Mills & Boon: did you know...?

Here are some fun facts that you may not know about Mills & Boon...

• A Mills & Boon book is sold in the UK every 3 seconds.
(Ed's note: Yikes!!!)

• 10 million books are sold each year in the UK, of which over 7 million are romance novels. 
  (Ed's note: so over 70%, nearly three-quarters, of all books sold in the UK are romances!)

• Harlequin Mills & Boon is a UK Top 10 adult fiction publisher.

• UK monthly readership over 1.3 million. 

• Approx 70 titles published every month in the UK including more than 50 brand-new series titles. 

• Gerald Mills and Charles Boon founded Mills & Boon Limited in 1908 and opened offices in London's Covent Garden. Since then, Mills & Boon has become a hallmark for romantic fiction, recognised around the world.

• Mills & Boon is now part of Harlequin Enterprises, a global company who sell over 130 million books worldwide each year. 

• Published in 26 different languages and sold in 109 countries

• Global author base of 1,300, of which approx 200 are acquired through the UK office.

• Mills & Boon series books are released in 2 shipping cycles each month (the first and third Friday of the month) and have a one month shelf life

• In the past 50 years, our characters have had: 10,325 weddings, 29,500 kisses and 35,250 hugs (figs from UK Editorial-Acquisition).

• "Mills & Boon" is in the Oxford English Dictionary meaning "a (type of) popular romantic novel".

 Source: Mills & Boon

During the Second World War, when paper was rationed, the Ministry of Supply made an exception for Mills & Boon, because their books were considered so important for the morale of women.

In 2005, studies found women who often read romance novels are less likely to divorce, and John Boon, of Mills & Boon, once said of his company: ‘We ought to be prescribed by the NHS. We’re better than Valium.

Source: Daily Mail - Femail


In my next post about Mills & Boon, I'll be telling you more about the different series and genres available, so come back soon or click below and take a look for yourself if you can't wait...