Romance publisher Mills & Boon is just the latest to hop aboard the text message bandwagon, reports the London Times. Beginning next month, eight titles in their “Modern Romance” line and 20 titles from MIRA will be available for download (priced at 1.99 and 4.99 for each line). Alison Byrne, the UK publishing director for its parent company, Harlequin Mills & Boon Ltd, said yesterday: “For many people there’s still that embarrassment factor of carrying your Mills & Boon around. When you are using your mobile phone nobody knows what you are doing, whether you are texting a friend or playing a game.”
Byrne credits their Japanese arm with giving them the idea to pursue books-by-mobile in the UK. “Our Japanese operation has had great success selling our books in mobile-phone format,” Byrne said. “Japan is normally 18 months ahead of the UK. They are finding that it’s women who like reading on phones and romantic fiction that’s rising to the top.”