BRITISH NOVELIST Elinor Glyn once famously said, ?Romance is the glamour which turns the dust of everyday life into a golden haze.?
Glyn could be talking about the millions of women worldwide?students, housewives, working professionals, and even the retired?who find solace from the mundane monotony of their daily lives in the mush-filled pages of the ubiquitous Mills & Boon novels.
In India, the romance imprint of British publisher Harlequin has been breaking another barrier?cultural?by publishing its ?made-in-India-with-Indian-faces-and-characters? books by Indian authors for over five years now.
Simply put, Indian readers have wished away some of the conventional kiss-and-seal British romances of the early 20th century and have started endorsing curvy girls and TDH heroes, journalists, medical practitioners, and even the paranormal.
?What?s different in a romance written by an Indian author is that, understandably, friends and family play a greater role in the story. In a story written by a western author, characters tend to be more individualistic,? says Amrita Chowdhury, country head and publishing director, Harlequin India. Most importantly, there is the Indian connect. ?Indian authors sell more perhaps because the readers can identify more with the characters,? says Chowdhury, adding, ?Indian fiction in the romance genre is here to stay.?
Harlequin entered India in 2008-2009 and, so far, the company has seen double-digit growth year-on-year, says Chowdhury. ?Initial sales trend for Indian Mills & Boon books was extremely positive, leading to a conscious expansion of the programme. Authors such as Shoma Narayanan and Aastha Atray led the effort and now, as more new authors join the programme, we are seeing these romances explore multiple themes within the genre,? she adds.
The selection procedure of authors for Indian Mills & Boon novels is through an annual writing contest called Passions, which till now, has led to the discovery of several new voices, including Shoma Narayanan, Aastha Atray, Ruchi Vasudeva and Adite Banerjie, among others. ?As with all large publishing houses, we accept submissions in a variety of ways?directly through our website, via email or through a literary agent. In addition, we hold an annual ‘Passions’ writing contest. Winners of the contest get editorial mentoring from seasoned editors and an opportunity to get published, depending on how their manuscript shapes up. The ‘Passions’ contest is a platform where aspiring writers can showcase their talent and possibly win a two-book deal,? says Chowdhury.