Submission Guidelines | Anthologies, Novels, Novellas

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Notice: For information about submitting flash fiction, micro fics, short stories, or poetry

to our smaller publications, visit Nocturna.media.

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At this time, we are only interested in publishing romances (stories with happy endings) and some erotica but will consider all love stories.

 

We will consider romance works including, but not limited to, the following sub-genres or themes:
 

Dark

Gothic

Fantasy

Fairy Tale

Adventure

Contemporary

Suspense

Erotic

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Historical, particularly:

• Dark Ages

• Middle Ages

• Medieval

• Pirates

• Regency

• Western

• Early 20th century

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Speculative Romance, particularly:

• Supernatural (vampire, shifters, ghost, elf, angels, demons, etc.)

• Time Travel

• Folklore

• Alternate History

• Urban Fantasy

• Sci-Fi Fantasy

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Proudly, the characters in our publications represent natural human diversity. We are eager to publish highly-romantic works featuring adult couples of all genders, appearances, and sexual orientations. We want to share stories of people who fall in love, and true love is limitless.

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We are especially interested in works which:
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• Are fictional

• Are already complete

• Are 1,000-80,000 words in length or can be split into two or more novellas of 20,000-40,000 words

• Engage the reader within the first two pages and hold their attention throughout

• Qualify as romantic in the following sub-genres and themes: gothic, fantasy, fairy tale, dark, speculative, time travel, historical, adventure, contemporary, suspense, erotica

• Include real-world diversity (featuring adult couples of all genders, appearances, and sexual orientations)

 
We are not interested in works which:
 

• Demean people in any way related to aspects of their individuality such as ethnic background, physical appearance, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, disabilities, neurodivergence, etc.

• Have strong religious themes

• Are politically-motivated or themed

• Have a plot heavily-related to violence, abuse, or addiction (CNC, a type of BDSM play, is acceptable within the terms below)

• Have depressive themes such as those deeply-rooted in destruction or self-harm  

• Are non-fiction or truth-based (with the exception of titles already in our queue)

• Are written for or about children (a separate imprint for children’s books is forthcoming)

• Refer to brand-name products or real-life people or events

• Are unofficial sequels to or heavily-influenced by another artist's copyright-protected work (e.g. books, movies, etc.)

• Require more-than-usual editing time due to excessive errors in punctuation, grammar, and sentence structure

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Erotica​

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We do accept romance with either mild or explicit scenes. We accept sexually-explicit material which is not romantic, but all works, erotic or not, must be respectful of the mind and body of the characters. We expect the consent of all characters to be made clear, mutual trust to be established, and that all sexual encounters begin and end pleasurably. This includes works that include bondage play or other role-playing. We will only consider works that respect boundaries and have established mutual trust and comfort zones between consenting adults. Consensual Non-Consent (CNC) will be considered when safe-words are present and honored and all acts are intended for mutual pleasure and do not result in physical or emotional harm. We expect to read that aftercare (physical and emotional support to return to a peaceful state of being) is stated or explicitly implied to have taken place.

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Some major retailers require that e-books with erotic content include a statement attesting that sex participants are adults. For this reason, we will include on the copyright page of all applicable e-books the following statement or one that is similar: "All characters engaged in sexual behavior are adults well over the age of eighteen".  This statement does not need to be included with your submission.

To Submit:

 

Your submission must include all of the following (pitch not required):
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1. The complete first chapter of your manuscript in PDF format

2. A brief description of the story and how it ends

3. The genre in your own words (not all stories fit into one category, feel free to be creative)

4. Tell us a little about yourself: A one-paragraph bio all about you (you may include your interests and a web address, if you have one)

5. A sentence or two indicating why you are specifically interested in Nocturna Press or if you were referred by someone else who was interested​

 

 

Regrettably, we cannot answer all inquiries and submissions, but we will make every effort to respond even if we cannot publish your title at this time. Please only submit once per title, but if you feel we may not have seen your submission, please feel free to send it once more. Email submissions to: submissions@nocturna.media. Submissions not accepted will be deleted from our servers for your protection.

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