Romance novel

:For the medieval genre see Romance (genre).

Category and single title novels

Romance novels are divided into two sub-sets, category romances (also called series romances) and single title romances.

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Category romances

The term "category romances" derives from the fact that the books are published in clearly delineated categories, with a certain number of books being published in each category every month. Their alternative name, series romances, came from the sequential numbers sometimes printed on the books' spines. Category romances are short (usually no more than 200 pages), and have a low purchase price compared to other fiction books.

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Category romances are further divided among different lines. A line is a series of books with a distinct identity. The books in a line may share similar settings, time periods, levels of sensuality, or types of conflict. Publishers of category romances usually issue guidelines to authors for each line, specifying the unique elements necessary in to each line.

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Category romances have a finite print run, and they stay on the shelf only until they are sold out or until the next month's titles within the same line take their place upon the shelf.

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As of 2005, Harlequin is the only major player in category romance, publishing dozens of titles per month in ten-plus different lines, ranging from squeaky-clean stories geared to the Christian reader, to super-spicy, semi-erotica. Some publishers of Regency romances and ethnic romances also publish in monthly series.

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Single title romances

Single Title novels are any novels not published as part of a line. They are longer than category romances, averaging around 350 pages.

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'Single title' is a misleading name, as authors frequently write sequences of interconnected books. Such sets of books often have similar titles, and it is not uncommon for them to be released over a shorter space of time, though it is unusual for a single title author to release more than two books a year.

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The following are the largest publishers of single title romance novels, in term of the number of titles published in 2002:

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• Kensington - under its Brava and Strapless imprints
• Penguin-Putnam - under its Berkley, NAL, Jove, Onyx and Topaz imprints
• Dorchester - under its Leisure and Love Spell imprints
• Random House - under its Ballantine, Bantam, Dell, Del Rey and Ivy imprints
• HarperCollins - under its Avon imprint

Harlequin also publishes some single title romances under its HQN, Signature,Silhouette and Mira imprints.

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