We are a romance publisher. As such, our books follow the most basic rules of romance: two people fall in love and end up happy.

Most of our publications will fall into the “power exchange” genre, but that genre is a broad one. Romance.Ink publishes many books with a good deal of erotic content, but we also publish stories with no actual sexual activity containing domestic discipline.

Books submitted to us should typically follow the basic guidelines of the romance genre. In general, there will be an identifiable hero and heroine who fall in love (usually after an initial period of disliking each other), the conflicts in the book will be centered around something that keeps the hero and heroine apart, and the ending will be either an HEA (happily-ever-after) or at least an HFN (happily-for-now.)

Borrowing from the MPAA rating system, Romance.Ink will primarily publish books that fall in the PG-13, R, and X rated categories. 

We are far more interested in erotic romance than we are in erotica. Books in which the primary conflict centers around the development of the protagonists’ sexual relationship are unlikely to be published. We want strong action, science fiction, fantasy, mystery, adventure plots, and the development of the relationship occurs within the context of that plot.

We are also NOT interested in books told primarily from a male point of view. The point of view can shift in the book, but the main character – and the main POV – should be that of a female heroine.

We accept stories in most settings: contemporary , historical , science fiction, fantasy, paranormal , and everything and anything in-between. We do ask that your stories come to us well-edited, and that they be complete with original and good dialogue, clear descriptions, a dynamic plot structure, and original and interesting characters.

Well-written manuscripts submitted by writers who have been careful to use proper grammar and punctuation will be given preference over manuscripts that seem to have been hastily submitted with no obvious effort to proofread.

We will accept books written in first person, but do not want submissions written in first person – present tense.

Male point of view. The main character must be female and the story told primarily from her point of view.

Angels or demons as main characters.

Ancient times (ancient Egypt, etc.)

Gods or goddesses or are based primarily on mythology.

Transgender, M/M or F/F titles.

Historical titles set after 1930 (This means we are not looking at Depression, World War II or more recent at this time.)

Any book which uses first person present tense in the primary action. Short diary or journal entries or letters which use first person present are acceptable.

• Any story that is in any way demeaning to an individual or group of people.

• Pedophilia.

• Incest though relative (big brother/uncle/father) may discipline a sister/daughter/niece (as long as the discipline is presented in a non sexual way), We will consider a story in which step-siblings (not half-siblings) have relationships.

• NO rape for purposes of sexual excitement. Rape may be used as part of the plot , especially supporting character development, but should always be portrayed negatively and should not be described explicitly. Stories that involve a heroine being forced to accept sexual advances in order to advance the storyline may be acceptable, even if they are described for the purposes of sexual excitement. The difference between overt rape and semi- non-consensual sexual activity is a difficult one to explain. What we don’t want are stories about rape for the sake of rape.

• NO bodily functions as sexual activity (e.g., “golden showers”).

• NO necrophilia.

• NO guns, knives or other weapons stuffed in various parts of the female anatomy.

• NO extreme brutality presented for purposes of sexual excitement (e.g., it can be mentioned that an evil character tortures people or that a character has been tortured in the past or fears it in the future, but this cannot be described in a graphic way.) We are not interested in bloody whippings, branding, needle play, asphyxiation, etc.

• NO bestiality. This rule refers to common animals indigenous to earth; this does not apply to shapeshifting protagonists and sentient “otherworldly” humanoid animals in sci-fi or fantasy.

A note about “non-consensual” content:

Stories in which the heroine is abducted by the hero have been romance classics for years, and hero’s ability to “overcome” the reluctant heroine is an essential romance plot component. Although it at times can be a fuzzy line, the relationship between the hero and the heroine can be “non-consensual” (i.e., he can abduct her), but individual sexual acts and/or discipline scenes should always be either ultimately consensual on the part of the heroine, or, in the case of discipline, applied to the heroine “for her own good.”

… have, over twenty years, watched the romance market grow ever more competitive. We now favor - strongly - submissions from new authors who are willing to write in series, and who are able to submit at least four books a year. While this is not a requirement, if you have one book and no real plans to write another, we are unlikely to accept you.

… no longer accept Chapter One only submissions. You must submit a full document.

… accept only writing in .doc, .txt or .docx format. If you have a story in any other format, and you don’t know how to change it into one of the formats we accept, contact us and we can help.

… will require you to submit a 2-3 paragraph sales blurb with your document. Also, include the total chapter and word count, and please make it clear whether you intend this book to be part of an ongoing series.

… do not accept simultaneous submissions (submissions sent to more than one publisher); however, we respond to submissions quickly. You can expect to have your submission acknowledged within 72 hours and receive an answer within 2-4 weeks.

… We pride ourselves on our quick publication time. Most submissions are published within 2-3 months of acceptance.