Love by the dozen

Call it romance or soft porn, racks of Mills and Boon are sure to catch your eye at a store near you.

When you go shopping for groceries, don't be surprised if you find, next to your potato wafers, racks stocking the latest Mills and Boon (M&B) stories.

After decades of being the hostelites' favourite and doing the rounds at secondhand outlets, Harlequin Enterprises, the publisher, has made its official entry into India. The company is betting big on India to add significantly to "selling a book every five seconds in the UK alone".

The publishers say their product is "women's fiction" and, according to the director of its India operations, Andrew J Go, "India is the land of love. It is everywhere. What is binding for us and Bollywood is the happy ending. The men and women here are very open and happy to express themselves."

Go doesn't mince his words, saying India is their largest market yet and that they will spend what it takes to build their brand and business here. They have tied up with the India Today group as the distribution partner, thus attaining access to a countrywide retail network.

A marketing and advertising blitz, similar to one seen when a new brand of potato wafers launched in 2007, will put M&B everywhere. Plans are also said to include racks at pharmacies and tie-ups with mushrooming retail chains.

Those familiar with M&B know that titles are published every month and at the end of the cycle they are pulped, never to be found on sale again. The India launch will include 10 new titles a month, which will entail a print run of 80,000 books a month. Each book will be priced at

Rs 99. "India will be our single biggest investment this year. We plan to break even in three years," says Go.

Prior to the launch, a sample profile of readers was generated by Quantum Research, which found that the target group was teenagers between ages 13 and 16.

The titles for the readers will be in themes ranging from "Romance" ("Warm and fulfilling novels that capture the magic of falling in love") to "Modern" ("Glamorous, passionate romance featuring intense relationships, often very sensual) and "Blaze" ("Hot and sexy. Couples in contemporary romantic relationships embark on sexual adventures and fantasy journeys").

The book covers for the themes are designed true to their description, and leafing through the pages, it wouldn't be wrong to say you must be warned to expect some very explicit content.

But Donna Hayes, publisher and CEO, M&B, is unconcerned that their plots might have repercussions in the context of Indian social values.

"Kids are going to read about it anyway. India is open to the world. Premarital sex is not unheard of here. We have always espoused family values and that is the reason for our happy endings," she argues.

The company did let slip that it has observed that Indian men are quite avid readers of M&B, though a majority of books are still sold to women.

To localise content, a novel with an Indian setting and characters is on the cards, as well as vernacular translations. There is also a plan to launch a reality contest to find Indian writers in the future.

E-books are available to purchase online and tie-ups are being explored with mobile operators to bring the books to your handset. Thus, the Indian story of M&B is one which will definitely be interesting to watch as it unfolds.