Mira Noire

Welcome, Jyll! Be sure to checkout the Facebook Group, too, as that's where a lot of folks seem to chat day to day now. :)

Woohoo thanks for posting!!

Hi! This is a fuzzy one ... BDSM is a "lifestyle" and a very large category. Just found this very useful high-level view of the concept. There are also ... tropes and expectations from readers depending on the publisher, and the subgenre you choose to publish in. Spanking is often the vanilla way people ease into BDSM (whether reading about it, writing it, or practicing it), and it's the "Discipline" concept covered in that link above. But, there are many ways to discipline, and spanking is just one of them. It is one of the most common ones depicted in an erotic romance featuring BDSM, but it is also very common in vanilla, mainstream, H/E/A and can even appear in sweetheart love stories with a more wholesome "mien." I think the question is -- does the spanking scene strongly influence the turn of events / evolution of your characters? If so, it's probably BDSM, but moreso a story of domination/discipline. But all a reader has to do is read the description of your story wherever it's published and they'll know if it's got the type of BDSM kink they want to read. If it's just a random moment of fun and not really done in the "spirit" of domination/submission, then, that's an argument to perhaps remove the label. If you're *uncomfortable* having your work labeled in this way, that's a different issue. If you write sweetheart romance or something and don't want to be associated as an author with the category, just ask them to remove it.

We’ve secured Margaret Riley and Crystal Esau at Changeling Press to review pitches from Passionate Ink members for the month of April! For full details, read on below ... ------------------------------ April 9 - 13: Margaret Riley Margaret Riley, Owning Publisher and Editor is seeking erotic romance Novellas and Shorts / Flash in the Contemporary, Futuristic/Sci-fi, Paranormal/Fantasy, BDSM / Ds, LGBT, Menage / Poly subgenres. April 23 - 27: Crystal Esau Crystal Esau, Editor will be joining us later in the month and is particularly interested in erotic romance Novellas in the Contemporary, Futuristic/Sci-fi, Paranormal/Fantasy, Suspense / Thriller / Mystery, Menage / Poly subgenres. ------------------------------ About the Publisher We publish women’s Sci-Fi/Futuristic, Dark and Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Action Adventure, BDSM, and Guilty Pleasures (Contemporary) Erotic Romance. All submissions must be targeted for at least one of these genres and must be Women’s Erotic Romance. While there should be both highly erotic and romantic elements to the book, relationships and endings should be plot driven. We don’t demand your characters trot off to get married at the end of the book, though we do ask for a HEA (Happy Ever After) or, in the case of serials, a HFN (Happy For Now). We’ve only got one heat level — over-the-top hot! We can handle anything you send us as long as it meets our guidelines (content must be legal for an over 21 audience and geared toward a primarily female readership). We do not accept simultaneous submissions (an author should not send the same book to several publishers at the same time). We do accept multiple submissions (an author may send us several books at the same time). Length: We accept submissions from 12 to 30 thousand words for single titles. Serials from unsigned authors must be submitted as a completed set. Simultaneous Submissions This publisher will NOT review works that are concurrently being considered by another publisher. (As always, be forthcoming with a publisher/editor when you submit a simultaneous submission!) Previous Publications From the publisher: Only if we can do something different with them -- combine a series as a box set, produce a book from an anthology as a single title, or pick up book 1 of an unfinished series from a house that closed and complete the series Publisher Guidelines Visit the publisher's submissions pages, FAQs, and guidelines here. Member Pitching Guidelines Following are the guidelines for the editor and agent pitches: HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR PITCH: The pitch will be held in the PI forum. The author must forward their pitch to pitch@passionateink.org Monday - Thursday before the pitch. The Pitch Chair will post pitches to the Pitching Arena. The Pitching Arena will be accessible only to members that are pitching and to editors/agents. Editors/agents will have access to post comments, accept or reject a submission, or ask for author contact info. (Editor’s may choose to post or may choose to communicate through the Pitch Chair.) Once the pitching round is completed pitch threads will be deleted and access to the pitching arena reverted so please ensure you copy the comments made about your pitch. Everyone will have access for up to 1 week after pitching review starts (Friday to Friday). The Pitch Chair will coordinate forum access for all parties prior to the pitch session, and connect authors and agents/editors at the editor’s request when the pitch session is over. The Pitch Chair will notify you when your pitch is posted, when you have access to the arena, and when or if an editor has requested your full submission based on your pitch. Each writer is to prepare and submit the following: Name – will remain anonymous, for administrative use only to confirm your membership Email – will remain anonymous, for administrative use only confirm your membership Title Genre Word count of manuscript A 300 word pitch - or specific instructions per the editor. (Submissions above this count will be truncated) It is expected that the manuscript is complete and not a work in progress. Your pitch should be polished and professional; if you’d like guidance on how to prepare your pitch, please reach out to your fellow members, the board (directors@passionateink.org) for additional input and resources, and of course, check out Google search!

Yay! So excited you're working on this -- moar moar moar! Inline answers ... 1) Do we provide our real name or our nom de plume? The name you use here in PI for your profile so we can identify you; this info is not given to the editor/pub/agent. You can provide the legal stuff when they ask to see more / you get to contract time. 2) I see that the email request is for administrative purposes. Do we provide the one that you have on file so that you can match it to the member or can we use an alternate email? Admin as in, the email alias we use is public and listed on our website. There have actually been people who write us who are NON members with their pitch content, hoping to take advantage of / join the pitch, which is closed for members-only. You should provide the email address associated with your PI account, so we can verify who you are. In many cases the editor/agent doesn't want your contact info even if they are interested; we provide you with THEIRS/the instructions on how they'd like to receive your submission. You can then write them from whatever email address / give them whatever email address you want. 3) Do we send the pitch in the body of the email or as an attachment? If an attachment, what format is preferred? Your pitch is simply posted in our closed forum, so the body of the email is fine. Nothing fancy. Just follow the guidelines Be sure that if/when the pub/editor/agent asks to see your submission (we'll tell you details of what they want if this happens) that you supply this to them in the exact format they define! 4) I understand the actual pitch session begins on 3/19; if I read correctly, then pitches are due by 3/15. Is that correct? Nope!The event is a week long, and the editor/agent/publisher shows up on FRIDAY MORNING to review pitches (at their leisure) and then lets me know which ones they want. You have Mon-Thurs the week of to provide your pitch to me via email. This info is in the "MEMBER PITCHING GUIDELINES" section of the post above (bullet 1). Thanks so much for your help. It's my first pitch and I am working in the dark. I do appreciate your patience and assistance! Happy to help! Don't overthink it. Part of the value of this format/program is to give you a safe space to pitch anonymously. Even if you "mess up" the E/A/P won't know it's YOU because they won't be given your name or contact info; just the pitch. This way, you can work on crafting a better pitch for next time if it's passed over. You'll have the chance to pitch again, to other E/A/Ps. If there is a sample or example that I can review, that would be awesome. Unfortunately due to anonymity and to respect members' privacy and their legal rights as authors, I can't share real pitches from the program. That's considered intellectual property. Plus we delete them from the forums. I think I sent you a link to a site re: crafting a great pitch -- I'd follow that advice and just work to whittle it down to the 300 word limit. Another option -- ask on the Facebook group whether anyone is willing to share their original pitch for a book they've already published. That way, they're giving you permission to review it as a guide, and they can feel safe that it will not be misused because they've already published the work! Let me know if you have other questions! Thanks, Mira

Mar 23 - Lori Perkins, Riverdale Avenue Books Lori Perkins, owner at Riverdale Avenue Books, will be joining us and is seeking these genres: Historical, Futuristic/Sci-fi, Paranormal/Fantasy, BDSM / Ds, LGBT, Menage / Poly About Lori Lori Perkins has worked in the publishing industry for more than 25 years as a journalist, editor, author, and literary agent. Originally a journalist who owned a newspaper in Manhattan, Perkins has been a literary agent for two decades, with 8 titles on the NewYork Times best seller list. She was awarded the Outstanding Achievement as an Author Representative from Romantic Times Magazine as well as The Agent of the Year Award from the Romance Writers of America’s NYC chapter. Perkins wrote The Insider's Guide to Getting an Agent (Writers Digest Books), has edited twenty erotica anthologies and more than 100 erotic novels, as well as published erotica under a pseudonym. She has taught writing and editing as an adjunct professor at NYU's Center for Publishing for two decades. About the Publisher We are one of the leading publishers of erotic literature. In 2016 Menage a Musketeer by Lisa Trevor won the gold award for erotica from the Independent Publishers Association (IPPY). We are one of the leading publishers of LGBTQ content and regularly win awards in this field. We regularity publish a lot of paranormal and kinky fiction as well as LGBTQ content. We publish a number of anthologies every year, as well as novella, novels and series. Member of the Association of American Publishers (AAP) Publisher of the #MeToo anthology, Amazon #1 Feminist Theory title Bi-Publisher of the Year, 2014, Bi-Writers Association Simultaneous Submissions This publisher will review works that are concurrently being considered by another publisher. (As always, be forthcoming with a publisher/editor when you submit a simultaneous submission!) Previous Publications This publisher will review works that have previously been published. Publisher Guidelines Visit the publisher's submissions pages, FAQs, and guidelines here. MEMBER PITCHING GUIDELINES Following are the guidelines for the editor and agent pitches: The pitch will be held in the PI forum. The author must forward their pitch to pitch@passionateink.org Monday - Thursday before the pitch. The Pitch Chair will post pitches to the Pitching Arena. The Pitching Arena will be accessible only to members that are pitching and to editors/agents. Editors/agents will have access to post comments, accept or reject a submission, or ask for author contact info. (Editor’s may choose to post or may choose to communicate through the Pitch Chair.) Once the pitching round is completed pitch threads will be deleted and access to the pitching arena reverted so please ensure you copy the comments made about your pitch. Everyone will have access for up to 1 week after pitching review starts (Friday to Friday). The Pitch Chair will coordinate forum access for all parties prior to the pitch session, and connect authors and agents/editors at the editor’s request when the pitch session is over. The Pitch Chair will notify you when your pitch is posted, when you have access to the arena, and when or if an editor has requested your full submission based on your pitch. Each writer is to prepare and submit the following: Name Email – will remain anonymous, for administrative use only Title Genre Word count of manuscript A 300 word pitch - or specific instructions per the editor. It is expected that the manuscript is complete and not a work in progress. Your pitch should be polished and professional; if you’d like guidance on how to prepare your pitch, please contact your fellow members that you see announcing their recent publications, the board (directors@passionateink.org) for additional input and resources, and of course, check out Google search!

Ok I'm back -- sorry about that, got caught up with being at Nationals! So, I haven't had a ton of time to read lately and what I've been reading has been action/thrillers (*blush*) -- but, Beauty was one of my first sets of Erotica and blew my mind. I was in Beauty's shoes and responding in all kinds of ways to the scenes and I felt as if I were in a romance. I think the main romance that flipped my switch and made me decide to write erotica and romance was actually these set of books, and specifically The Captain character. The BDSM elements were there and not explicit in the way it can be today - a lot of it was relationships, historical elements that take away the modern toys and such. Some of it is mental. Let's look at a non erotica/romance version of Anne Rice's work -- Lasher. In her Vampire Lestat series, Rowan, the lead witch (it's been years it's blurry in my memory bear with) has a romance and gets married to a handsome, average, well-meaning guy (who I think has some latent power but is not as strong as her) -- Michael. Their romance develops, they get together, they're a solid couple. This is paranormal gothic romance whatnot, so it's not about their romance, but the whole time I was like, Michael is meh. Nice. I want her to be happy. But meh. Parallel to Michael, is Lasher. Lasher is a ghost who haunts the crap out of Rowan, her whole life. And her relationship with HIM -- someone she can't see, can't talk to, etc. -- is erotic and a relationship that is complex that I want her to actually have. Because he's a ghost and he came before Michael, I feel conflicted ... it never resolves cleanly for me, but there is a naughty forbidden helpless obsession shameful aspect to Lasher that pushes all my buttons in ways that Michael never could. Lasher is demanding, bossy, pushy, he exerts his claim on Rowan repeatedly and won't leave her alone -- just like a proper Alpha. Michael is a Beta, because Rowan is an Alpha. Back to Beauty -- it actually *does* have a central HEA from what I remember, but it's split into multiple books and will appear to be erotica for those who prefer *central paired character* for the majority of their romance. That's the tricky thing -- many people will dub your erotic romance erotica and emotionally disassociate from your main character if she / he has multiple lovers on the way to finding their HEA/HFN ending. (I think that's unfair, but that's life. I think a true work of "erotica" has no romance or very little whatsoever and ends with NO HEA/HFN, a la "Story of O." Something where people demonstrate no love or long term interest in loving each other, only desire and selfish exploration and fulfillment of that desire. But I feel a truly layered story will always include characters LIKE that -- the ones who just want sex / to serve their needs. But your hero/heroine is seeking more and ideally finds the character who truly loves them for who they are and understands/fulfills them sexually and emotionally.) What people want to see (from my experience) is that the people who end up together at the end are standing next to each other in chapter 1 and 2 and clearly meant to be together even if during Chapter 3 onward there are trials and tribulations -- those central characters (m/m, m/f, f/f, mfm, etc) -- are doing their dance from page 1. In fact, what is HEA/HFN and romance for any reader is *as unique to the reader* as it is to the author to write. The difficulty is in writing in a way that makes you happy and then *finding your reader.* This came up in the conference this year -- how writing smart is writing to please your reader but also writing to please you. It's a fine line. The former will make you money and may follow more of a formula/model. The latter will help you stay productive and keep churning out stuff that excites you at scale in a way you can monetize while also enjoying what you do so you don't dial it in. Because readers can always tell when you do. There's a blurry line here that we were talking about at our PI AGM this year -- we don't want to get into formulas and "there should be X many sex scenes, your HEA/HFN characters must meet and exchange words/romantic tension by the end of Chapter 1, etc." - writing is ambivalent, nuanced, and subjective. I had one guy author way back ask me explicitly as a female what I responded to in his works and when I told him "that M/M turns me on" he went off on a "let me insert mm into my works" kick. And it's not as simple as that. It has to make sense to the evolution to the characters, your story, who they are in life. As complex as your own life is and the things you have grown to like and love in a real relationship and in the bedroom, your characters will have had the same complex evolution over time and there is no rubric for painting that picture in a way that is guaranteed to win hearts/make sales. I'm sorry I have to bash that famous "mainstream mommy porn" title -- it had flaws but it also had characters that, stiffly as they were drawn, met a need in the reader. That's all it can take -- can your reader see themselves, or the one they want to make love to and own in their darkest deepest of hearts, in your characters? Also, times are changing. What was once erotica is now considered erotic romance. Within erotic romance, there are storylines that are considered too dark for some and for others are pushing all the right buttons for both *erotic* and *romance.* As an example, I do not like my heroines sweet and innocent. I also do not like my alphas incapable of having sense when they are ridden by testosterone. Other readers want both of those things and it's not a "romance" for them if they don't get that "hit." My personal "hit" needs my alpha to be a little cruel, highly intelligent, something like a DDlg. I don't need toys, whips, or chains, I need everything to be in the mind games. Check out some of our PI contest winners and finalists for examples! Hope this helps some ... don't worry about being impolitic.

Heya, actually we have one more RIGHT NOW that ends at the end of today-- so if you have something, send it my way please, we've had no submissions from authors on this one (probably due to the July 4th holiday).

Sometimes for me the sexiest sex has no sex! HA! Aidee, spot on for me: I think good erotic romance can have BDSM but not all BDSM books are erotic. Likewise, I think erotic romance can have "vanilla" sex and be full of eroticism. I don't (generally) like to traditional / modern (popular) BDSM*, it doesn't move me and that's not the definition of "erotic" for me! * I say this loosely. It depends on the BDSM toys used, the setting, the characters ... many many things that determine eroticism, and have nothing to do with the BDSM lifestyle per se. It's like, if two likeable hot characters in a well-written book get creative and display a BDSM relationship but use no "bdsm standard issue" toys you'd buy online, that's technically BDSM but not why I sought out the book, nor enjoyed reading it!

This is great -- sharing is caring!

Hey there, I think it depends on where/how you've published it. If you're not comfortable talking about that here, feel free to email me at miranoire.erotica@gmail.com to chat about it. If you've got it up through major distributors (Kindle, etc.) that basically means the work is published and generally accessible to the public; editors/agents only want to see previously unpublished works unless you are an established author with a title that has strong numbers enough to warrant them publishing it under their house.

Get those pitches polished and present them! Here are the pitching opportunities for 2018. Check back often for new additions as we hear from agents and editors. We will DEFINITELY share more info about each agent/editor in the month prior as we promote each event, but definitely feel free to reach out to pitch@passionateink.org with any questios! REMINDER: Please follow our pitching guidelines as shown here. And, if you receive a contract offer, or choose to sign one, do let us know, and we'll anonymously share your results here! CALENDAR Company SCHEDULED Name/Social Media Role / Title Choose one or more genres/topics to help us better target pitches to you! What length of MS do you prefer? Accepts simultaneous submissions? Accepts previously published works? Pitch Results Summary Riverdale Avenue Books March 23 Lori Perkins Publisher Historical, Futuristic/Sci-fi, Paranormal/Fantasy, BDSM / Ds, LGBT, Menage / Poly No preference Yes Yes 10 Pitches: - 3 subs requested - 3 maybes - 1 trilogy offer in contract! Changeling Press April 13 Margaret Riley Publisher/ Submissions Editor Contemporary, Futuristic/Sci-fi, Paranormal/Fantasy, BDSM / Ds, LGBT, Menage / Poly Novella, Shorts / Flash No Only if we can do something differnt with them -- combine a series as a box set, produce a book from an anthology as a single title, or pick up book 1 of an unfininished series from a house that closed and complete the series 2 Pitches - 2 subs requested (maybes) Changeling Press April 27 Crystal Esau Editor Contemporary, Futuristic/Sci-fi, Paranormal/Fantasy, Suspense / Thriller / Mystery, Menage / Poly Novella No No 2 Pitches - 2 subs requested Extasy Books May 11 Toni Kelley Acquisitions Editor No preference No preference Yes Yes 2 Pitches - 2 subs requested Decadent Publishing JUN - TBD Kate Richards Publisher Paranormal/Fantasy, BDSM / Ds, LGBT Novel, Novella No Yes Changeling Press August 17 Treva Harte Editor No preference Novella No with conditions -- ex. a new story is also being submitted Dreamspinner Press Augus 31 Sue Brown-Moore Acquisitions Editor - Dreamspun Desires gay category romance line Contemporary, LGBT Novel No No Entangled Publishing, LLC. September 14 Heather Howland Co-Founder, Senior Editor Contemporary, Historical, Futuristic/Sci-fi, Paranormal/Fantasy, BDSM / Ds, LGBT, Menage / Poly Novel, Novella Yes No Entangled Publishing, LLC. SEPT - TBD Elizabeth Pelletier Publisher/CEO Contemporary, Historical, Futuristic/Sci-fi, Paranormal/Fantasy, Suspense / Thriller / Mystery, BDSM / Ds, LGBT, Menage / Poly Novel Yes Yes, although I’m not as enthusiastic about those unless they were a huge success. BookEnds Oct 12 Jessica Alvarez Senior Literary Agent Contemporary, Historical, Suspense / Thriller / Mystery, BDSM / Ds, LGBT, Menage / Poly Novel Yes No Boroughs Publishing Group Oct - TBD Michelle Klayman Publisher No preference Novel No No Corvisiero Literary Agency Nov - TBD Marisa Corvisiero Founder / Literary Agent Contemporary, Historical, Futuristic/Sci-fi, Paranormal/Fantasy, Suspense / Thriller / Mystery Novel Yes As long as published recently and selling well Corvisiero Literary Agency Nov - TBD Saritza Hernandez Sr. Literary Agent No preference Novel, Novella Yes No

Hey Jennifer, welcome! Red, another of our newer members, has just posted that she's looking for critique partners, too! Check it out: http://passionateink.org/forum/index.php?/topic/17813-critique-buddy-needed/#comment-74997

Thanks, Sam!

So cool! Thanks for posting this on the blog, Layna! I think it's great to learn more about our fellow members.