General Submission Guidelines
Wild Moon Books is a small press specializing in quality erotic fiction with an emphasis on romance. We publish all genres, including fantasy, paranormal, horror, urban fantasy, and science fiction, but submissions must have either a core romantic plot or a reasonable amount of erotic content. Romances must be fully realized, though happy endings are not required. Solid stories with mixed-feelings endings are welcome, as well as the happily-ever-after or happily-for-now.
We are currently accepting submissions for 2012 and 2013.
All works submitted to Wild Moon Books must be unreleased works. We are only interested in acquiring exclusive first English language rights. This means if a work has been self-published, published by a subsidy press, on a website, journal, or other public forum, those rights have already been used and we cannot accept your submission.
We accept submissions for:
- Short stories (5,000 to 19,999 words)
- Novellas (20,000 to 49,999 words)
- Novels (50,000 to 100,000 words)
Short story submissions are limited to anthology lines and themed releases only, no exceptions, and will only be available in e-book formats. Novella submissions will only be available in e-book formats. Should a single author submit and have accepted multiple short stories or novellas with a common theme, we may offer a print contract for a single author anthology.
Novel submissions of 65,000 words or more will be available in e-book and print formats. Novel submissions from 50,000 to 64,999 words will be available in e-book formats only.
We accept submissions for the following genres:
- Contemporary
- Fantasy
- Science Fiction
- Paranormal
- Horror/Thriller
- Urban Fantasy
- Historical
- Mystery/Suspense
- Speculative Fiction
Material that includes the following will be summarily rejected:
- Young Adult manuscripts
- Pedophilia (sex involving one or more persons under the age of 18)
- Necrophilia (sex with dead bodies -- vampires, zombies, and the like don't count)
- Bestiality (sex with non-sentient animals or shifters in full animal form)
- Scat or golden showers (sex involving urine or feces play)
- Gratuitous violence (including splatterpunk, slasher, and torture-porn)
- Rape intended to arouse (though we will consider forced seduction or dubious consent if it is respectfully handled)
- Snuff (sex during which one or more persons are killed)
How To Submit
Submissions must be sent electronically, through email. Please do not send hard copies of manuscripts to our place of business as we will not return them, nor will they be reviewed. The only thing we do via the traditional mail system is our contracts. Send all queries to submissions @ wildmoonbooks.com.
Within the body of your email should be your query letter. We ask that it be relatively short (no more than 300 words). This should include information about you, the author, as well as the work you are submitting, genre, and word count of your manuscript.
When sending your query letter, please include as two separate attachments to the one query email the full synopsis of your manuscript (which should include the beginning, middle, and ending of your story) and the first 30% of the manuscript. Your synopsis must be no fewer than 500 words, and there is no upper limit. Wild Moon Books only considers manuscripts that are complete. Please do not send an incomplete manuscript.
Storm Press will only consider your query if the work is complete, however we initially only want to see the first 30%. We will review your query, your synopsis, and your partial submission, and if it looks to be the right fit for Wild Moon Books, we will ask for the full manuscript then.
When submitting your files, please ensure they are named as follows: TITLE_AUTHORNAME and SYNOPSIS_TITLE_AUTHORNAME. We are sticklers for organization and this will ensure your files do not become lost in the shuffle.
Submission Requirements:
- Send submissions to submissions @ wildmoonbooks.com (remove the spaces when surrounding the @ sign when emailing us)
- Email subject should read: SUBMISSION TITLE AUTHOR NAME
- Cover page of your synopsis should include the following: working title, word count, genre, series name (if applicable), author's legal name, author's pen name (if applicable), address, phone number, and e-mail
- Submissions must be sent as a RTF attachment, the file names TITLE_AUTHORNAME and SYNOPSIS_TITLE_AUTHORNAME
- Author name and book title on the first page of the manuscript
- Double spaced, 12 point font, Times New Roman, 1" margins, do not indent your paragraphs
- Do insert a blank line between paragraphs and use ### or *** between scene breaks
- Page break before all new chapters
- Marketing plan
Again, please only contact us about completed manuscripts that have been polished to the very best of your ability. We will respond to your query within 24 hours of receipt simply to confirm we have received it. Allow two (2) weeks for us to contact you about either sending a full manuscript submission or our passing on your query.
Should we ask for a full manuscript to review, allow eight (8) to twelve (12) weeks for a personal reply.
If you have any questions, feel free to email us at editor @ wildmoonbooks.com or look over our FAQ Section.
Open Lines
My True Love Gave to Me
Ah, The Twelve Days of Christmas. A classic that tells of the many varied—and odd—gifts one person gave their true love. Wild Moon Books would like to recreate that feeling with their My True Love Gave To Me line. We are seeking winter-themed, holiday submissions full of true love, romance, and steamy togetherness. All submissions must contain a happily-ever-after ending. Menage stories will be accepted for this line.
Warmth, happiness, perhaps a little holiday struggle, are what we expect. Comical visits with families, the rekindling of an old love, or even gifting ten maids a-milking to an unsuspecting lover. Wild Moon Books is open to all sorts of stories, genres, and themes for this line, so long as they're happy, wintry, and joyous! Stories must be between 15,000 and 20,000 words.
Deadline for
My True Love Gave to Me is October 15th, 2012 to allow time for selection and editing.
The Gift
Those who claim to have psychic powers are often labeled fakes and charlatans, no matter what proof they offer critics. In this line, Storm Moon Press is looking for stories about those who are gifted with powers and sight beyond the natural. From astral projection to remote viewing, from empty to psychokinesis, the potential is endless. What is life like for someone who—whenever they touch another human being or object—sees only the darkest, most traumatic moments? If every time they enter a room, they see a new horror, whatever was strong enough to leave an imprint in the walls and floor? Or knowing what will happen a week from now and knowing only the event, not necessarily how to prevent it?
Submissions of 20,000 words or more, must have a romance at the center of story, have at least one main character who possess one or more psychic powers, and have a happy ending. We're open to many interpretations of psychic powers, but please do the research to make it as believable as possible. We are also open to various genres, as we believe psychics can exist in all manner of settings.
Flesh and Steel
Artificial intelligence. Robotics. Cybernetics. The recent advances in these technologies have been staggering, and we are quickly approaching the point where the definition of "human" may require a radical alteration. When the line between man and machine finally blurs, when programming finally gives way to sentience, how will our roles change? How will we interact with the robots, androids, and cyborgs? It's only a matter of time until someone invests their emotions into these new creations.
For this line of stories over 20,000 words, we are looking for robots, androids, or cyborgs and their romantic interaction with others – with their creators, humans, or even others of their own kind. Would they be slaves? Lovers? Equals? Show us how they would fit into the near future. You can have your inventor fall in love with his creation, two androids finding companionship with each other in a world that considers them little more than slaves. Feel free to be creative and weave in themes of social commentary as you go! All we ask is that your story have at least a happily-for-now ending.
Geek Chic
The romance genre has traditionally been dominated by the burliest of men and impossibly beautiful women. They are meant to embody the fantasy that all of us supposedly aspire to. But there is a growing number of readers whose fantasies carry them in a different direction. For them, intelligence is sexy. And it is for those readers that Geek Chic is designed.
Stories for this line must focus on a "nerdy" or "geeky" main character, whether that be male or female, and the romance they find with another. Stories can be in any genre – geekiness takes many forms, after all. We are seeking submissions of 20,000 words or more where at least one main character is a geek and a romantic and steamy plot complete with a happy ending.
Kept Men
The stay-at-home wife has become infamous in many modern cultures, the perfect picture of gender roles at work. Times are changing, however, and now, it's more complex than the man working all day and coming home to his wife. Sometimes a man is the one who has spent the day tending the house, cooking, or even just enjoying his hobbies while his wife works. This collection is a celebration both of the men who aren't the primary bread-winners and the women who work to support them both.
We are looking for erotic and romantic stories 20,000 words or over (novella or novel length) in which the husbands or primary male characters don't earn top dollar. This can be shown in any number of situations. The husband of a CEO looking after their infant once his wife goes back to work, the cougar and her young boy-toy lover, the quirky man on the never-ending quest to create the next must-have invention, the starving artist who finds love with his financial backer. Be it lighthearted, comedic, or with a slighty blackened edge, we want to see your stories about kept men!
Blue Collar
Fishermen, loggers, construction workers, roofers, mechanics, coal miners, oil drillers, and truck drivers. These are only some of the blue collar jobs that men and women work hard at every day. This line is all about love and romance and hard work. How about a butcher who falls in love with his lovely customer? A firefighter who sparks a relationship with someone they saved from a burning building? Or maybe a plumber who winds up with the girl next door after he saves her frozen pipes? The possibilities are endless, and we'd love to see what creative authors can send our way.
Wild Moon Books is seeking submissions of 20,000 words or more starring at least one character that works a commonly accepted blue collar job. The musts are a strong romance, steamy content, and a happy ending.
Lords and Ladies
The nobility has been fertile narrative ground for centuries. Their lives (or what we imagine their lives to be) are so far removed from the day-to-day struggles of the common people. So it is only natural that tales of noble princes, scheming dukes, and usurping barons would so capture our imaginations. This line looks to continue that tradition by offering stories of erotic romance featuring members of the landed gentry.
Stories must feature at least one "titled" character in a primary role: Prince, Baroness, Earl, Marquess, and so on. Keep in mind that they do not have to be members of the British nobility – many other European, African, and Asian countries have established ranked systems of nobility as well. Submissions of 20,000 words or more are a must, along with a strong, central romance, a main character of nobility, and a happy ending.
Plus One
Single parenthood has becomes a mainstay in life, and this line is dedicated to those men and women who are raising children on their own. Juggling a career, homelife, and kids can be hellish on your own, and starting up a romance can be downright impossible! But romance is what we want, and we'd love to see those single parents find their stride, possibly heal from past hurts, and forge ahead into a future filled with love.
We are seeking submissions of 20,000 words or more that star a single parent main character, at least one child that plays an integral part in the plot, and a heart-warming, steamy romance that ends happily for all involved.
Fur & Four Legs
Dogs. Cats. Hamsters. Horses. Rabbits. Snakes. The list could go on and on! Fur & Four Legs is a line devoted to pets and their owners. Wild Moon books is looking for submissions of 20,000 words or more that showcase pets as integral parts of the romance between the hero and the heroine. Be it the dog walker, a vet, a breeder, or two people meeting at the dog park, we want to see owners with their pets falling in love. All submissions must end with a happily-ever-after, and we're very open to all kinds of pets, so long as the pet is an important aspect of the story. So, get all warm and fuzzy and show us what you have!