Introducing "Trios" - triple-decker hot romance

In general, we only publish novels and novellas at Embrace Books.

However, knowing how much we love short stories ourselves - especially, ahem, the hot, romantic variety! - it occurred to us that a "trio" of stories, a generous triple-decker portion of romance, would be the same length as a novella.

So why not put out a few mini-collections of short fiction by the same author?

Which is why I'm here today, putting out a general call for submission from authors who may already have some short romance stories on the back burner, or have been inspired by this to write some sexy stories for us. Send them to us at Embrace. We'd especially love it if they are linked by a common theme, though this can be any kind - including genre.

Three paranormals, for instance, or three Regency stories. Or three contemporaries revolving around a family or a group of close-knit friends. Three stories about long-lost loves returning would also work perfectly. Or a theme of enemies becoming more-than-friends.

Feeling inspired to write yet?

Here are the general guidelines for submission, and as soon as our first TRIO is available for digital sale, don't worry - we'll let you know where and how to buy it!

Embrace is currently seeking TRIOS of short stories all by the same author to be published in one mini-volume, preferably hot romance (straight, gay, lesbian or bisexual) with a common or linked theme.


We accept contemporary, historical and paranormal stories. But they MUST be romance and deliciously hot.


Please state TRIO theme in your submission and submit all three stories at the same time as three separate Word attachments: total word count of the whole collection should not be less than 10,000 nor exceed 15,000.


And don't forget to tell us something about yourself in the accompanying email: jane@embracebooks.co.uk

The Dreamers by Tanwen Coyne

Embrace Books is delighted to announce that a spine-tingling paranormal romance is to be their first publication in the new Saffron line, which is a wide-ranging series specialising in lesbian fiction and non-fiction.

The Dreamers by new writer Tanwen Coyne will be published in Spring 2011.

The Dreamers
When Jennifer inherits a remote cottage in Wales, she soon senses that she isn’t alone. But whatever ghostly presence watches while she sleeps, it is not malign. Indeed, as the days go by and Jennifer draws ever closer to her new friend, she begins to realise that the presence in her cottage is both feminine … and erotic.

Embrace Books is particularly keen to encourage new submissions to Saffron, and also to its women's category fiction lines, contemporary romance Red Velvet and super-hot romance and erotica After Dark.

There are also two historical lines: Embrace Historical and Embrace Regency.

If you're a writer who'd like to join the growing line-up of authors at Embrace, please visit our Submissions Guidelines page for more information on how to send us your work.

First Acquisitions for Embrace Books

To repeat what I wrote this morning on the Salt website, I am absolutely delighted to announce that we have now acquired our first three titles for Embrace!

Authors Rachel Lyndhurst, Judy Jarvie and Sally Clements all join us for our initial line-up of romance titles, due to launch early 2011.

A law graduate and mother of two whose interests include antiques and gardening, this will be Rachel Lyndhurst‘s first published novel, a sophisticated contemporary romance as yet untitled. Her brand-new writing blog is here.

Scottish-based Judy Jarvie has a professional background in PR and has been writing romance since 2002. Two previous novels were published by US publisher Moonlit Romance, and her novel Taking the Leap was short-listed for the RNA New Writers’ Scheme Award. Her lively novel for Embrace is entitled Nanny Behaving Badly. You can follow her blog at Judy Jarvie's Jottings.

Sally Clements is a published romance and mystery author living and working in County Kildare, Ireland. She has published numerous short stories and a novel, Catch Me A Catch, with The Wild Rose Press. She comes to Embrace with a suspenseful contemporary romance entitled Bound To Love. Her writing blog is Love and Chocolate.

All three acquisitions are for the Red Velvet line, and we’re thrilled to have Rachel, Judy and Sally launching with us at Embrace.

Please note, we're still actively seeking proposals for unpublished novels, novellas and even short fiction.

So if you're a writer and would love to become involved in the new British romance phenomenon that is Embrace, please follow our Submission Guidelines.

Does 'Formula Romance' Exist?

Someone asked on a previous blog post whether we are looking for formulaic, 'same-old-same-old' category romance at Embrace Books, and since my answer is quite complicated, I thought it might be a nice idea to turn it into a separate blog post.

First off, I don't believe in formulas. That is, I don't believe they exist in fiction, though I know many do. Particularly journalists searching for a good headline or those who look down on popular fiction as being formulaic and therefore not worth their time.

There is no magic formula or guideline sheet handed out to romance authors at the start of their bodice-ripping careers - as an apparently intelligent woman insisted recently, talking to me about the evils of romance, though she admitted to never having actually read one herself.

No, what I believe in is 'story'. Romance is one kind of story, and it has a simple plot: girl meets boy, girl loses boy, girl gets boy again. If that's a formula, it's no more a formula than a crime novel: a crime is committed, an investigation is launched, the criminal is caught. Or any type of popular fiction that follows a common theme or structural framework.

Within the idea of 'romance' there are many different varieties of approach to story-telling. Writers can manipulate the setting, period, characters or writing style to differentiate their stories from their peers in the same tradition. But all romances must follow the same basic plot of girl meets boy. If your story doesn't do this, it may be excellent in all manner of ways - but it will not be a romance.

The real question may be, am I looking for very tightly conceived and executed category romance within a strict set of guidelines prohibiting various types of hero, heroine, setting, plot variations, and sexual antics?

The answer to that is no.

I am looking for freestyle romances within the stated word lengths - not romantic fiction, or fiction with romance in it, please note, but bona fide romances where the love story is the key focus of the plot - and if it contains something unusual, as long as it's still a romance, then I'm very much open to new twists and turns on the road to love.

Perhaps giving me some examples of what constitutes a 'different' approach to category would help me be more specific. I'd be happy to field queries below on the topic of what fits Embrace and what doesn't.

Though, in general, my reputation in editing is as an innovator and a rule-breaker. So try me!

Good News Coming

I'm delighted to say we may have good news coming soon from Embrace Books. Among our first batch of full manuscript submissions, we've found some rather wonderful love stories and are currently working with a few authors on revisions - with a view to acquiring their work for Embrace.

Watch this blog for further updates!

Yet more submissions have been flagged up as promising, and full manuscripts are to be requested. Those authors should hear from us within the next ten days. If you haven't heard yet, never fear. There are quite a few partials still in the inbox. But we're getting through them fast.

No manuscripts that fit the line have been rejected without an editorial appraisal of the work. 

If you'd like to submit your romance manuscript to Embrace - and we'd certainly love to have it! -  a clickable link to our Submission Guidelines is in the sidebar of this blog.

The email address for both submissions, queries and general correspondence is jane AT saltpublishing DOT com

Submission Guidelines for Embrace

EMBRACE Red Velvet
50-60K length
Sexy, sophisticated romance with feisty heroines and believable Alpha males within contemporary, historical, and paranormal categories.
Millionaires not required (though no one will turn one away). British settings and characters welcome, but not essential.
Sexual content required, but should not be overly explicit.
Same sex novels are welcome.


EMBRACE After Dark
55-65K
Hotter romance and erotica
Open to more unusual storylines within contemporary, historical, paranormal and same sex storylines.
Must include explicit sex, which in some cases may be central to the plot.

Novellas are welcome in both lines and across all categories, up to 25K

Romances can be heterosexual or same sex

Please Note:
Although we're open to work outside the above guidelines - say, Steampunk or sci-fi, or slightly different word counts - it must be romance.

For the launch titles at least, we are not handling sagas, romantic fiction, or other books with 'romantic elements'. Only pure romance. If you're not sure what that means, it's unlikely your work will be suitable for Embrace.

What to Send:
3 chapters and a synopsis, or the full ms and synopsis if submitting a novella, with some description of your writing career to date, a few lines about the book, including word count and which line you are targeting, and why your submission would suit Embrace.

All submissions should be by Word doc (not docx), with ROMANCE in the email subject line. RTF will be accepted, though Word is preferred. Other formats may be rejected.

Submissions by email only to jane @ saltpublishing.com

There are no automatic acknowledgements at the moment. Manuscripts will be acknowledged individually, in order of receipt. Response times are currently pretty short, so the sooner you send, the quicker you should hear back.