Cleis Press

Totally legit. They publish some fabulous stuff dealing with sexuality, erotica, GLBT issues, etc.

Well-respected publisher in GLBT circles. I haven't worked with them, but I have a couple of the titles on my shelves. If your material fits their specs, go for it.

Just so it doesn't get lost in translation -- while they're probably best known for glbt, the erotica they publish is wide-ranging, not exclusively glbt.

JD

I'm waiting to hear back on my short story sub to their upcoming anthology 'Quickies'. I got an email saying they'd get back to me soon. I'm wondering how long can I expect to wait?

If that's the Rachel Kramer Bussel antho I'm thinking of you'll probably hear something around October. That's what I have jotted down on my Call for Subs list so it must have been in the original call. I've worked with her three times over the last year and she's always kept to her deadlines for replies.

ETA: Yep. The original call states October 2010 for replies.

mlhernandez said:

If that's the Rachel Kramer Bussel antho I'm thinking of you'll probably hear something around October. That's what I have jotted down on my Call for Subs list so it must have been in the original call. I've worked with her three times over the last year and she's always kept to her deadlines for replies.

ETA: Yep. The original call states October 2010 for replies.

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Thanks much appreciated.

No problem!

Here's their Submission Guidelines : http://www.cleispress.com/features/submission.php


Their submission guidelines seem to really talk about gay and lesbian fiction though. I did some books posted that weren't that though.

I just had a short story published in a Cleis antho of "erotic romance for couples." Mine, and I believe all the stories in the antho, is hetero.

Interesting. Do they have a word count minimum, or does it depend on the anthology you submit to?

It depends on the anthology and the editor. I just sold an erotic fantasy story of around 4500 words to a Cleis collection, but the editor worked with me on cutting it down from 6K. If I hadn't shown I was willing to trim word count, my story probably wouldn't have made it in.

Filigree said:

It depends on the anthology and the editor. I just sold an erotic fantasy story of around 4500 words to a Cleis collection, but the editor worked with me on cutting it down from 6K. If I hadn't shown I was willing to trim word count, my story probably wouldn't have made it in.

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How did you learn about their Submission Call? Their site is a little harder for me to navigate.

I didn't even go to their site. A helpful AW member posted the call-for-entries on AW's 'Paying Markets' forum, and in the Erotic forum. From there I linked directly to the editor's site and read her guidelines. This was early last summer, so I had plenty of time to think up a m/m story and get it in a month before the Dec. 15 deadline. I'd had doubts about Cleis itself, but I'd read another of the editor's anthologies and loved it.

Cleis' site is a little wonky. Most other erotic e-pubs will post their antho and short story calls in easily-accessed sections of their sites.

I found the submission call through a post on a romance forum, which the editor of the antho I'm in also belongs to. I think they also post calls on the ERWA website.

Cleis is wonderful. I've personally only worked with their marketing team, but they're fabulous. I've actually reviewed a number of their books over at literallylesbian.com, and can tell you that Cleis is responsive and very proactive about publicizing their authors, and their books are always of the highest quality.

I've sold stories to two of the Cleis Press anthologies, both to the same editor. My stories were hetero, but I believe there were LGBT stories in at least the first anthology (haven't received the contributor's copies of the second, so I don't know for sure).

I found the calls for submissions for both anthologies over at the Erotic Readers and Writers Association website, in the authors' resources area.

Sad, but safe to assume, Maryn. Six months is either 'we aren't interested' or 'we lost the submission'. Consider them for other things. What other presses have you looked at for this piece?