Romance novels ride 'Bridget Jones' bandwagon
By Deirdre Donahue
USA Today
You won't see the word Harlequin anywhere on the cover of "See Jane Date" by Melissa Senate. Nor a smoldering Y chromosome.
The new $12.95 trade paperback hits stores Friday. Published under a new imprint called Red Dress Ink, it represents a different direction by the romance giant Harlequin, which wants to ensnare the young female market that gobbles up "Bridget Jones's Diary" and "Ally McBeal," frisky entertainments that explore the hunt for love and sex.
According to Census figures, there are 32 million American women between the ages of 18 and 34. The average age of a Harlequin romance reader is 44.
Launching with a first printing of more than 40,000 copies, "See Jane Date" tells the tale of a smart, funny 28-year-old editor at a Manhattan publishing house who has been trapped in a two-year date drought. Alas, she must dig up a presentable boyfriend to accompany her to her cousin's fancy wedding. The mad date dash is on. It is the first of 12 Red Dress Ink novels. One will be released each month.
"A Harlequin romance is about the relationship between the hero and the heroine. These books focus on the heroine," says first-time novelist Senate, 36, a former editor at Harlequin turned full-time writer. She sees Red Dress Ink as connecting with younger readers who "wouldn't ordinarily read a Harlequin romance."
Red Dress Ink novels differ from the stereotype many nonreaders hold of romantic fiction. Sex happens (including premature ejaculation in the upcoming "Milkrun"). People use curse words. Girlfriends go out and drink. Careers and revolting co-workers are depicted, as well as the satisfactions and loneliness of single life. The trade paperbacks are part of the growing "chick lit" category popularized by "Bridget Jones" and "The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing" by Melissa Bank.
But the ending of each Red Dress Ink always offers hope if not Mr. Right, says the editor of Red Dress Ink, Margaret Marbury. "This is not highbrow literature, but it is clever. We are going after the commercial women's fiction audience. We've got stuff that is as good as 'Bridget Jones's Diary."'
Many publishers, not just Harlequin, are "trying to get a bigger cut" of that younger readership, says Publishers Weekly executive editor Daisy Maryles. Trade paperbacks instead of mass-market paperbacks are "the way to go because you are going to get more shelf space for those books."
Founded in 1949, Harlequin publishes under targeted imprints such as Silhouette, MIRA, Steeple Hill (Christian values) and others. The Toronto company releases more than 60 books a month and employs more than 1,300 writers. They publish in 26 languages.
Although launching during rocky economic times, Marbury notes, "when money gets tight, our sales go up." Reading a frivolous novel "is a way of getting away."
