Prospective Authors Loose Id is actively acquiring stories from both aspiring and established authors. We are a royalty-paying publisher, recognized by the Romance Writers of America. Before submitting a query or proposal, please read the guidelines below. Submissions Stories must meet our guidelines as set forth below. Please don't hesitate to contact us at submissions at loose-id dot com for any information you don't see here. Love UnleashedTM Loose Id is love unleashed. We're taking romance to the edge! At Loose Id, stories that: Unleash love stories from traditional romance, fantasy, science fiction and genre formulas by crossing traditional genre lines. While we want a romance, the primary conflict need not be between hero(es) and heroine(s) though a strong relationship conflict creates terrific story potential. Unchain love stories from 'happily ever after' endings by allowing the 'happy for now' ending. In the real world, relationships don't always proceed quickly and conflicts don't always resolve themselves neatly. Not everyone survives big, climactic battles. An ending can show the hero(es) and heroine(s) taking the next step toward 'forever'; or show the primary romantic characters getting what they want, but at great personal cost, provided that it satisfies the reader. Or, an ending can be the traditional, wonderful, always beloved 'happily ever after'. Unfetter love stories from traditional run-of-the-mill romance hero(es) and heroine(s). We love our Alpha-dominant heroes, but don't neglect your kick-ass Alpha heroines, gutsy gammas, and loyal betas. Everyone needs love in their lives: bring us multi-culturalism, alternative lifestyles and sexualities, big, beautiful heroines—make your characters real. No bland characters or Mary Sues need apply. With that said, there's no one formula for a Loose Id book, no magic sales key. On the other hand, there is an evolving Loose Id look and feel. A Loose Id story: Is sexy. There are explicit sex scenes, using frank language, that are not gratuitous, but are memorable. Taps reader fantasies, sexual and otherwise. Check out Nancy Friday's My Secret Garden for the wide and extraordinary variety of sexual fantasy. Think about the dreams you always had: being secretly a princess, having a magical destiny, being rescued by a white knight, being the first woman on the moon! Is edgy. It's not needlessly dark or pretentiously literary or written in some 'new' style; but sharp, well-defined, cutting edge. The characters, the stories, the love, the sex is larger-than-life without being over-the-top. Is original. Sure, capture fantasies, sex slaves, and secret submissives sell. Everyone who knows erotic romance knows that. It's just that we're not interested in a capture fantasy, harem girl, cowboy, accidental vampire. We're interested in your capture fantasy, harem girl, cowboy, or accidental vampire. Knows its market and hits it. Every subgenre of romance has its special keys. You have to understand the conventions and employ them—even if only to break them—or you will disappoint the readers. While we want original and unique stories, we still expect you to be market-savvy. When you've finished reading a Loose Id book, you feel it. The author made you a promise and s/he fulfilled it. You may not like the book, or the ending, for personal reasons, or perhaps you won't like the premise to begin with, but you should never be able to say that the book didn't work on its own terms. Specific Guidelines Now that you've read about Love UnleashedTM, and you have a sense of Loose Id's publishing mandate, we can give you some specific guidelines. Remember, we're looking for stories at the cutting edge. So as long as your story doesn't hit our absolutely no way list, if it fits the spirit of Love UnleashedTM, send it along and let us be the judge. We're currently accepting: Stories 20K and up. Previously published stories may be accepted, but only if: 1) author owns all rights; 2) the book fits all of our publishing criteria; 3) author is willing to do revisions as requested; and 4) in conjunction with the contracting of an original story with Loose Id.   Erotic Romance. No closed doors, no purple prose. As above, the sex scenes should be explicit and memorable, without being gratuitous. The language and sex acts should be as edgy as the story and characters will bear. Love Unleashed. That is, a romance or love story, plus significant elements of another genre or non-traditional content. For example: action-adventure, alternative lifestyles and sexualities, fantasy, futuristic, paranormal, suspense, urban fantasy. No contemporaries or historicals that are not: multi-cultural (true immersion in one or another culture, but there need not be a race or cultural conflict; thus, the story could be about two Mexican men in Arizona where the conflict comes from their homosexuality); bbw or "big beautiful woman" (a size 12 is not a bbw); ménage (m/m/f or m/f/f) or more; homoerotic (preferably m/m at this time, but we will look at f/f); kinky, and by this we mean lifestyle fetish or BDSM, not dabbling in rope play. While we are accepting anything that fits our guidelines, we are specifically seeking: Unashamedly sexy ideas. Multi-cultural stories, non-Caucasian or interracial. BBW, a size 12 is not a big woman unless she's 4'10. Body issues need not be a major portion of the plot, but the heroine should be a large woman. LGBT. We are accepting gay, lesbian, and transgendered fiction, but we are specifically interested in male/male at this time. Alternative sexualities and lifestyles. Absolutely no: Straight contemporary or historical, see above. Short stories, see above. Erotica without a developing relationship and at least a 'happy for now' ending, see above. Pedophilia. That is, sex between adults and underage characters. Necrophilia. Undead doesn't count. Bestiality. Sentient shifters, aliens and paranormal creatures are OK. Scat or golden showers. Territorial marking may be acceptable in extraordinary cases. Inquire before submitting. Rape or incest (as defined by the culture in which the story occurs) calculated to arouse the reader. Villains may commit rape or incest to demonstrate malicious intent, but it should occur in a manner that is not arousing, or offstage. Rape or incest can have occurred in a character's past, but the hero or heroine should never perpetrate rape or incest during the scope of the story. Forced seduction, capture, or dubious consent are acceptable. Snuff. Sending a Proposal Please submit exactly and only the following: A Query Letter with: Your name and contact e-mail. The name of the manuscript you are submitting and the name of the series it is a part of, if any. The completion status and expected length of your manuscript. The genre, the premise, and the degree of sensuality present in your manuscript. Why your story is Love Unleashed.tm Your bibliography and sales history, if any. A short but complete Synopsis focusing on the characters' goals and motivations, the major story events, climax and ending. A Partial which includes the first Three Chapters of your manuscript. A short prologue should not be counted. If all of the major characters are not represented in the first three chapters or the love story has not yet begun, please send through those points to the nearest chapter break. Authors with multiple previous publications may submit a proposal which includes a Query Letter and an expanded Synopsis. Please note that acceptance on proposal, while it does occur, is not the norm. Formatting Your Submission Please follow these simple formatting guidelines precisely. RTF files only. Submissions in DOC or in the body of the e-mail will not be accepted. Double-spaced. Standard 12 pt serif font. Times New Roman or Courier preferred. Emphasis and foreign words may be underlined or italicized. Place the Query Letter only in the body of the e-mail; you may address it to the Editor-in-Chief, Treva Harte, or to a specific editor of your acquaintance. Attach the Synopsis and Partial to the e-mail (RTF files only). Include your name, pen-name and contact e-mail in the Query Letter, Synopsis and Partial. Send the submissions package to submissions@loose-id.com. You will receive confirmation of receipt within one week. If you have not received confirmation at the end of one week, please e-mail Editor-in-Chief Treva Harte at alterego@loose-id.com. Our current submissions' read time is three to four weeks. If you have not heard from an editor at the end of one month, inquire by e-mail to submissions@loose-id.com as to the status of your submission. Frequently Asked Questions The following questions are the ones we hear most often from prospective authors. Don't see the answer to your question below? Feel free to contact our Editorial department at submissions@loose-id.com. What's your turnaround time on proposals? Our current response time to a query or proposal is less than one month. If my book is contracted, when will it be published? Barring delays in editing on your end, your book will be published within a year of first submitting a completed manuscript to your editor. WILL MY BOOK GO TO PRINT? From time to time, we do publish selected titles in print. But print is expensive and doesn't provide a good return on investment. We've elected not to jeopardize our financial status by putting every book into print. Every book is evaluated for print based on criteria including e-book sales, buzz, reviews, author sales history, author history with the company, and print market viability. Those that provide a best fit with our criteria and present the highest likelihood of return on investment are put into print. Above all, however, we're committed to expanding the electronic publishing market, bringing in new customers, and finding new market segments. Electronic publishing is, still, the wave of the future. So far, e-books have barely begun to catch on, but with the technologies now coming to market and just beginning to mature, we expect to see even more growth. How often are royalties paid? Royalties on e-books are paid monthly. Royalties on print books are paid quarterly. Do I need an agent to submit to Loose Id? Not at all. We welcome submissions from aspiring and previously published authors, agented or not. Can I use my own art for the cover? No. We have a professional marketing team that understands the vision of the company and the types of art that appeals to our customers. A cover from Loose Id's staff of professional artists will sell more copies of your book. Are there any subjects or plots that you won't accept? Good authors can make a difficult subject work, so we hesitate to discourage you from writing any story that's yearning to be written. However, we will not accept a story that includes pedophilia, necrophilia, or the inclusion of certain bodily functions. If you have a question about a particular element of your story, feel free to ask our Editor-in-Chief, Treva Harte, via e-mail: alterego@loose-id.com. Contract Terms Loose Id is a royalty-paying epublisher. We hold to the highest standards of contract fairness, as defined by EPIC. We ask for electronic rights for a term of two years, have a full audit clause, and pay 35% of gross sales on standalone stories. We do have a series first look clause, but it applies only while the contract is in force, and only if we are not in breach of our obligations under the contract; all ownership in characters, worlds, and 'themes' remains with the author. We currently pay royalties on a monthly basis. We do reserve an option to publish contracted books in print, but we cannot guarantee that a specific title will be published in print.