Nine times out of ten, Harlequin does something digital, and I say, “OH, COOL. Now that is some smart right there.” And everyone once in a while, they do something and I go, “Hur?” Of course, whatever it is that makes me go “Hur?” is as much as success as the other nine things.
This newest press release from Harlequin Digital falls in the “Oh COOL” department: digital comics based on Harlequin novels are now available on Chinese cell phones:
Each month almost one million Harlequin digital comic files are downloaded making Harlequin digital comics among the most popular comic content downloaded by Japanese women. Harlequin Comics are also available print editions in Japan.
The digital comic titles sold in Japan are now translated into simplified Chinese characters and made available in Celsys’s ComicSurfing format for mobile digital distribution on a Wireless China mobile site. Wireless China is one of the largest mobile portal and E-channel providers in China. Launch titles include comics based on books by New York Times bestselling authors such as Debbie Macomber, Sharon Sala and Betty Neels.
Since cell phone novels and comics are huge in Japan and China like the Hoff is huge in Germany, this seems pretty damn savvy. I read somewhere a long ass time ago that luck was really the intersection of opportunity and preparation. Harlequin brings “getting lucky” to a whole new level of damn and whoa.