We prefer stories in the 20,000 to 40,000 word range, but we will look at slightly shorter or slightly longer manuscripts, as well.

WHAT IS SENSUAL AND EROTIC ROMANCE?

• Sensual and Erotic Romance is a work that is both romantic and sexually explicit. Erotic Romance is not pornography. This genre is romance—love in all its beauty, but without the flowery words to describe body parts and actions.
• Our Novella length fiction is 20,000 - 35,000 words. Novels in category length of over 35,000 to 75,000 words are preferred. See the Torrid Special Edition Line Submission Guidelines below for novels at 75,000 – 90,000 words. We will also consider single-author anthologies.
• For the sake of sensibilities, we request you NOT send manuscripts that depict human and earth animals in a bestiality setting. No necrophilia, pedophilia and bodily functions. We are not looking for manuscripts that degrade and demean any individual or group of individuals.
• Erotica without romance will not be accepted, unless it is THE MAN CAVE Line.

WE HAVE THREE “HEAT” RATINGS FOR TORRID BOOKS:

• Sensual romance. The reader will find graphic terms for male and female anatomy. The love scenes are explicit, but overall the flavor to the story is more sensual.
• Erotic romance. Graphic terms are used and the reader will experience a heightened erotic experience. These stories may contain material that some readers find objectionable, such as light bondage, submission, forced seductions, etc., but the romance is primarily between one man and one woman.
• Erotica. The reader will find explicit sex scenes. Bi-Sexual/lesbian, bondage, sex toys, multiple partners, as well as controversial story elements, may be included in this rating. But romance is still the underlying motivator.

HOW DO YOU SUBMIT TO TORRID BOOKS?

Please provide us with the following three REQUIRED items as your submission package:

1) A COVER LETTER outlining your manuscript, any past publications and experiences as a writer. In the cover letter, include the word length of your manuscript as well as a brief synopsis, one to two pages in length. Please summarize the beginning, middle and end of the story. Show the conflict and resolution as well as character description. Also include a one-paragraph synopsis (thumbnail sketch or “blurb”) of the story line and tell us what motivated you to write this story. Provide any past publishing history in detail, including books under contract with other publishers and titles out of print.
2) A BUSINESS PLAN, typically one page in length, detailing how you will promote and market your published manuscript, including any past marketing efforts for your writing career. Do you have a current author website? If so, include that, along with any other sites like MySpace, Yahoo, Facebook, and so forth that you use to market your works. An active author website is mandatory for all WCP authors.
3) THE COMPLETED MANUSCRIPT itself. Do not send a few chapters. We want the manuscript completed before you submit to us. Do not mail the manuscript. To preserve the beautiful Cottonwood trees growing along the beautiful banks of Whiskey Creek, we ONLY accept submissions electronically.
ADDITIONAL GENERAL SUBMISSION INFORMATION

• WE DO NOT ACCEPT SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS.
• RESPONSE TO SUBMISSIONS IS WITHIN APPROXIMATELY 120 DAYS.
• WE DO NOT ACCEPT SUBMISSIONS IN MICROSOFT WORKS, MAC, OR WORD PERFECT FORMATS. WE DO NOT ACCEPT MAILED HARD-COPY SUBMISSIONS.
• WE ARE CURRENTLY ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS IN ALL EROTIC FICTION GENRES.

Please email your completed submission package to: subs@torridbooks.com

PROPER MANUSCRIPT FORMATTING FOR SUBMISSION

Cover page must include in the Upper Left Hand Corner:
• Author’s Name
• Author’s Address
• Author’s Phone Number
• Author’s E-mail Address

Cover Page must include Centered vertically and horizontally:
• Title of Manuscript
• Author Name and/or pseudonym
• Genre -- VERY IMPORTANT!
• Word Count

Additionally, there should be no white space at the top of the first page of each chapter. The word Chapter (not in all caps) and number (1, 2, 3, etc.) should be centered at the top of the first page of each chapter. A hard page break should be at the bottom of the last page of each chapter. For ease of reading use TIMES NEW ROMAN 12.

Manuscripts should be...
• Single spaced
• No page numbers
• No Footer
• No Header
• ALL underlined words or phrases changed to ITALICS
Please do not use HTML.

We suggest you use:
• Word 97 or above
• Rich Text Format
• No Mac, Word Perfect, or Microsoft Works Submissions
THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTERST, AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO RECEIVING YOUR SUBMISSION SOON!
Have a non-erotic story you’d like to submit? Check out our all-genre General Line of books at www.whiskeycreekpress.com and click on the Submissions tab on the Home Page for details