Myth 4: All romances are a Mills & Boon

This is a bit like saying 'every cola is a Coke™ '. Many suppliers--not the least Pepsi™ --are likely to disagree. A romance is simply defined by the placement of a developing relationship between two people at the core of the story and a 'happy ever after'; not by its length, subject matter or traits.

The fact is 'category' romance (shorter, line-driven series with fixed shelf lives and massive turnover) is the single biggest type of romance published (40% in 2006). Harlequin Mills & Boon have made a speciality out of publishing and marketing category romance, and pretty much owns that 40% as a result (in 1985 HMB bought out its only serious competitor, US Silhouette Books, effectively creating a monopoly). The next closest sub-genre in popularity is single-title historical romance at 17%.

But 'romance' comes in all shapes, sizes and levels of intensity. They have been produced in Manga, Braille, audio and e-formats with novels as long as 250,000 words or novellas as short as 10,000 words. Sub-genres include paranormal, historical, fantasy, intrigue/mystery, faith-based/inspirational, medical, romantic comedy. Additionally there are other genres that have 'romantic elements'. These aren't classed as true 'romances' but they have some of the traits of a romance.

There are thousands of romances that are not 'a Mills & Boon' but it certainly is true that millions more ARE. This is because Harlequin Enterprises is now a super-corporation which owns the three major 'category' novel producers - Mills & Boon, Harlequin and Sillhouette. Some studies put their sales at five-and-a-half books every second, globally (2007).