Black Lace Guidelines

Please tell editors/publishers you read their guidelines on the
Erotica Readers & Writers Association Website
www.erotica-readers.com

Guidelines for prospective authors

Adam L G Nevill
Erotica Editor
Virgin Publishing Ltd
Thames Wharf Studios
Rainville Road
London W6 9HA

2007-2008

BLACK LACE – EROTIC FICTION FOR WOMEN

Launched in July 1993, Black Lace has emerged as the leading imprint of erotic fiction for women, selling over four million books worldwide. It has without question been an enormous success, and the success looks set to continue. In publishing a series of attractive, strongly branded books aimed at women, we have created a new genre.

We accept submissions from female authors only, with no exceptions. The fact that all our authors are guaranteed to be women is an essential part of our marketing strategy.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

We publish erotic novels between 70,000 and 75,000 words long. We are looking for work that really is a cut above tired formula erotica. We are looking for surprises and well-developed characters who maximise their erotic potential. Your writing should hit the ground running and sex and sexual tension must be the driving force of your narrative. We strongly recommend that you acquaint yourself with a range of books from the series before you submit a proposal.

The essential requisites of a successful story are:
- well-drawn characters that are entertaining to read about
- a realistic setting (for contemporary storylines)
- an imaginative, engaging setting that suspends disbelief (for paranormal storylines)
 - a convincing setting (for historical erotica)

You should write in a modern ‘voice’ comprehensible to a modern reader. The reader must find it easy to suspend her disbelief. The ideal narrative is one where the reader can vicariously enjoy all manner of thrilling erotic experiences, but they must be experiences which are credible, i.e. not too far into the realms of make-believe. For this reason, futuristic settings are not popular.

Remember the PHUC formula!

Pacy (page-turning narratives with engaging characters)
Horny (loads of good, intense, believable erotica that is entertaining)
Upbeat (no stories that begin with women being downtrodden or ‘trapped’, etc)
Contemporary (writing styles that have bags of energy, attitude and humour)

WHAT WE DO NOT WANT

- Short stories and novellas (unless requested)
- General fiction with little or no erotic content
- Sex scenes featuring under 18s or flashbacks to childhood ‘experiments’; in fact, we’d rather all Black Lace characters were in their 20s at least
- Sex acts that cause serious physical damage, genuine tragedy or anguish
- Incest with parents or guardians
- Sex or sexual intimacy with animals
- Bondage that involves constriction around the neck
- Stories that focus heavily on i) the breakdown of a relationship; ii) self-loathing, or the hatred of one’s body; iii) self-pity; iv) ‘all men are bastards’; v) bitter revenge;
vi) abusive/miserable/traumatic childhoods or family backgrounds

THE REASONS WE REJECT MOST PROPOSALS
here’s a list of the most common reasons why we reject manuscripts sent to Black Lace:

• The prose lacks the fluency and authority necessary in a published book
• The setting/characters are rather dull. While there’s nothing major wrong with the writing, it is too lacklustre overall to be a strong contender
• While Black Lace books are not renowned for plot complexity, they need somenarrative development. This reads as ‘some people having sex’ and not a lot more
• There is insufficient erotic content
• It’s too silly
• Tragic/unpleasant events such as illness, death, violence, etc. detract from the eroticism. The accent should be on pleasure
• The erotic tension isn’t built up enough before you launch into intense sexual activity
• The central characters are too unsympathetic/unattractive
• The tone of the writing is too flowery/romantic. Black Lace books should be written in a punchy, upbeat, engaging style
• The setting - or character profile - has been ‘done to death’
• The writing suffers from:

- repetitive sentence structure
- limited vocabulary
- overlong, overcomplicated sentences
- blatant exposition (reveal background through action and dialogue, not ‘author’s voice’
- overwriting: excessive adjectives, adverbs etc
- lack of coherence/focus
- Obsessive attention to the details of genital anatomy at the expense of thought/dialogue/action

WHAT TO SEND US

In the first instance you should send the following:

i) A covering letter containing a short paragraph explaining what the novel is about. 

ii) A chapter-by-chapter breakdown of the story (1000 words maximum). We want you to convince us that sex and sexual tension is the driving force of the narrative.

iii) The first chapter and two other chapters of the finished text which show your writing at its best.

Send your submission to the address on the front page. We do not accept proposals as emails.

Style Sheet
General instructions for Black Lace books

House style

• Use a word-processing programme with a spell-check facility wherever possible.
• Print on one side only of plain A4 paper.
• Number all pages.
• Leave wide margins round the text: at the top, at the bottom, and on both sides of the page.
• Leave double spaces between lines and use a point size no smaller than 12.
• Start each chapter on a new page.
• Within chapters, indicate breaks between sections by leaving an extra line of space.
• If – and only if – the break occurs at the bottom of a page, insert a row of asterisks to indicate the break in the text. Do not leave extra lines of space between paragraphs unless you intend to mark a break in the text.
• Begin the first line of a chapter, or of a section within a chapter, full out to the margin. Indent the first line of all other paragraphs.
• Use ellipsis, or three points (...), to indicate unfinished sentences, and an en-dash to indicate a sentence broken off or interrupted. But use ellipsis sparingly and only in speech. It should not act as a substitute for description, and it is better to use standard punctuation.
• ‘Use single quotation marks like this, to indicate speech,’ said the editor, ‘and where necessary use double quotes, “in this manner”, within single quotes.’
• Titles (Mr, Dr, Mrs) and acronyms (NATO, ACAS) – without stops.
• Use s spellings – e.g. recognise.
• Don’t attempt to indicate a character’s class, dialect or region by using non-standard spellings in speech or, worse, in reported thought or ordinary narrative.
• Underline titles of books, films, TV shows, plays and names of ships. These will be rendered in italics in the typeset text. Use single quotes around song titles. Otherwise, eschew italics and other non-standard typefaces.

           
We will attempt to acknowledge your proposal within a month of receiving it. But you’ll have to be patient for further news. We receive a large volume of proposals each week, so we’re constantly working with a huge backlog. The average waiting time for a full response is six months.

Once your proposal has been acknowledged, we’d very much appreciate if you don’t write or call to ask how it is faring.

If you would like your submission returned in the event of rejection, please enclose a large self-addressed envelope and enough postage to cover its despatch. Unfortunately we will not be able to return proposals to addresses outside the UK.

Thank you for your patience and good luck.

NEW EROTIC SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS FOR 2009

Details at: Themed contemporary erotic short fiction.

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