as those sold in North America or Europe. International editors can select books from Harlequin’s backlist, which includes older titles. Some books published in other countries may have been released in North America six or seven years earlier. When books are translated, the names of the main characters may change, and the title might not be translated exactly. Also, each novel is usually shortened by 10-15% compared to the original English version. This is often done by removing references to American pop culture, removing jokes that are hard to translate, and making descriptions more concise.

Current

In 2024, Harlequin published over 40,000 romance novels and sold more than 131,000,000 copies, which is about half of all romance books sold in North America. That year, Harlequin released books in 29 languages across 107 countries worldwide. The company sold 131 million books in 2024, a number similar to its sales in 2005.

Harlequin is one of the most profitable book publishers. In 2003, the company sold $585 million worth of books, earning $124 million in profit, which is a 21% profit margin. A large part of this profit comes from the money paid to authors upfront, called advances. These advances are often smaller than the average in the publishing industry and may total only a few thousand dollars for a series of romance books. Despite its profitability, Harlequin’s royalty program for authors has been criticized. In 2011, the Romance Writers Association told its members to carefully review their contracts with Harlequin because some members were concerned about changes to digital royalty rates and non-compete clauses. This was not the first time the association raised concerns about Harlequin’s treatment of authors. In 2009, the Mystery Writers Association, Romance Writers of America, and Science Fiction Writers Association criticized Harlequin for requiring authors to pay for publishing.

In late 2025, the French division of HarperCollins announced it had hired Fluent Planet to use artificial intelligence to translate its romance novels into French to reduce costs and keep prices low. Human editors would review the translations for errors before publication. The Association of France’s Literary Translators (ATLF) and a group of translators called En Chair et en OS raised concerns about the quality of the translations and the effect on translators’ income.

In 2012, authors filed a lawsuit against Harlequin Enterprises, Ltd., claiming the publisher had unfairly licensed e-book publishing rights to a subsidiary at low rates to pay royalties only on the licensing fees, not on full sales. Harlequin responded by stating its authors had been fairly compensated.

The lawsuit also claims Harlequin withheld e-book royalties from authors who signed publishing agreements between 1990 and 2004.

Imprints

The Harlequin Treasury imprint published several books as collections.

• Harlequin Treasury Harlequin American Romance 90s
• Harlequin Treasury Harlequin Duets 90s
• Harlequin Treasury Harlequin Historical 90s
• Harlequin Treasury Harlequin Intrigue 90s
• Harlequin Treasury Harlequin Love & Laughter 90s
• Harlequin Treasury Harlequin Presents 90s
• Harlequin Treasury Harlequin Romance 90s
• Harlequin Treasury Harlequin Superromance 90s
• Harlequin Treasury Harlequin Temptation 90s
• Harlequin Treasury Love Inspired 90s
• Harlequin Treasury Silhouette Desire 90s
• Harlequin Treasury Silhouette Intimate Moments 90s
• Harlequin Treasury Silhouette Romance 90s
• Harlequin Treasury Silhouette Special Edition 90s
• Harlequin Treasury Silhouette Yours Truly 90s

Kimani Press, which specializes in stories featuring African-American characters, was created by Harlequin in December 2005. This happened after Harlequin purchased the Arabesque, Sepia, and New Spirit imprints from BET Books.

Inspirational romance.

In the early 1990s, many Harlequin authors left the company to write romance novels for other publishers. To keep their best writers, Harlequin started the MIRA Books imprint in October 1994. This imprint published single-title romance novels. Many of MIRA’s early books were written by well-known Harlequin authors, including Heather Graham Pozzessere, whose book Slow Burn (2001) helped launch the imprint. For the first few years, MIRA released four books each month. One of these was a new story, while the other three were reprinted from earlier Harlequin books.

Harlequin has grown its selection of books. It offers romance novels through its Harlequin and Silhouette imprints, thrillers and commercial fiction through MIRA Books, erotic fiction through the Spice imprint, "chick lit" similar to Bridget Jones’s Diary through Red Dress Ink, fantasy books through LUNA, inspirational stories through Steeple Hill and Steeple Hill Café, African-American romance through Kimani Press, male action-adventure books through Gold Eagle, and single-title romances through Canary Street.

In 2009, Harlequin Enterprises announced a new imprint called Harlequin Horizons, which was a vanity press. This decision was criticized by the Mystery Writers of America, Romance Writers of America, and Science Fiction Writers of America. These groups removed Harlequin’s other imprints from eligibility for their conferences and awards. After this backlash, the imprint was renamed DellArte Press.

Harlequin More Than Words

Harlequin Enterprises runs Harlequin More Than Words, a program that supports women who do important work in their communities across North America. The company asks for suggestions of women who are making meaningful contributions. Each year, five women are chosen as Harlequin More Than Words award winners. A total of $50,000 is given to the charitable causes these women support. A collection of romance-fiction short stories based on the lives of the winners is written by five of Harlequin's top authors. Authors who have contributed to the More Than Words collection include Diana Palmer, Debbie Macomber, Susan Wiggs, and Linda Lael Miller. The first collection was published in 2004, and a new collection is released every year. Money earned from selling the books is used to support the Harlequin More Than Words program.