Carina Press has an ongoing call open for short erotic romances with happily-ever-after or happily-for-now endings. Characters and pairings may be LGBTQ or not, and they love diverse characters. From its website:
Recognizing that on occasion size does matter, and sometimes we actually just want to read something short that delivers a sexy, quick, fun romance, we’re interested in reading and publishing your stories that deliver a focused romance with explicit sex scenes.
These erotic short stories can be contemporary, paranormal, historical, science fiction or fantasy romances. They should deliver a fast story, one that transports readers from the stresses of everyday life, work and politics for an hour or two. Our two main requirements are that they be erotic or super sexy and they deliver on a romance promise with an HEA or HFN. We won’t demand a major focus on character development, extreme conflict or drawn-out plots for these, because we understand that can be difficult in a limited word count. We’re looking for a focus on escapism, happiness and romance!
Need inspiration? Check out Elizabeth Lister’s post on writing sex scenes that sizzle.
Submitting to Carina Press
- Publisher: Carina Press
- Publication type: ebook
- Word count: 10,000–25,000 words
- Payment: “Carina Press pays 40% of net digital receipts to books sold on 3rd party retail sites and 50% of net digital receipts to books sold directly on the Harlequin.com website. Our contract also lays out royalties for other rights, such as audio, print and foreign translation.” Not all books appear in print or audio.
- Rights they ask for: A grant of rights for specific formats, which are stipulated in the agreed-upon contract, for a specified period of time. Rights will include digital and may also include audio, print, and translation rights. The author retains the copyright, and Carina Press registers the copyright on the author’s behalf at the time of publication.
- Deadline: Submit anytime
- Response time: Not specified
- Anticipated publication date: Varies
- Format: Double space and use a plain black font; otherwise, use any standard formatting of your choice. The file should be .rtf, .doc or .docx
- Will they take simultaneous submissions? Yes. However, “[i]f your book is currently under consideration with another Harlequin imprint, please mention this, including which imprint, in your query letter.”
- Will they consider multiple submissions? Yes. Submit each story separately, and do not send multiple books in a series at once—send only the initial installment, with a note that other installments are available. Read more about multiple and simultaneous submissions.
- Will they take reprints? Considered on a case-by-case basis. The author should be interested in also submitting new works to Carina.
- Who to contact with questions: Submissions@CarinaPress.com
- Additional notes: “…we’re seeing a lot of submissions that spend 25%-50% of the short story on setup. As these are meant to be micro-romances (10k to no more than 25k), the pacing must be tight from page 1, so long periods of narrative setup, infodump and waiting until the protagonists meet and interact will not work for this line.”
Find more details at New Ongoing Call for Submissions: Erotic Short Romances – Carina Press Blog and The Dirty Bits from Carina Press: Two Open-Ended Calls for Submissions, and don’t forget to tell them you found their submission call here!
@CarinaPress has an ongoing call for erotic romance novellas featuring pairings and multiples of all gender combinations. They love diverse characters. Pays royalties; submit anytime. Click To TweetNot the theme for you? Check out other submission calls in the romance genre.
