For decades, Harlequin has taken advantage of romance writers. Some of the world's most prolific authors work for Harlequin, and they're obliged to be prolific since the only way to make a living is to crank out several volumes as quickly as possible. According to author Eloisa James, writing for Harlequin feels like "being forced to eat when you're not hungry or sleep when you'd prefer to watch TV." She went on to say, "It's an illusion of success followed by an agonizing withdrawal when their demands cease." Harlequin requires that its authors release new books every month, year-round. If they don't meet this quota, then Harlequin will stop paying them. This means that if you want to continue receiving your paycheck, you must keep writing. They may use different names for themselves, but that doesn't change the fact that they're still being paid less than their colleagues who write for larger publishers. Holdouts usually start out as new authors looking for a chance to get published. They might not realize how much work goes into writing a book, especially if they're used to producing multiple drafts over a short period of time. As their careers progress, they find it harder and harder to keep up with the demand for new material from Harlequin.