Call for submissions: Best Women’s Erotica 2011

Image of my just-released collection, Best of the Best Women’s Erotica.

Wow, 2011 seems so much like it’s in “the future”. It’s amazing, I didn’t think I’d be with this series so long: I honestly walk away from, and hand off projects when I fall out of love with them. Nope, still love it! And it looks like Best Women’s is the longest relationship I’ve ever been in… Please so join me! I just put up the fresh call for submissions for this longest-running, award-winning, best-selling women’s erotica collection, which I’m honored to edit for another year.

Do read the guidelines and information that’s posted on The Erotica Readers and Writers Association, which I’ve reposted in full after the jump (below). I’ve also added links to several podcasts of stories from the past two years of Best Women’s — erotica and introductions, enjoy!

Call for Submissions:

Best Women’s Erotica 2011
Editor: Violet Blue
Publisher: Cleis Press
Deadline: May 1st, 2010

Please note: Publisher has final right of refusal on all submissions. Payment is upon publication, plus 2 copies of the book; pub date is November 2010.

Best Women’s Erotica is a legendary and groundbreaking yearly series, and is the best-selling women’s erotica collection, period. Every year BWE raises the bar for explicit erotica written by and for women, penned by the most exciting female authors, from around the world.

This edition (BWE 2011) is selected and edited by Violet Blue. In this edition, we are looking for fictional stories that seek to push the boundaries of female sexuality, present realistic fantasies and situations, and break taboos. The sex acts depicted must be explicit and realistic in detail. A strong focus on character, predicament, and compelling situations is desired — smart, literate erotic fiction. The desired orientation within the main sexual element of the stories is primarily heterosexual, yet bisexuality and lesbian encounters are also encouraged. The primary focus of sexual activity must be on the female experience; female pleasure is the main element. A playful, clever approach is welcome, as are intense scenarios.

Both editions of BWE ’06 and BWE ’07 won the Independent Publisher award for Best Erotica Book. The BWE editions ’06, ’07, ’08, ’09 (and just-released ’10) edited by Violet Blue are very different from past editions — please read a few stories from any of those years of Best Women’s Erotica or the introductions for examples of tone. Dark themes (such as breakup, jealousy, infidelity and death) must be exceptional in content for acceptance and are *least* desired. Do not send sci-fi, poetry or fantasy fiction.

Established authors and newcomers alike are welcome.

Desired themes include: Women’s sexual fantasies and experiences of all kinds, such as taboo sex acts, fantasy scenarios (real or imagined), bondage, fetish, male anal penetration (such as strap-on play), first-time experiences, light S/M, exhibitionism, power-play, voyeurism, public sex, seduction, role-play, spontaneous sex, spanking, erotic punishment, sexual surprise, emotional honesty, desire, longing, lust, passion, female fierceness, power (and power struggles), deviousness, meaning, themes that involve the Internet and technology, and sublime humor. Above all, include explicit sex.

Paste your story submissions into emails and send to: cleisbook at gmail.com

Editor’s notes: If you send an attachment, I will delete your email immediately. I am not accepting paper submissions. Only three submissions per author. Word count: 2500 to 4500 words is the desired range. You must include your name, a short bio, mailing address and main contact email address with your submission. No simultaneous submissions (you will be disqualified with no hesitation if you submit the story to multiple publications), and no reprints. Excerpts from already-published, full-length books will be considered. Authors must be female; sorry, no male authors writing under pseudonym. Because of the volume of submissions last year (literally hundreds), I likely won’t be able to respond to your submissions until June. Please only use the cleisbook at gmail.com address for correspondence about this book.

Best Women’s Erotica 2010 is incredible, and I got to work with some truly amazing authors (and enjoyed making new discoveries). Do understand that I get a lot of stories, and read each and every one. I appreciate your patience in advance!

For tasty examples of the stories I select for this series, here is some free audio excerpts to get you in the mood:

In Open Source Sex 71, I give you a taste of each story in my handpicked, heart and soul collection of the best erotica by women, for women that the globe has to offer. It might be the most daring entry in the series yet. I also explain why I don’t put all of my Open Source Sex podcasts on iTunes…

* Click here for the podcast post and to download the MP3 audio file. (violetblue.libsyn.com)
* Click here to listen to the podcast right now in my website’s audio player.

This is it — the story I alluded to on twitter when I was editing the book which became infamous before I was even done with the manuscript. It’s one of my favorite stories from the collection: the Apple Genius Bar tryst. In Open Source Sex 72 I read Emerald’s story “Shift Change” where a woman goes in for MacBook Pro repair and gets better service than anyone could imagine. It’s amazing that those Geniuses can do, indeed.

* Click here for the podcast post and to download the MP3 audio file. (violetblue.libsyn.com)
* Click here to listen to the podcast right now in my website’s audio player.

Bonus: listen to an unforgettable from Best Women’s Erotica 2009 (also UK). After hearing “Fly” by Valerie Alexander you’ll never look at Peter, Wendy and Tiger Lily the same way again, and I think it’s one of the hottest stories I’ve ever read.

* Click here for the podcast post and to download the MP3 audio file. (violetblue.libsyn.com)
* Click here to listen to the podcast right now in my website’s audio player.