Harlequin Serializes Kate Walker, Spanish Billionaire, Innocent Wife Free for Subscribers - Updated
By Jane • May 28th, 2008 • Category: Ebooks, Publishing News • •
update: this program is through DailyLit. You must sign up with Daily Lit to get the Harlequin book for free.
Harlequin will be offering Kate Walker’s new June Presents title, Spanish Billionaire, Innocent Wife, to their subscribers for free. Beginning June 1st, people can sign up and receive the entire book in short installments via email/RSS installments.
Is this enough for you to give Harlequin your email address?
Jane is a long time romance reader whose passion is, you guessed it, reading. Jane also does not like to talk about herself in the third person, but apparently this is the way that this biography thing works (although in a true biography, someone else would be writing this blurb). Anyway, currently Jane loves urban fantasy authors Patricia Briggs and Ilona Andrews. She's really excited about this year's crop of historicals including Joanna Bourne's The Spymaster's Lady and Sherry Thomas' Private Arrangements and the upcoming Loretta Chase Her Scandalous Ways.
She's looking for a good contemporary author. Email her with a recommendation!
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They already have my email because I made the mistake of ordering something from them.
When did they change their discounts to 10%?
First getting the Spanish language translations only to find out they are significantly abridged, and now these new lower discounts. I was never very enchanted with their site and their customer service and now I don’t think I’ll buy there again.
Nope, it ain’t.
No way! As all the books published under that imprint are (if I were to grade them) C to F books, I would never drag out my experience.
Perhaps Harlequin could offer them to the CIA, Pakistan, Sudan, etc. as torture material? ;)
I would do it, just to try out new Presents authors ;-). I usually stick with a favorite few because the new authors that I’ve tried in this line didn’t seem to have that Presents “vibe” I’m looking for. I don’t think I’ve read a Walker and since my favorites have been writing for a few decades now, I really need to find fresh voices for when they retire!
Title alone is an interest killer. However they might take a leaf from Tor and offer a complete download. Most of the people I’ve known who read Harlequins inhaled them, so a short part of a story wouldn’t be considered satisfying at all.
I already get the newsletter, so nice bonus. I love Kate Walker’s Presents, although honestly I’d probably just buy it in print anyway for the convenience. DRM makes the vein in my forehead throb.
Er, re-reading that, maybe this is DRM free? In which case, woot.
Er, Gennita, Kate’s been writing Presents for quite a while now. This must be #51 or 52 for her!
Hmmm. I think the only thing more irritating than a Presents might be a Presents in serialised form. As mentioned above, I think part of their appeal is that they can be read in one sitting - having to wait (a day, a week, a month?) between skimpy chapters might be really irritating. It might even lose all of its emotional impact.
Having said that, I’ve heard good things about Kate Walker, though I’ve yet to try her.
About three years ago, in an inexplicable fit of “I need to spend some money on ebay”, I bought a lot of 60 Harlequin Presents, which I promptly read within two months. Most books were abysmally bad, some were highly entertaining in a “guilty pleasure” sort of way, and a precious few were downright good such as the odd Emma Darcy and Susan Napier. Kate Walker was definitely one of the authors I looked forward to reading, though not in such a giddy way as a Napier. But all in all I am not a huge Harlequin fangirl. I don’t like their ebook prices, and - if it’s not for work - nowadays restrict myself to a selected few authors from this publishing house. To come back to your question, no, this offer doesn’t tempt me at all.
I don’t think I would, if it was just a chapter a week type of thing, but then again, I subscribe to the line…something about those Presents just keep pulling me into them. *G*
Just a little correction. The Kate Walker book is up on DailyLit now. The update in this blog post is incorrect. You do not need to sign up for Daily Lit to get it. You can get it directly through an RSS feed without signing up or giving out your email. I just did it myself!
It’s in 56 installments that you can get daily, on weekdays, or on Mon/Wed/Fri for free via email or RSS feed. The RSS feed does not require an email address. The email version does… obviously!
Give it a shot! We’re anxious to see the response and get your feedback on the experience!
Scott