![]() ![]() Many authors assume that by the nature of what they’re writing, the reader will know how their characters feel about the physical action. I don’t need to know their entire life story, but I do need to know what about this particular moment or moments is arousing to them. This is why one of my most frequent editorial comments is: How did it feel? But I also want to know more about those characters, even within the relatively short word count. Yes, I want heat and eroticism on the page during any sex scenes, as well as variety among the types of sex and people enjoying it in my books. When I’m reading so many stories in a short time period, the truth is that much of the physical activity fades away in my mind when I’m making my selections. That was something I’d never considered before, and the writing style, setting and particular fetish made me want to accept it as soon as I’d read it. For instance, in my anthology Orgasmic, Velvet Moore’s story “Chemistry” is set in a chemistry lab, about a woman who’s aroused by this branch of science. It’s your job as an author to brainstorm ideas that go beyond the obvious. So, similar to my advice above about creativity, exploring themes from interesting angles can help make your story more memorable.įor instance, with the theme of surprise, I may accept one or possibly two surprise party stories, but the rest of the book, the other 20 or so stories, will be ones where the surprise element is, well, surprising. With hundreds of submissions, I often find similarities between submissions, which often means I have to reject stories I’ve enjoyed in order to offer maximum variety to my readers if they’re both about a topic or feature a plot point or setting that’s too alike. Many of my anthologies have a theme, such as the two mentioned above. Anything you can do to differentiate your story from all the others I’m reading will give it a leg up. I encourage you to use that knowledge to craft your plot and offer me, as an editor and a reader, something new. Maybe you’re extremely knowledgeable about a particular subject or setting or hobby or subculture or sexual identity or sexual practice or type of sex toy that most people know nothing or very little about. Making your story stand out could mean starting with a literal bang, or using an attention-getting writing style that I don’t see much of, such as second person. This means I’m always looking for stories that stand out in unique ways. In the course of the last two decades, I’ve read thousands of short stories for consideration for my anthologies, for which I generally receive between 100-300 submissions. If any aspect of them is unclear, feel free to email me at the address listed with the call. If you’re going to take the time to write a story to submit to my books, please make sure you’re following the guidelines. I do so not to make writers jump through hoops, but to ensure writers don’t waste their efforts sending me stories that won’t be a fit, and to save myself time, so I have more time to edit and promote my books and thereby give authors a wider readership. I write extremely long and detailed guidelines. ![]() I wanted to share with the Eroticon community five tips that will get you closer a yes from me. This is my way of paying forward all the opportunities erotica editors have given me over the years, help newer authors break into the genre and reach new readers, and give readers new authors to discover and follow. ![]() I’m always eager to publish new authors, and in fact this year am aiming to publish authors I haven’t worked with in 75% of these books and any other anthologies I edit going forward. To find out when I post new calls for submission, you can subscribe to my monthly newsletter, and they’re always posted in the call for submissions section of the Erotica Readers and Writers Association, a resource I highly recommend. ![]() Right now I’m editing two Cleis Press anthologies, a women’s orgasm erotica anthology (March 1 deadline) open to all authors, and Best Women’s Erotica of the Year, Volume 7 (May 1 deadline), which is open to authors who are women, gender nonconforming, genderqueer or nonbinary. Since then, I’ve been published in over 100 anthologies of all kinds, from Best America Erotica 2004 edited by Susie Bright to Succulent: Chocolate Flava II and Purple Panties edited by Zane, and edited over 60 of my own, with more added every year. I’ve been editing erotica anthologies since 2004, and got my start as an erotica author back in 2000. ![]()
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