Granted this is last month’s news, but I’m finding out formally today so hey, it’s hot off my press. Or something.
Anyway, from Silhouette the following news release came out mid-August:
As a company, Harlequin is committed to the success of our series publishing business. We believe it is our responsibility to develop, evolve and enrich our various programs in order to bring new opportunities to our authors and fresh and relevant reading experiences to our readers. The complex side of keeping our publishing programs healthy is that every so often, we must evaluate a series that has not consistently been a strong performer and make difficult decisions about its future. Unfortunately, Silhouette Bombshell has not been able find a broad-based readership, and after reviewing the past, present and projected performance of the series, we’re sorry to announce that January 2007 will be the final publication month for Bombshell.
So, what went wrong? (Has this been discussed to death on other sites and I missed that boat?) Was it publicity? Was it that some of the books didn’t have a primary romance, and the reader expected that, didn’t get it, and was pissed off? The series guidelines recommended “[a] compelling romantic subplot that ends in a satisfying way,” so what went wrong?
Is this a bad sign for the age of the Asskicking Heroine? Are heroines who take charge of their own lives in danger of low sales? Is there an underlying message that, as one wise woman said to Candy and I recently, the reader wants the heroine to be rescued by the hero? What say you, oh wise Bitchery?
And seriously – bummer for RITA-winning books involving Pink Pearl. Hey Stef! Which man would Pink have ended up with?
I’m going to have to go with publicity. I read a boat load of books, I swear some people probably couldn’t pick me out of a line up if I wasn’t holding a book to my face, and I’ve never even heard of Silhouette Bombshell. In my defense, it’s been ages since I picked up anything Harlequin … so maybe I just missed the boat? I love kick-ass heroines! If I’d known that the line existed, I’d have been all over them.
The ones I read were entertaining, but it may have been that Harlequin’s core readers were looking for a stronger emphasis on the romance.
Then there’s Madd’s point about publicity. If the core readers weren’t finding the books satisfying, and Harl/Sil wasn’t pushing them hard enough to non-Harl/Sil readers, there may have been something lost in translation that hindered sales.
Hm, well, I’m afraid I’m off of those people who sent that Harlequin line to an early grave. I do not like kick-ass heroines—I love watching Buffy but I don’t like reading about heroines like her. There’s a wide range of possibilities between kick-ass and TSTL when it comes to heroines.
The lack of romance bugged me too. And the price.
If I want to get away from romance for a little while I pick up historical fiction of fantasy, never a Bombshell.
I feel like an evil Bitch for saying this but I glad Bombshell went kaput.
Oops, big typo. Meant ‘I’m *one* of those people’.
My bad.
Over the years I’ve been reading fewer and fewer series. Mostly because it seems like authors go to single title books quicker than they used to. Anyway, I’ve seen the books, of course, but haven’t heard buzz or found any one of them in my book store browsing interesting enough (to me)to compel a purchase.
I bought all of Stef’s books and enjoyed them. As for the rest of the line, I’m sort of biased against Harlequin / Silhouette because of all the secret babies, amnesiac brides and Greek millionaires. I wouldn’t have bought Stef’s books most likely if I hadn’t interacted with her a little on this site.
So I’m guessing Harlequin fans found the books departed too much from the formula and those of us who would’ve liked the kick-assness just didn’t hear about it until it was too late.
Stef also has a blog entry up regarding this very question: Who Should Pink Pink? You can e-mail her with your pick as she’s still going to write more Pink books. They just need to find another publisher, that’s all. So cast your vote, I know I will! Deadline is Sept 30.
Maybe they were a) straying too far from their loyal serial readers and b) lagging to catch up with other publishers who already specialize in those sort of stories/heroines. Maybe HQ simply overestimated its readership’s desire to follow non-traditional heroines and stories with less overall romance. People who DO want to find such books – well, I never would have thought to find them at Harlequin. Ana’s right: HQ = secret babies to me, not someone like Pink.
Luna is having some of the same problems too. A few of the series are cancelled or on hold pending sales of the backlist and Harlequin has decided to transform Luna from a romantic fantasy imprint to one focusing primarily on urban fantasy. They are letting some of the traditional fantasy series finish up, but they aren’t accepting new submissions for anything but urban fantasy.
Oh and I emphatically do not want my heroines saved by anyone. In fact, that was one of my (few) complaints with the Pink books. Ed was always lurking (sometimes with weird coincidence) around to save her. I wanted Pink to do some real ass kicking of her own.
Oh noes! I love that line…it’s about the only series romance I’ll actually pick up at the grocery store read, and I’ve enjoyed quite a few.
As for blaming promotion, I’m not sure I buy that, at least in the sense of “well, it’s not like I’ve seen ads all over the place for Blaze or Love Inspired” but it is entirely possibls that Bombshells tend to appeal to a younger crowd, and Harlequin isn’t quite as well-practiced in reaching those. Certainly, as I look at my own reading habits, I read significantly less than the ‘average’ romance reader (whoever that is) not because I want to, but because I *am* a busy 20-something who reads less than I want to in general…so maybe the target audience just doesn’t spend as much time reading, which translates to fewer books sales? Or there’s less brand loyalty because readers are less likely to subscribe and commit to 4 bks/mo.
Also, making it a series romance as opposed to a Luna-like regular-novels-with-a-harlequin-imprint may have been detrimental, because I’ll bet a lot of women who *would* read kickass heroines probably wouldn’t even bother to look in the series fiction section – or, in some cases, romance in general. I know I have guy friends who eagerly read all of my Luna novels (and would probably buy some themselves ‘by accident’ if I didn’t beat them to it), and plenty of people are too snobbish to check out series romance in general, so it may just have been an unfortunate combination of not being in the accepted format for the target audience.
I do hope that Harlequin will at least let some of the authors will move on to asskicking-heroine single-title deals. I know I’d follow them, and they might get the audience they better desire that way. Certainly, C. E. Murphy and Doranna Durgin have my undivided wherever they go now.
I dunno. I guess refuse to believe that, in this post-Buffy, just-post-Alias, Dark-Angel-rerunning-4x a monday-on-Sci-Fi era there isn’t a market for the kickass heroine (Although now that I think on it, no-one’s making a new series in that vein,which suddenly depresses me; I do love – and highly recommend – Veronica Mars which would fit the line description). I just think that either the women who crave their kickass heroines must be finding it in other places (a lot of woman-written fantasy and Sci-Fi for example), or just not attuned enough to (or too biased against) Harlequin.
For those who argue realism dictates that a white-collar employed woman is not capable of kicking ass, I refer you to Exhibit A Thanks to Lovely Salome for putting that story on her blog!
I’m really bummed to hear that Luna is struggling, too – though what, specifically is “urban fantasy?”
The books of the Luna series that I’ve read, specifically #1 and #2 of the Compass Trilogy by Gail Dayton and some of the P.C. Cast books, have been wonderful, but I’m a big fan of rewriting and inventing femnocentric mythology and adding romance.
I hope Luna doesn’t go the way of the Bombshell.
Yes, yes, that’s right – my blog… right here… come visit 😉
Charles de Lint and Sean Stewart are the first names that pop into my head when I think of Urban Fantasy. I think Kelley Armstrong probably qualifies as well.
Oh I hope Luna doesn’t fold, I like the Mercedes Lackey books-I think its the Seven Kingdom series-Fairy Godmother, and One Good Knight. Both have strong female leads.
On Urban Fantasy I also rec War for the Oaks.
Urban fantasy, while there are some notable early works that could claim that title, came to the fore in mid/late 1980’s with books where the fantastic intruded on the urban scene, usually the club/street scene. Tanya Huff, Charles de Lindt, and Emma Bull were early writers in this sub genre. If you want a good look at early authors check out Terri Windlings The Borderland collections. Mercedes Lackey’s collaborations with various authors in the “The Serrated Edge” and “Bedlam’s Bard” series also fit in here but they are a bit too preachy for my taste. I can almost hear the public service announcements in the back ground as I read.
Some urban fantasy authors are Kim Harrison, Gena Showalter (Alien Huntress series), Kelly Armstrong, Rachel Caine, and my critique partner, Rachel Vincent has a new uf series coming from Mira. The first book is Stray in June next year.
I attended a writer’s retreat on worldbuilding over the weekend and this was a big discussion. When asked, our speaker offered up Mooncalled by Patricia Briggs as an example of UF. Fantastic book!
They are contemporary fantasy novels that usually contains a secret fantasy world within a real world—that sort of thing.
During the discussion, quite a few authors said they thought the Bombshells had been shelved with romance, so readers were expecting more romance.
Ana wisely said,
And Robin sayeth,
There’s a lot of what Ana says in my whole approach to category romance. I’ve read plenty of to me great categories, but usually as a ‘backlist’ deal. There’s also a bit of the snobbishness Robin mentions in her comment mixed in. A third factor would be that since I have a tight budget, I rarely can afford to buy on impulse, so I rely heavily on reccomendations from people whose reading taste I share and trust. Most of the time, they’ll point me to a single title or two, regardless of whether the author has had category titles out.
Mostly, though, what happens is that category is too short for me, like sitting down for a meal and getting dessert only. Not cool, really, when you are starving.
With regard to kickass heroines on TV, my new favorite is the heroine of Bones. Gross anatomy—really gross at times and martial arts. Plus Geeks. I really like Geeks.
DS, omg, I love me some Bones. I watch that show religiously. Plus David Boreanaz… yum! As a perk, they do a phenomenal job with the ensemble casting; every secondary character is well-drawn and interesting.
LOVE that show.
I like Bones too, though I go hot to cold on the writing and plots at times. Case in point: The fridge blows up with enough force to toss Booth across the room ON FIRE. Temperance? Standing dramatically a few feet away, completely unharmed not a hair out of place. Puh-leez. Now I don’t expect complete realism, but that was egregious.
However, the slowly simmering tension between them? Often very very well done.
Yeah, I remember that episode—I agree. As noted, they’re doing a great job with the tension. I haven’t quite made up my mind whether I can see Bones and Booth together; I hope the writers don’t launch them at each other too soon. I would like for the tension to stretch for several seasons, minimum.
Can’t place the fridge blowing up but I’ve been buying them off itunes and definitely have not been watching them in order.
As for the Bombshell line, I’m sorry to be so snobbish or whatever, but I just could not buy a Harlequin. I did, however, order Rachel Caine’s first Bombshell and almost didn’t finish it because the set up with the heroine trying to get her former cop partner out of jail was just too, too familiar. Then her new partner is introduced and I scented sequel bait. I hate sequel bait.
I did however finish it and I am glad that I did but I wasn’t drawn to buy any more, not even the sequel.
I think Bombshell just didn’t know quite where to be. I liked some of the stories, but disliked others. I’m hoping they put a lot of them as ebooks so I can grab ones I don’t have that look interesting. I just bought the 2 in 1 ebook that had the first two Grailkeeper books by Evelyn Vaughn and really enjoyed them. Kickass heroine who didn’t need the hero to save her. In fact, she saved him more than once.
The new Rogue Angel series is rather Bombshellesque in that it has a strong female lead (and comes out of an imprint from Harlequin that usually does men’s adventure titles. Why not women’s adventure too?). I wouldn’t mind seeing more single title series come out of some of the Bombshell authors.
I think the reports of Luna’s death are greatly exaggerated. Yes, they’ve cut some series, but from what I’ve heard, that’s typical of a line a few years into its life. They’re taking stock of what’s selling and what isn’t, and while it’s true that they want UF right now, I don’t think they’re 100% ruling out buying more epic fantasy.
The funny thing is, I used to write UF until I went to Luna. Heh. Funny. I’m pretty sure I can transform anything from cool to not-cool just by thinking about it. Is there any sub-genre y’all are sick of? Let me know and I’ll come up with a proposal. It’ll be gone within the week.
Marching to the beat of a different saxophonist,
I think if they’d packaged the Bombshells as single-titles and promoted them as such—maybe sold them through Mira—they’d have done a lot better, because the target audience for Bombshells wasn’t the same as the target audience for the rest of the series. As several have said here, people just didn’t look on the series racks for books of that type. I’m an eclectic reader with a taste for pretty much everything—except horror. I even like a lot of the series romance—that’s where I started, believe it or not.
I bought a lot of Bombshells, and still have several waiting to be read. I tend to get into the ones with paranormal elements (like Vaughn’s AKA Goddess) more than the “regular” ones. At least they’re going to finish out the Madonna Key series they’ve got going now.
I know Luna is only looking for urban fantasy from new-to-them authors. I don’t know if that’s what they want from the authors they’re holding on to. The Rose Books have sold well, I’m told, so maybe they’ll want more of those.
I’ve proposed a book (maybe more than one) that falls sorta between urban and traditional high fantasy…it’s a Victorian steam-punk story. Still haven’t heard. So what they do about it will tell us all something.
I may be completely off base, but I suspect that it’s the fact that they’re packaged as a line that’s at fault. Lots of us readers love kickass heroines, but we’re used to looking for that kind of book individually rather than trusting a Harlequin line. For myself, the only time I venture into the category romance section of the bookstore is when an author I already read has a book out.
And conversely, maybe readers who are used to shopping in the category romance section aren’t as enthralled with the more action-oriented stories, because that’s not what normally draws someone to those particular shelves.
Not that the two groups never overlap, mind you, but some romance readers read primarily categories (Harlequin/Silhouette) and some never read them, and I suspect that the target audience for Bombshell was more in the never-read-them group.
I agree with the assessment of the Bombshell problem—the target audiences were not category romance readers. Having not read one, I don’t know if the short form allowed enough room to develop a satisfying romance along with the action/adventure plot. A friend of mine who’s read most of them said that they were category-like in that the styles were similar from book to book, which she figured was the result of a heavy editorial hand.
My Luna editor said this morning that they’re looking to buy more contemp/urban fantasy, but they’re still buying epic/romantic fantasy. That’s the official word, but in practice the barrier is higher for the latter and therefore it might turn out that no more new ones get bought, at least for the near future.
I agree it was a marketing issue. Readers stopped by their favorite series shelves in the bookstores, knowing that Harlequin/Silhouette would deliver the romance they wanted. So when they found Bombshells, they picked it up, expecting romance. Bombshells are not romance. They are action/adventure, suspense and thrills, with a touch of romance to them.
Authors were initially told Bombshells would be shelved with mainstream books. That didn’t happen.
As for the Rogue Angel series, I think this one is great! It’s a multi-author series, but each book is put out under one made-up author name. (Check the copyrights for the actual authors.) This series will be my Bombshell-fix from now on!
M
It sucks great big donkey balls. Not only do I now have no venue for more Pink books, I had a different sort of Bombshell that was to be released in early summer of ‘07. It’s about a petroleum engineer who fights oil blowouts – titled BLOWOUT. That book was a bitch to write. Half of it’s in Saudi Arabia. I knew women were restricted there, but didn’t know it was quite so onerous until after I’d sold the proposal and sat down to really write it. Try having a kickass heroine in a country where women can’t drive and can’t leave the house without a male escort – an immediate family member only. I thought I was so clever the way I worked around the obstacles – and now, it doesn’t matter, because that book will never see the light of day.
I regret this for so many reasons, not the least of which is because of my editor. Natashya Wilson is one of the best. When I sold, my agent said I was very fortunate to have her as my first editor, because she’s so good. Granted, I have nothing to compare her to, but I’ve heard stories about other editors, and I have to believe Tashya Wilson is supremely good at what she does. She worked her ass off on this line, and it kills me that it didn’t make it. I blame it on marketing, 100%.
As for what happens now, I’ve just turned in a new project to my agent, so we’ll see if I can ‘make it’ in another genre, with another house. I’ve got some ideas about Pink, but it’s up in the air. I was told they’d try to get her into single title, but I don’t hold out a lot of hope for that. I understand we can get our rights back to our characters, so maybe we’ll shop her somewhere else.
If I’ve learned only one thing about the publishing industry since I started writing for publication a thousand years ago, it’s that the only certainty is change. Lines fold, editors leave, sub-genres come and go. Those who sit by the side of the road and cry after they get thrown off the bus don’t see the next bus that comes along. Not me – I’m hauling ass to jump on another one. I’ll send y’all a postcard from wherever this one takes me! 🙂
I always wondered if a potential problem with Bombshells would be that the heroines were *too* kickass and left nothing for the reader to identify with. What do I have in common with a woman who is expert in seventeen kinds of martial arts, speaks four languages, and can diffuse a bomb in under four seconds without breaking a nail?
Maybe I was right.
I always wondered if a potential problem with Bombshells would be that the heroines were *too* kickass and left nothing for the reader to identify with.
I agree, Cat. I wonder if they were operating on the assumption that heroines are the people we’d like to be, as opposed to the people we are (though I think a kick-ass heroine can be relatable if she has enough other weaknesses).
It illustrates the tension between readers wanting reality in their romances vs. wanting to live the fantasy. How many times do readers/authors say “But it’s just fantasy!” to defend a non-realistic portrayal of, say, men.
I tend to want to identify with the heroine, rather than aspire to be her. I like to see women who struggle with money, don’t always do the right thing, and sometimes choose men who aren’t gods on earth.
Romance as reality vs. wish fulfillment: SB’s, have we covered that topic already? I can’t remember if we did it other than in the context of condom usage.
The Harlequin formula of 20 years ago was what put me off romance—I haven’t read one since. And for a kick-ass, over-the-top heroine, there’s always my old Modesty Blaise collection, even tho her platonic HEA with Willie Garvin while they both boink anything else that moves is too 70’s for words. I missed the Buffy bandwagon—I did enjoy the movie but never got into the TV show.
And… bombshell? My word-association for that is Mae West-Jane Russell-Marilyn Monroe. Definitely not Urban Warrior Princess. Sounds like goofy marketing all ‘round.
I don’t usually read categories, so that might be part of the problem to begin with. I was not impressed with most of the Bombshells I read. I have a nice pile of unfinished ones. (Note: I didn’t try any of Stef’s. Sorry Stef).
I want a strong hero. The heroine should be just as strong. The best is if they compliment each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Too often the male protagonist was barely there. I didn’t like that.
There were some great ones. Evelyn Vaughn’s Grailkeeper series. The Madonna Key series (EV is involved in that one too), one by Ruth Wind (aka Barbara Samuel) and Cate Dermody’s Strongbox Chronicles.
I am sorry the line is closing because I do think the authors were beginning to find their way, a better balance of adventure and romance.
I’m wondering how much of the kick-ass heroines on-TV audience is made up of men? I suspect quite a bit of it. A lot of guys will have grown up expecting and wanting ass-kicking females in their fictional entertainment by now.
And I can’t help recalling the cliche that any female character you meet on MMORPGs like World of Warcraft—games which are full of kicking-ass, because ass-kicking game mechanics are easier to implement—has a not unreasonable chance of turning out to actually be being played by a man.
I’m a man, and I *am* brave enough to pick up mills&boon (.uk version of harlequin) category titles on occasion, in public, at the supermarket even—after all, I’m over thirty so I’m all growed up now—but I really do suspect that behaviour may be an exceedingly rare circumstance for most guys, even the fiction readers among us.
If Bombshells were shelved and/or promoted only in a harlequin category ghetto rather than done as straight up action/adventure titles with the machismo sapping Harlequin name buried somewhere far far away where the insecure can’t see it, then yes, major marketing blunder.
I understand men are currently less likely to be novel readers than woman, but hey, there must be at least *some* guy audience out there that an action/adventure line with kick-ass heroines could pick up along with the female audience.
I love kick-ass heroines, but I have to admit, I never picked up a Bombshell. It was probably marketing; if it had been planted in the fantasy section, I probably would have picked up a few. But the other thing for me was what the word “Bombshell” connotated: blonde white women going out and saving the world.
Now I love Buffy as much as any Buffy fan (I’m slowly collecting the whole series), but I personally stayed away from “Bombshell” because I figured it didn’t have that many people of color.
WHich now that I think about it is really stupid reasoning, because I don’t do that with any other series or books that I read, but for some reason I did it with Bombshell. I guess it’s one of those irrational stupid on-the-fly reasonings that you don’t really think about in the moment
Agree with Darla & Kat. For decades Harlequin has published the same tripe. IMO it burned them here, because potential buyers have developed long standing habits of walking past their tripe. Like Darla, I only venture there for specific authors.
On the other hand, Luna has alot to offer…Gail Dayton, CE Murphy, and Maria Snyder. So I hope they don’t do too much housecleaning.
Just a word about Luna…
I love this imprint! I would absolute hate to see it go. I’ve bought almost every book that’s been published under Luna. The only ones I haven’t bought? Well, guess what, those were the urban fantasies. I did buy Staying Dead, and I’m not going to bother with the rest of the series—I have no interest in the character or her growing romance. There also wonky parts in the plot and character development that turned me off (sorry, can’t remember specifics). The rest of the line, though, I cannot wait to read, and I check constantly to see what’s published this month. I’m hooked. Luna brings my two favourite genres together, and I’m so glad to be able to read new fantasy novels with strong females roles (and less of the typical guy crap). Mercedes Lackey, Robin McKinley and Tamora Pierce, et. al. just don’t write frequently enough for me anymore. 🙂
According to Gail Dayton, Luna has cancelled publication of her 3rd Rose book. One wonders what other favorite authors have been cancelled. What are they thinking? Whatever it is, they can think it without my business.
Actually, skapusniak, if you go to the Realms of Fantasy magazine website, they have stats there that are very interesting. Dungeons and Dragons magazine as well. Yes, guys are reading books. Yes, they like kick-ass heroines. Lara Croft and Anita Blake are big sellers to guys. Anita Blake is now in comics, actually (very, very good art there!) and it’s not toward the female audience they set their sights with that one.
Harlequin/Luna, I think, missed the boat. They should’ve had a gamer (or gamer-friendly marketing director) do the publicity for them. A GUY, dammit. Yes, women like kick-ass heroines, but maybe guys like them more, you know, as they get to fantasize about them the way women fantasize about male heroes. I dunno, but to me, it’s sad that Harlequin didn’t have the vision to look beyond the fence and try to lure in other readers.