Harlequin is seeing strong growth selling digital books with 24.5% of their global revenue in Q2 2013. This is some fairly solid growth with their entire line of digital products accounting for 20% of revenue in Q2 2012. Overall, revenue declined 7% and they made $99.5 million.
One of the reasons why Harlequin is doing so well in the digital arena is because of their expanded selection of non-fiction titles. They are really trying to broaden their approach from authors like Robyn Carr and Susan Mallery. Instead, they are getting lots of sales with second quarter darlings The Virgin Diet and The Beauty Detox Foods.
Harlequin saves money on their digital only eBooks for their various splinter companies, like Karina Press. Instead of giving them an advance, they give some fairly high royalty rates. This gives authors an easier time with getting a book onto the market, and more eBooks can be generated in a shorter period of time, compared to print. Digital is also on the upward trend with more readers buying disposable books on their Kindle, instead of cluttering their bookshelves with more trashy novels.
Michael Kozlowski is the Editor in Chief of Good e-Reader. He has been writing about audiobooks and e-readers for the past ten years. His articles have been picked up by major and local news sources and websites such as the CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and Verge.