• Vanilla
• Dirty Martini
• Licorice Whips
• Oysters
• Banana Split

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• Banana Split
• Best Sellers
• Dirty Martini
• Humorous Erotica
• Licorice Whips
• More Categories to Come!
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• Vanilla

OC Press submission guidelines

OC Press accepts unsolicited submissions of erotic novels and novellas. Please read the submission guidelines carefully. Failure to follow the guidelines may result in a rejection.

Literary Elements

Yes we are an erotica publisher, so sex is the focal part of the story, however, there are other elements of the genre to consider. Accepted novels will display the following literary elements:

1. Hot sex and plenty of it. Erotica readers are reading erotica because they want to be excited (much as a reader of horror wants to be frightened). This is erotica, so there must be sex in every chapter.
2. Well developed characters. We want to care about your characters. Who are they? What are their motivations to hook up? What are the nuances of their relationship(s)
3. Well developed plot. Give us a fully developed story with a beginning, middle, and an end. Include a climax, a love (or a lust) interest, and a compelling sequence of events. Make the reader want to stay up all night to finish your book.
4. A rich setting. Where is the story taking place? What makes the setting an integral part of the story? Is it a historical setting? A futuristic setting? A realistic setting? Give us a clear sense of place and context.
5. Avoid clichés. Unfortunately, erotica is prone to terrible clichés. Avoid phrases like heaving bosom, wave after wave of pleasure, and as hard as a rock.
6. Edit, edit, edit! We expect manuscripts to be as error free as possible. Before submitting, have someone else read and edit your manuscript for spelling and grammar. Bad grammar is distracting and may result in a rejection.
7. Cut the fat. Nothing can drag a story down faster than unnecessary details and descriptions. Comb through your novel and trim out anything that doesn’t move your story forward.
8. Fact check. Do your research and make sure you’ve got your facts straight, this is especially important for erotica that takes place in real contemporary or historical settings.
9. Sex positions. Must make sense! We’ve had a lot of fun trying to decide whether someone can be positioned doggy style over the top of a baby grand piano. Turns out, not really there are different heights to baby grand pianos, so it depends on which one the characters are using. Visualize, or better yet try, your sex positions to make sure they are physically possible.
10. Avoid porno style dialogue. This is literary erotica, and as such, dialogue like, “Oh yeah, fuck my pussy, baby,” and “Oh yeah, do you like it like that?” doesn’t usually work.
11. Echoes. Avoid overusing and repeating words. For example: “She had a great butt. He admired her butt greatly.”
12. Double check your timeline and characters. For example, make sure your character starts and ends with blue eyes and that the timeline of your story makes sense. (Did the events take place over the course of a day, a week, a year, or more?)

*Note these are general guidelines. Sometimes rules are made to be broken. Good writers who know what they are doing can sometimes break a rule or two quite successfully.*

Length of Work

• Short Stories 5K words and under please review our website submission guidelines here.
• Novelette: 6K-14K words
• Novellas: 15-30K words
• Novels: 31K or more
• Works Greater than 51K words may be serialized.

*Please submit a synopsis and two sample chapters if your work is greater than 70K*

Genres of Erotica

Indicate whether your work fits into one, or any combination of these categories. If it doesn’t fit into any category, let us know how you would define your story.

Oysters & Chocolate classic categories include…

• Dirty Martini: kinks, fetishes, public sex, stranger sex, threesomes, foursomes and moresomes.
• Vanilla : one man and one woman, usually with an element of intimacy.
• Licorice Whips : BDSM stories with elements of power play, domination, submission, spanking, bondage…etc.
• Oysters : lesbian and bisexual female erotica.
• Banana Split : gay and bisexual male erotica.

You may combine any of the O&C classic categories within any of these subgenres of erotica….

• Erotic horror must include a strong element of horror and suspense.
• Fantasy erotica must be set in an alternative reality and incorporate elements of magic or fairy tale.
• Historical erotica must be set in a real, historical setting.
• Humorous erotica must make the reader laugh.
• Mystery erotica must include an element of mystery and suspense of the “whodunit?” variety.
• Paranormal erotica must include paranormal creatures like vampires, shape-shifters, werewolves, ghosts etc.
• Romantic erotica must have a happy and fulfilling ending.
• Sci-fi/ erotica must be set in an alternative futuristic place and incorporate elements of technology.
• Anthologies of short stories– because we publish short stories on our website, we do not accept unsolicited anthologies. Occasionally we will put out a call for submissions requesting an anthology with a particular theme. Please be sure to sign up for our submissions alert newsletter here.

Formatting and Submissions

• Email your submission to books@oystersandchocolate.com
• Attach entire finished submission as one document per email in .doc (Word) or .rtf (Rich Text File) format
• Email subject line: NOVEL SUBMISSION: TITLE OF WORK
• Copy/paste the FIRST chapter of your novel into the body of the email.
• You may submit up to one manuscript per calendar month
• 1 inch margins all the way around
• Times New Roman, 12 point font
• Double spaced
• 0.5” tab at beginning of each paragraph
• No extra returns between paragraphs
• One space after periods (not two)
• Begin chapters with the word “Chapter” followed by the chapter number and the title
• Insert page breaks between chapters
• The first page of your manuscript and your cover email must contain:
  
  • Real Name:
  • Pen Name:
  • Title of work:
  • Word Count:
  • Erotic Genre(s):
  • Short synopsis:
  • Brief Author’s Bio:
  • Copy/paste the first chapter of your submission into the body of the email.

Payment

Authors earn 40% commission of net sales. Net sales are sales after distributor commissions. 

For example, Amazon.com charges 30% commissions, so net sales would be 70% of the sale price. Authors will then earn 40% of net sales. In dollars and cents, Amazon takes $0.30 per $1, which leaves $0.70 revenue. Authors will be paid 40% of that, which is $0.28 per $1. Other publishing venues take different commission rates, such as Bookstrand, which takes 50% commission, so the same formula will apply (authors will earn 40% of the net sale, or $.20 per $1).

Please note that if readers buy direct from OC Press, writers will make a straight $.40 on the $1.

Some writers might wonder what OC Press does with their cut. It goes to the eBook cover art and design, eBook conversion into the different eBook languages, uploading to the various publishing avenues, marketing and promotions, operating expenses like credit card processors, not to mention the extensive editorial work the books go through. It truly takes a team to create and distribute a reputable, polished, and professional book. 

Payments are made quarterly on January 15th, April 15th, July 15th, and October 15th, or the nearest following business day, for the previous quarter. There is a payment threshold of $25. Payments can be made via check or PayPal. Overseas payments (other than the UK) must be made via PayPal.

Rights

OC Press retains exclusive rights of your publication for two years from publication date, after which time you may republish your work elsewhere. We accept previously published works, so long as you retain rights.

Simultaneous Submissions

Are acceptable, however, please advise us immediately should your submission be accepted elsewhere.

Response Time

We will do our best to respond to your submission within 12 weeks. If you have not heard from us after 12 weeks, you may email us to check on the status of your submission. Write a fresh email to books@oystersandchocolate.com with the subject line Submission Status Request.

Submissions FAQs

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