Publishing Romance: The History of an Industry, 1940s to the Present

by John Markert

Romance novels have attracted considerable attention since their mass market debut in 1939, yet seldom has the industry itself been analyzed. Founded in 1949, Harlequin quickly gained market domination with their contemporary romances. Other publishers countered with historical romances, leading to the rise of "bodice-ripper" romances in the 1970s. The liberation of the romance novel's content during the 1980s brought a vitality to the market that was dubbed a revolution, but the real romance revolution began in the 1990s with developments in the mainstream publishing industry and continues today. This book traces the history and evolution of the romance industry, covering successful (and not so successful) trends and describing changes in romance publishing that paved the way for the many popular subgenres flooding the market in the 21st century.

Genres: Nonfiction, Romance, History, Books About Books

344 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 15, 2015

Reviews

[Beth]

This book is like sitting in a class while Markert meticulously explains the state of the romance industry in various decades. I'm a lecture kind of learner so I was locked in for this book. Perhaps my biggest take aways are Markert's identification of gatekeepers in the industry and how often they pushed their own personal taste as a barometer for what romance readers would read instead of talking to those romance readers. Some of his conclusions he draws in the final chapters I wasn't on board with but ya. Solid book.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not a casual read; it is, in fact, a scholarly and businesslike examination of the romance novel industry in the US from its beginning in the late 1940s up until approximately 2014 (the book was published in 2016).

There are chapters on trends in content and cover art, mergers and acquisitions, and how digital-first imprints are changing the industry. Some of it is long and convoluted, but it's important to know where romance novels came from in order to perhaps understand (serving as a futurist is tricky) where they are going.

John Markert clearly took his subject matter seriously. There are hundreds of endnotes, and dozens of items in the bibliography.

If one is serious about writing romance, regardless of subgenre, I think this book is an important read.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Looking back at my Goodreads history, I see that I began reading John Markert's Publishing Romance: The History of an Industry, 1940s to the Present all the way back in November of 2017. It's an invaluable piece of research about the history of the business, moving beyond Margaret Ann Jensen's Love's Sweet Return: The Harlequin Story (1984) and Jay Dixon's The Romance Fiction of Mills & Boon 1909-1990s (1999) to examine all of the North American publishers that, at one time or another over the course of the past 75 years, been actively engaged in printing and selling books in the genre known as romance. Markert's book serves as a vital resource for those interested in how business decisions have shaping the romance novel as we know it today; his interviews with many key industry players will serve as rich primary source material for scholars far into the future. But that very strength is also one of this volume's main weaknesses: taking at face value the assertions of his interviewees, or occasionally even misreading them, and not probing very deeply about other possible motivations besides business-related ones for the decisions they made, often make the book feel at times like a look at an industry by an outsider than a thoughtful, analytical history. The result, then, is a book as frustrating as it is informative, which is perhaps why it took me so long to get through it.\

See the rest of this review at: http://romancenovelsforfeminists.blog...

[Maggie Gardner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very thorough examination of the rise of the romance novel in the US in the 20th century.
At times it can be a bit boring due to the density, but I don’t think that is a fault of the book. I appreciate the labour it took to create this book, and have found it very helpful in writing my MA dissertation. It’s a great place to start if you want to understand some of the logistical reasons for the commercial success of the modern romance in the 20th century.
It’s very well researched and constructed, and a valuable resource in the broader discussion of the phenomenon that was/is the modern romance of the late 20th century.

(I did not technically finish the entire book bur have read so many articles and bits of other books that it all balances out … I would definitely consider going back and finishing the remainder of the book)

[Aurora · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been reading this textbook all summer. It’s a very in-depth history of the industry (normally broken down into “what is Harlequin doing?” and “what is everybody else doing?”). I do like it, although it was a slog.

[Diane Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good reference, however, I would have preferred that the information be present chronologically. It seemed to jump around a bit. Also, a lot of the information was from interviews so there may be some accuracy issues.

[Isobel McCreavy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mean obviously only read this if you're interested in the publishing history of romance novels pre-2016. Good for what it was

[Gerda James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historical

Informative, good to come across romance titles of