Pink Flamingo Publications

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PINK FLAMINGO PUBLICATIONS, Winter-Spring 2008
http://pinkflamingo.com

Subject to change: please write to lizbeth@pinkflamingo.com for any updated information.

Pink Flamingo Publications is a small in-house alternative press started in 1994, which has now published the erotica of over 50 authors. We currently have over 260 titles on our paperback catalog and over 300 titles available in ebooks. We are dedicated to giving both our customers and our authors personal service and attention. In the past thirteen years, we have grown a strong mail-order business, with a readership that is 45- 50% female. Our books are produced as perfect bound paperbacks (glued spines), roughly 5 x 8 in size, with non-glossy full color covers. Our publishing capability allows us to produce small as well as large runs of our book titles, so we are able to keep all of our books in stock and available for purchase without a major financial investment.
 
All books released in paperback will also be released as Ebooks (Electronic Books) for the Microsoft Reader, our own PF Reader, the Mobipocket Reader, which works on many handheld computers, and the Ereader for MACs. Our ebooks are sold from our own Ebook website, and in some cases are sold through other ebook retailers. However, to protect copyrights and paperback sales, our ebooks are NOT printable.
 
Pink Flamingo has marketed through aggressive advertising in national magazines, newspapers, catalogue companies and our Internet Website. In addition to our sizable mail-order customer base, we have a strong Internet presence in the genre of erotic fiction. We also wholesale books to several distributors who offer our titles on on-line websites, print catalogs and in adult book stores.
 
We are seeking quality, first time writers looking to take their first steps in publishing, or previously published authors interested in expanding their horizons and talents into new areas.
 
We are looking at submissions for the following:
 
Novels in the Bondage/BDSM (Femdom, Maledom) and Spanking. (We are not currently accepting totally gay male fiction.) Check our website or catalogue to understand what we mean by each category. A few short story collections may be considered. A few strictly Lesbian novels may be considered as well. You may want to include psychological or physical dominance/submission between men and women, or women and women, S&M, bondage, spanking, whipping, masturbation, piercing, anal sex, enemas, orgies and exhibitionism, etc (you can refer to our catalog descriptions for other content suggestions). For bdsm erotica, it is preferable to write a story as predominantly Maledom or Femdom, although variations on the power exchange dynamic are acceptable as part of a subplot. That would mean for instance, some F/f or M/m content within a primarily heterosexual book. Do not however, submit story collections that include both Femdom and Maledom stories. Any time period, historical, contemporary or future is acceptable.  Fantasy bdsm societies may also be part of your storyline, however, we do not publish what's commonly known as SciFi erotica.
 
Spanking novels should include a well-plotted storyline and graphic sex, not simply consist of a series of spanking sessions. Our emphasis in spanking is clearly M/f, although some F/m spanking novels might be considered. Spanking fiction may also include other fetish content, such as light bondage, submission, humiliation, exhibitionism, enemas (tastefully done/no scat please!) and anal sex.
 
DO NOT INCLUDE: bestiality, incest, characters under 18 having sex (even in flashbacks), excrement or snuff. If you have any content concerns, please do not hesitate to query us with your questions.
 
Pink Flamingo is primarily known as a publisher of S&M and Spanking erotica. However, we occasionally publish a General Erotica title (that is erotica with NO spanking, bondage, D/s etc, or very light content of this nature). General Erotica should have a contemporary setting, not historical or SciFi. It should include LOTS of graphic sexual content inside a good story. The primary sexual content should be heterosexual, but lesbian, gangbangs, exhibitionism, public sex, threesomes, anal and oral sex are permissible and encouraged for these titles. We would likely not publish light erotic romance.
      
For all of our titles, we are looking for provocative and innovative works that speak from your own voice, which show a positive outlook on sexuality no matter what graphic sexuality or taboo you might focus on. The sexual fantasies may range from supremely seductive to very outrageous as they enter into taboo areas of fantasy and sexual exploration. We expect works to include all the elements of good fiction: good stories, characterization and quality writing—particularly a sensuous use of language for your graphic sexual scenes. Graphic content should be varied, not repetitious scene to scene.
       
These are the criteria on which we review submissions:

1) Is it erotically arousing?
2) Would it be a good Pink Flamingo title based on its content and style? (see above)
3) Is it well written and cleanly edited?
 
Final manuscripts should be roughly 45,00075,000, although some larger manuscripts will be considered. We are accepting no single short stories, except as noted below. No advance will be paid. Royalties are paid quarterly at rates of 15% of retail or wholesale price for paperbacks, and 20% of the retail or wholesale Ebook price, whichever applies. Over a two-year period, book sales for each title average, 200-1500 copies. 
 
To submit:  DO NOT submit a complete manuscript and DO NOT send us an Internet address where we can view your work. Please query with the following:
 
1) Your name and contact information
2) A detailed plot summary OR chapter by chapter synopsis (1-3 lines for each chapter) of your work. We want to know how the story develops from beginning to end. Note: this summary should NOT be over 1500 words long. Indicate the kind of graphic content included (i.e. spanking, bondage, femdom etc.) and mention any distinctive content like enemas, body modification, water sports, ponyplay, dungeon scenes, etc.
3) The first two chapters (or roughly 20 double-spaced pages). You may also wish to send a significant later chapter that specifically includes more intense graphic erotic content if your first two chapters do not.
4)  For short story collections, include a brief synopsis of EACH story and two or more samples.
5) Please indicate when submitting which category the work belongs: Maledom bdsm, Femdom bdsm, Lesbian, Spanking or general
6) Information on any previous publication of the material you are submitting (if any), plus any other information you feel we need to know.
7) For hard copy submissions be sure your work is typed and doubled spaced. Include a SASE if you want your query returned via mail
 
THE SUMMARY/SYNOPSIS IS A MUST! NO SUBMISSION WILL BE CONSIDERED WITHOUT ONE.

While it is certainly permissible to send your submission via snail mail, most submissions are currently sent via email in MS Word or MS Word compatible file attachments. Generally, we read manuscripts every two months, the middle of January, March, May, July, September and November, to correspond with the release of our flyers six times a year. Please remember, we have a large number of submissions to review and we ask for your patience. Do contact us if you have not heard from us within a reasonable time.
 
INTERNET AUTHORS PLEASE NOTE: If your work or any part of it has been previously published, or has been or is currently posted to an Internet Website, please let us know when you submit your query. You must have all publishing rights when you submit your work.

General: In addition to a good well-written story, an attention to grammatical detail will make yours stand out from a crowded field of submissions and draw our attention. We expect cleanly written, edited manuscripts. We do not have the editing staff available for extensive editing, so for the most part manuscripts need to be ready to print, grammatically correct and checked for spelling. We do read through all manuscripts and small errors will be corrected. We reserve the right to make those editorial changes to the manuscript that we feel are necessary to enhance the quality of the work. Any significant changes we find necessary will be called to the attention of the author.
 
Strunk & Whites Elements of Style can be used as a general guideline for grammar.
We prefer only lightly formatted documents, since most formatting will need to be omitted for our publishing requirements.

1) Please use normal paragraph indentations. Indent your paragraphs as customary for works of printed fiction. DO NOT use the space bar to indent. Use the tab key: The tab set at .5 is standard, although .3 is preferable for our needs.
2) Do not double space paragraphs, which is common on the Internet.
3) In punctuating conversation, use double quotation marks, not single. Then use single quotation marks inside the double quotations. (This is opposite of the form used by many English/Canadian publications, but it is standard American form.)
4) Be sure you are familiar with the proper punctuation of conversation. We have seen even quality writers fail to get the basic rules correct. Here is one on-line resource that you can refer to:
 
http://www.literacyrules.com/pdf/Punctuating%20Conversation.pdf
 
On acceptance: Email submissions are accepted in MS Word, rtf, or compatible files. Or you can send a disk of your work formatted for Microsoft Word (or compatible format). We prefer to have the entire manuscript in ONE file, or no more than four files. We use a standard text font, Times New Roman or Garamond.
      
To finalize our arrangements, an agreement will be signed between Pink Flamingo and the writer, giving Pink Flamingo Publications the sole right to publish the work (both in the print and electronic Ebook publishing rights) over a TWO year period, and spelling out the financial arrangements. Note: In most cases, PF will continue to publish books long after the two year period has expired, as long as the book is still in demand and the author wishes for us to continue with its publication.
      
Generally, new works are published within two to six months of acceptance.
 
We are currently increasing the numbers of our ebooks selling at ebook retailers other than our own website. If we put your book into that ebook system, we will ask to extend the publishing rights beyond the two year term.
 
For email submissions, please note: When emailing your submissions, be sure to refer to your work by its title (or working title) in the subject line. i e: Submission: Alexandra's Awakening. Since 2002, we have been inundated by computer viruses in email attachments, and well delete any email without opening it if we do not have adequate identification of its source.
 
Marketing: In addition to our Internet marketing, we mail our customer base of over 10,000 names six times a year with new offerings.

Submissions sent through regular mail can be sent to:

PF Publications
PO Box 632, Richland, MI 49083
Email: submissions@pinkflamingo.com
 
NOTE: Guidelines are subject to change. 

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