We’re always on the look-out for interesting, preferably positive, news stories related to ebook publishing and there was a small item done by Publishers Weekly late last week that definitely fits the bill.

The meat of the story is that Harlequin, one of the major publishers of romance and women’s fiction (120 titles per month), has just announced that, starting immediately, all the new books they publish in their extensive programs will be simultaneously released in print and as ebooks in all of the usual formats (Adobe, Microsoft Reader, MobiPocket, Palm and Sony), with the ebooks priced slightly lower than their print books. Harlequin has long had a major web presence with a strong focus on customer appeal and direct selling, including ebooks, see here, but the real key to the story, I think, is that this is pretty compelling evidence that the old assumption about ebooks: that they are just for techies, early adopters and SF readers, is pretty comprehensively dispensed with. If this big an operation thinks it’s worth investing in ebook publishing in this major a way, they expect that they’ll be in it for the long haul and that they’ll be reaching customers they might not otherwise have access to via the traditional formats and approaches and the demographic they’re targeting is very largely female.

From the Press Release:

“Harlequin entered the eBook marketplace in October 2005 and has experienced unqualified success since that time. Romance novels have proven to be one of the most popular categories of digital publishing, and Harlequin titles regularly top eBook bestseller lists.

“Harlequin has further embraced the digital revolution by expanding its catalog to include original editorial by New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling authors offered exclusively in the eBook format—Harlequin Mini and Spice Briefs eBooks—as well as releasing digital eBook bundles not available in print.

“”Women have embraced eBooks,” says Malle Vallik, Director Digital Content & Interactivity. “They demand portability, immediacy, availability, depth, breadth and convenience and, by making our entire front list and exclusive digital editorial available to them, we are meeting that challenge. We are meeting the needs of our current audience and reaching a new and diverse base of readers. Seeking innovative new ways to serve our audience continues to be a Harlequin tradition.””

If you’re wondering about ebooks in general, I think this is a pretty powerful message that there’s a very bright future ahead.

- John