Xcite Books Author Guidelines

Xcite Books is the UK’s largest erotic publisher and produces erotic fiction in paperback, ebook and audio formats. We want our readers to trust our brand and know that when they invest their time and money in an Xcite product it has been written to specific guidelines and professionally edited. We have very high standards but welcome work from all authors, new or published. Our professional editorial team work closely with writers to help hone and develop accepted stories until they meet the correct standard for publication.

Author friendly: We know our company’s success is built on the talent of our authors and editors. We have a strong pool of writers who come from every corner of the globe – their diversity adds enormous breadth to the Xcite range and we hope that every one of them is proud to ‘write for Xcite’. Our royalty payments on ebooks are well above industry standard and, by paying authors monthly, it is possible to earn a living wage through writing.

Payment:

Print anthologies: Flat fee of £50 per story to cover all rights - 3000 - 5000 words

Print novels: 10% royalties on net receipts of print (paid annually) plus 50% of net receipts for ebook and audio editions (paid monthly)

eBooks: 50% royalties on net receipts paid monthly

Audio:  50% royalties on net receipts paid monthly

Please note: We require worldwide print, ebook and audio rights for five years on all work. Please do not submit if these are not available.

The company has three specific imprints:

Xcite Range:

Aimed at women and couples, Xcite offers a comprehensive range of mainstream short-story anthologies and erotic novels with mixed and varied themes. These may include some mild bdsm elements, multiple partners, and gay and lesbian themes.

Xtrm Range:

The Xtrm range offers explicit BDSM and fetish themes where the endurance of pain or humiliation leads to sexual gratification. Other themes may include submission and domination, bondage and personal punishment. All content is consensual but characters may be pushed beyond their natural comfort zone.

The Secret Library: - these are commissioned by our editors so please DO NOT submit content for these.

With discreet covers and novella length stories this range offers fiction for those readers who like strong characterisation and a more developed relationship together with explicit, passionate sex.

Writers Guidelines:

Xcite Range – mainstream short stories and novels aimed at women and couples

We are currently seeking stories for the following anthologies: Please make sure you clearly state which title your story is for on your submission. We are only seeking stories for these specific titles so if we don't know which one it is aimed for your submission will not be read.

Content: We are looking for variety in the themes with a high standard of writing. All sexual acts must be consensual and legal. Variety is the spice of life so giving your story an unusual setting, time period or style will help your chances of being accepted. We do accept stories from male writers and they can have a male POV but PLEASE remember they must celebrate female sexuality and be empowering to women.

Themes: Some BDSM is acceptable but it should be fairly mild and clearly consensual. Other themes can include multiple partners, gay, and lesbian.

Manuscript length:
Short story  3-5000 words (pls send blurb (approx 150 words) and story)
Novella       15-20,000 words (pls send synopsis and full novella)
Novel          50 - 80,000 words (pls send synopsis and first three chapters)

The synopsis for novellas and novels should ideally be no more than one page of A4 but should reveal the main themes of the book, key characters and general plot. It doesn't need to be too detailed but needs to be more than just a book blurb.

XTRM Range - The Xtrm range offers explicit BDSM and fetish themes where the endurance of pain or humiliation leads to sexual gratification.

Themes within this range can include explicit and intense BDSM but it must be clearly consensual. Some edgier scenes can include golden showers and breast suckling but no scat, bestiality, incest or non-consensual activity. No extreme violence (i.e. no insertion of weapons such as guns/knives).

Please email all submissions to submissions@xcitebooks.com