Best Erotic Romance 2013
Editor: Kristina Wright
Publisher: Cleis Press
Publication Date: December 2012
Submission Deadline: April 15 (earlier submissions preferred!)
Payment: $100 per story and 2 copies of the book, on publication
E-mail:
I have the honor of being the editor of Cleis Press’s Best Erotic Romance series, which features the finest erotic romance fiction by some of the best authors in the industry. The inaugural edition in the series received a starred review in Publishers Weekly and a 4-star review from RT Book Reviews and I will once again be looking for the very best stories in the genre for this second collection.
According to Romance Writers of America, a romance must include two key elements: a central love story and an emotionally-satisfying, optimistic ending. In erotic romance, the sexual component is critical to the development of the romantic relationship. To get an idea of what I’m looking for, I strongly recommend reading the first edition of Best Erotic Romance.
The collection will be primarily heterosexual with a female audience in mind. However, stories may include bisexual or lesbian encounters as well as polyandrous relationships or group encounters. I have a preference for realistic stories with contemporary settings for this series, but any time period will be considered. No incest, nonconsensual sex, bestiality or underage characters, please.
Please be sure to follow all of the submission guidelines: Unpublished stories only, no simultaneous submissions. The desired story length is 2,000-4,500 words. Double-space and indent the first line of each paragraph. Do not put extra spaces between paragraphs. Include your full contact information (legal name/pseudonym, mailing address and phone number) and a bio of 50 words or less written in the third person. Please paste your story into the body of your e-mail and attach it as a Microsoft Word .doc file. Send your submission to with Submission: Story Title in the subject line. Please direct any questions to the same address. The deadline is April 15, but earlier submissions are very much appreciated.
Payment will be $100 per story and 2 copies of the book upon publication. Contributors retain the rights to their stories.
About the editor:
Described by The Romance Reader as “a budding force to be reckoned with,” Kristina Wright (kristinawright.com) is an author, editor and college instructor. She has edited the Cleis Press anthologies Fairy Tale Lust: Erotic Fantasies for Women; Dream Lover: Paranormal Tales of Erotic Romance; Steamlust: Steampunk Erotic Romance and Best Erotic Romance. Her forthcoming anthologies include Lustfully Ever After: Fairy Tale Erotic Romance and Duty and Desire: Military Erotic Romance for Women. Her first anthology, Fairy Tale Lust: Erotic Fantasies for Women was nominated for a Reviewers’ Choice Award by RT Book Reviews and was a featured alternate of the Doubleday Book Club. Kristina’s erotica and erotic romance fiction has appeared in over ninety print anthologies and she received the Golden Heart Award for Romantic Suspense from Romance Writers of America for her first novel Dangerous Curves. Her work has also been featured in numerous magazines and e-zines and her articles, interviews and book reviews have appeared in dozens of publications, both in print and online. She is a member of Romance Writers of America as well as the RWA special interest chapters, Passionate Ink and Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal. She has served as the book club moderator for EdenFantasys Naked Reader Book Club and is a book reviewer for the Erotica Readers and Writers Association (erotica-readers.com). She is also a regular blogger at Oh Get a Grip! (ohgetagrip.blogspot.com) and Good Vibrations Magazine (magazine.goodvibes.com).
I am so thrilled with this book! These authors rocked my world with their stories and I am so in awe of their talent. I’m equally thrilled with the foreword by the mega-talented Shayla Black, as well as the glowing reviews Best Erotic Romance has received so far. First there was this starred review in Publishers Weekly:
And then I picked up the January issue of RT Book Reviews and saw that they’d given the book a 4 star review! This was a very lovely surprise after thinking they hadn’t reviewed it at all because it wasn’t in the December issue!
And last week I learned that Best Erotic Romance (and Fairy Tale Lust) will be translated into German in early 2012! I couldn’t have asked for a better kickoff for the Best Erotic Romance series. Here’s to many more years of erotic romance…
Foreword Shayla Black
Introduction: Simply the Best
What Happened in Vegas Sylvia Day
First Night Donna George Storey
Another Trick Up My Sleeve Heidi Champa
Drive Me Crazy Delilah Devlin
Once Upon a Dinner Date Saskia Walker
He Tends To Me Justine Elyot
Guest Services Angela Caperton
Memories for Sale Andrea Dale
Blame It On Facebook Kate Dominic
The Draft Craig J. Sorensen
To Be in Clover Shanna Germain
Honey Changes Everything Emerald
Cheating Time Kate Pearce
Our Own Private Champagne Room Rachel Kramer Bussel
Till the Storm Breaks Erobintica
The Curve of Her Belly Kristina Wright
Dawn Chorus Nikki Magennis
My mind is all over the place today. I can’t concentrate on my NaNoWriMo novel. I was doing some research on Tumblr, looking at pictures and such that might inspire the book, and came across some disturbing stuff. My NaNoWriMo book is based on my story erotic vampire story “Cutter” which is about, you guessed it, a vampire and a cutter. Fictionalizing someone who cuts as a vehicle for a vampire story is one thing-- but reading about real cutters and their pain (and seeing some of the pictures they post) on Tumblr as part of the research for what is--essentially-- a piece of fluff fiction is… upsetting.
Am I being too cavalier in writing an erotic urban fantasy about a character who cuts? I don’t know. It’s not like I’m so far removed from the character I write about. I do understand the psychology behind cutting and the emotional pain associated with it. I’m not trying to make light of the issue, but maybe my story romanticizes it? Again, I don’t know. Argh. I’m writing fantasy, but where is the intersection between writing and responsibility? I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know. So, I’m kind of not in the mood to work on the book right now. I think maybe I need to skip around the cutting and see if I can get a better feel for the characters. It’s supposed to be a darkly erotic book and I’m just not feeling it right now.
I am, however, feeling like I’m getting sick and that makes my mind go in a dozen different directions instead of focusing on one thing. I don’t have ADD, but sometimes my imagination finds connections in things and as I ponder one thought I end up chasing another thought down the rabbit hole… My brain is off onto tangents about body image and sexuality and what is erotic (and what isn’t) and perceptions of desire and age and desire and size. I don’t know if any of these things will find their way into this book I’m writing or if I’ll follow some of these threads in something else I’m writing. I just know that right now I need to find some focus and write some words somewhere.
Just a few links to show you where my mind is at the moment, because I clearly don’t have the words to express my thoughts coherently:
Only Cute Chubby Girls (Tumblr, possibly NSFW)
I’m the Scary Model in That Awful Ashley Madison Ad (Jezebel)
Sex Is Not the Enemy (Tumblr, NSFW)
The comment thread for Legitimizing Erotica (My column last week at Oh Get A Grip!)
Boobs, Bras, Sex, Cougars and Sluts (Rita Wilson at Huffington Post)
How lovely is this starred review from Publishers Weekly??
The stories are deeply passionate, and each tale first makes the reader care about its characters before pulling them into the steamy sex scenes. No matter what the surroundings, one thread runs through every story in this volume: true love endures.
And can I tell you what that little star means? “A starred review indicates a book of outstanding quality.”
I’m chugging along on my NaNoWriMo novel, but I’m working on some other stuff, too. This week’s Oh Get A Grip! theme is a question-- “But is it erotica?” I have contemplated this question in various forms since I first started writing erotica back in, oh hell, over 10 years ago. I’m afraid I don’t really have any answers, but I do offer up some of my observations:
I’ve noticed an interesting trend in literary fiction, both in novels and short fiction. Stories that are published by highbrow literary publishers often contain some extremely raunchy sex. I can’t be the only reader who finds some of those sex scenes arousing, yet the stories and books aren’t labeled erotica. Why not? Publishers choose labels and market the books accordingly--but what role do the authors play in keeping that erotica label off their stories?
Two writers can write essentially the same story and it will be labeled differently. Two writers can write a similar stories about, say, a woman who enjoys rough sex and seeks out sex partners on a kinky adult website. Both writers can describe the sex in graphic detail, along with how much she enjoys it physically and emotionally. The stories can be identical right down to the concluding scene-- and that one scene will make the difference between whether the story is considered “erotica” or “literary fiction.”
What would the difference be? Do you know?
You can read the answer (according to me) and the rest of my column here: Legitimizing Erotica
P.S. My NaNoWriMo count is up to 7287 in 3 days. I’m not breaking any records, but I’m pleased with my progress so far. If you’re participating in the “thirty days and nights of literary abandon” please add me as your writer buddy! (Even if you’re one of those amazing writers who makes me feel like a slacker because you’ve already hit the 10,000 word mark!)
What’s it all about?
Life. Love. Writing. Editing. Sex. Books. Romance. Movies. Friendship. Photography. Teaching. Coffee. (Lots of coffee.) Travel. Feminism. Academia. Insomnia. Memories. Experiences. Rants. Raves. Reviews. Babies. Pregnancy. Motherhood. Insanity. Musings of an insomniac writer. Want to know more?
