Welcome to the combined Submissions Portal for Zimbell House Publishing, Chipper Press, and Temptation Press.
Whether you are submitting your work to one of our Anthologies or sending us your completed manuscript for possible publication … We have a few guidelines:
Submission Guidelines:
For Manuscripts:
- Formatting: Please submit your work in either Microsoft Word format or RTF. Double-spaced, 12 point font, with one inch margins. No Headers or footers and please use a simple font, our acquisitions editorial staff will appreciate it. (No hard copies will be accepted.)
- All submissions must be in English.
- Your Name, Pen Name, and Contact Info should be in the upper left hand corner of the document. Doing so makes it that much easier to contact you.
- Please only submit your best work. This means to be certain you have resolved most spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors before submitting.
- Please allow eight to twelve weeks for an evaluation of your work to be returned to you. Our entire acquisitions team needs to review your work before a decision is made.
For Anthologies & Literary Journals:
- Word Counts will vary for different anthologies. Please see the specific anthology for word counts to prevent auto declining your work.
- The work must not have appeared in print anywhere before (Yes, this includes electronic forms).
- All submissions must be in English.
- Each author may submit up to five (5) unique works per anthology or journal. However, they must be separate submissions.
- Submission must include a head-shot in .jpg format, and a brief bio (under 100 words).
- Work must be in Microsoft Word or RTF, double spaced, 12 point font (Times New Roman is best), one inch margins, and no headers/footers.
- Try to use Americanized spelling.
- Dialog must use double quotes, not single.
- Please note that submissions are not read until after the deadline is reached. Determinations will be made within thirty (30) days after the deadline.
Thank you for submitting. We look forward to reading your work!
Nights in the City: An Erotic Collection
In this anthology, Temptation Press is looking for short stories that explore the naughty side of the city. These stories should be about sex clubs. Think 'Eyes Wide Shut' meets 'Exit to Eden'. Any gender combination is welcome.
We are looking for a unique take on the age-old tale. Dig deep into your writing skillset to avoid a 'typical' read. Pick one POV and show the reader what is happening. What are the rules of the club? How does one get an invitation? How does the club advertise? Is it exclusive? What goes on there?
- Dialogue needs to be believable, and please keep dialects/slang to a bare minimum if you must use them.
- No head-hopping or POV changes.
- Please show more of the action than just telling the reader what happens.
Submissions of both short stories and novellas to this anthology are welcome, please keep in mind the minimum word count is 4,500 and the maximum word count is 20,000.
This anthology is a great opportunity to showcase emerging writers and allow them to build their professional platforms.
Submission Deadline: October 31, 2019, with a targeted release date of mid-January 2020.
Submit your best work. We will be doing light editing as necessary to fit the standards we strive to maintain.
Submission Guidelines:
- Any work under 4,500 words will be automatically disqualified for this anthology.
- The work must not have appeared in print or online anywhere before.
- All submissions must be in English.
- Each author may submit up to three (3) unique works—please submit them separately.
- Work must be in Microsoft Word or RTF, double-spaced, 12 point font, no headers/footers.
All contributing authors will receive a free copy of the book in softcover. Authors that are chosen for the anthology will not be paid nor receive royalties for their submission. This is an opportunity to build your platform.
Submission Deadline: October 31, 2019.
Explorer One
A Collection of Extraterrestrial Tales.
Zimbell House is holding open submissions for short sci-fi stories about space exploration from the alien race's point of view.
Let your imagination roam and put our readers in the middle of the action. We want complete stories from the POV of the alien race. We want to see his/her/its struggles to deal with other races. Why is Explorer One on this particular mission? What is Explorer One trying to find? How will Explorer One deal with the information gleaned from other worlds? Is Explorer One the ship, the mission, or the person?
- Please keep foul language to a minimum-it loses its punch if over-used.
- Dialogue needs to be believable, and please keep dialects/slang to a bare minimum if you must use them.
- No head-hopping or POV changes. Pick one point of view and stick with it.
- Please show more of the action than just telling the reader what happens.
Submissions of both short stories and novellas to this anthology are welcome, please keep in mind the minimum word count is 4,000 and the maximum word count is 20,000.
This anthology is a great opportunity to showcase emerging writers and allow them to build their professional platforms.
Submission Deadline: November 15, 2019, with a targeted release date of mid-February 2019.
Submit your best work. Poorly formatted and unedited work will be turned down. Please use Americanized English spellings. We will be doing light editing as necessary to fit the standards we strive to maintain.
Submission Guidelines:
- Any work under 4,000 words will be automatically disqualified for this anthology.
- The work must not have appeared in print or online anywhere before.
- All submissions must be in English.
- Each author may submit up to three (3) unique works—please submit them separately.
- Work must be in Microsoft Word or RTF, double-spaced, 12-point font-no headers/footers.
All contributing authors will receive a free copy of the book in softcover. Authors that are chosen for the anthology will not be paid nor receive royalties for their submission. This is an opportunity to build your platform.
Submission Deadline: November 15, 2019.
The Spelunkers
A Collection Cave Tales
Chipper Press is looking for short stories that feature youngsters that go caving. Either by choice-those that like to explore, by force-parents are dragging them or it’s a school field trip, or by dare-a group of friends dare or double-dare you to go into the cave. We want these stories to be middle-grader appropriate. Scary is good-but please watch the language.
You never know what you’ll find in a cave. It could be a pirate treasure, a dead body, an old mine, a monster, or a witch’s hovel! Or maybe, nothing at all.
Submissions of both short stories and novellas to this anthology are welcome, please keep in mind the minimum word count is 4,500 and the maximum word count is 17,000.
- Dialogue needs to be believable, and please keep dialects/slang to a bare minimum if you must use them.
- No head-hopping or POV changes. Pick one point of view and stick with it. (Your submission will be declined if there is head-hopping.)
- Please show more of the action than just telling the reader what happens.
- Characters need to be fully developed and the stories need to be complete-not just a scene.
This anthology is a great opportunity to showcase emerging writers and allow them to build their professional platforms.
Submission Deadline: November 30, 2019, with a targeted release date of early January 2020.
Submit your best work. Poorly formatted and unedited work will be turned down. Please use Americanized English spellings. We will be doing light editing as necessary to fit the standards we strive to maintain.
Submission Guidelines:
- Any work under 4,500 words will be automatically disqualified for this anthology.
- The work must not have appeared in print or online anywhere before.
- All submissions must be in English.
- Each author may submit up to three (3) unique works—please submit them separately.
- Work must be in Microsoft Word or RTF, double-spaced, 12-point font-no headers/footers.
All contributing authors will receive a free copy of the book in softcover. Authors that are chosen for the anthology will not be paid nor receive royalties for their submission. This is an opportunity to build your platform and fan base.
Submission Deadline: November 30, 2019
The Dead Game
A Collection of Horrors
Zimbell House is holding open submissions for short suspense-thriller horror stories about deadly games.
Let your imagination roam and put our readers in the middle of the action. We want complete stories from the POV of the person that ends up dead. Start at the death, and work your way backward. What was the game? Why did the person agree to play? Who instigated the game? Was death really the stakes or just a terrible accident? Our readers want horror, but not gruesome details. The horror should come from the suspense, not the deeds.
- Please keep foul language to a minimum-it loses its punch if over-used.
- Dialogue needs to be believable, and please keep dialects/slang to a bare minimum if you must use them.
- No head-hopping or POV changes. Pick one point of view and stick with it.
- Please show more of the action than just telling the reader what happens.
Submissions of both short stories and novellas to this anthology are welcome, please keep in mind the minimum word count is 4,000 and the maximum word count is 20,000.
This anthology is a great opportunity to showcase emerging writers and allow them to build their professional platforms.
Submission Deadline: January 15, 2020, with a targeted release date of mid-April 2020.
Submit your best work. Poorly formatted and unedited work will be turned down. Please use Americanized English spellings. We will be doing light editing as necessary to fit the standards we strive to maintain.
Submission Guidelines:
- Any work under 4,000 words will be automatically disqualified for this anthology.
- The work must not have appeared in print or online anywhere before.
- All submissions must be in English.
- Each author may submit up to three (3) unique works—please submit them separately.
- Work must be in Microsoft Word or RTF, double-spaced, 12-point font-no headers/footers.
All contributing authors will receive a free copy of the book in softcover. Authors that are chosen for the anthology will not be paid nor receive royalties for their submission. This is an opportunity to build your platform.
Submission Deadline: January 15, 2020.
The Match Game: An Erotic Collection
In this anthology, Temptation Press is looking for short stories that explore the naughty side of online dating.
We are looking for a unique take on the online dating sites. Dig deep into your writing skillset to avoid a 'typical' read. Pick one POV and show the reader what is happening. What kind of questions does the app ask? How does it 'match' you with your perfect sexual partner? Does it work? Be creative!
- Dialogue needs to be believable, and please keep dialects/slang to a bare minimum if you must use them.
- No head-hopping or POV changes.
- Please show more of the action than just telling the reader what happens.
Submissions of both short stories and novellas to this anthology are welcome, please keep in mind the minimum word count is 4,500 and the maximum word count is 20,000.
This anthology is a great opportunity to showcase emerging writers and allow them to build their professional platforms.
Submission Deadline: January 31, 2020, with a targeted release date of mid-March 2020.
Submit your best work. We will be doing light editing as necessary to fit the standards we strive to maintain.
Submission Guidelines:
- Any work under 4,500 words will be automatically disqualified for this anthology.
- The work must not have appeared in print or online anywhere before.
- All submissions must be in English.
- Each author may submit up to three (3) unique works—please submit them separately.
- Work must be in Microsoft Word or RTF, double-spaced, 12 point font, no headers/footers.
All contributing authors will receive a free copy of the book in softcover. Authors that are chosen for the anthology will not be paid nor receive royalties for their submission. This is an opportunity to build your platform.
Submission Deadline: January 31, 2020.
At this time, Zimbell House Publishing is not accepting academic works or graphic novels.
Please Note:
- If you are submitting a Children's chapbook, or middle-grade novel, please use the Chipper Press: Children's Manuscript submission category.
- If you are submitting poetry, please use the Specialty Manuscript submission category.
- If you are submitting an illustration heavy/photographic intensive manuscript, such as a coffee table book or cookbook, please use the category for Specialty Manuscript .
- Only completed manuscripts will be evaluated. Our acquisitions team feels it is the only way to give an accurate evaluation of the work to writers seeking consideration for publication.
- Once a manuscript has been evaluated (approximately eight to twelve weeks), an offer may be presented to the author to enter into a partnership with Zimbell House Publishing to finalize the manuscript, bring it to publication, and jointly market the work.
Temptation Press is the erotica-romance imprint for Zimbell House Publishing.
Please Note:
- Only completed manuscripts will be evaluated. Our acquisitions team feels it is the only way to give an accurate evaluation of the work to writers seeking consideration for publication.
- Once a manuscript has been evaluated (approximately eight to twelve weeks), an offer may be presented to the author to enter into a partnership with Temptation Press to finalize the manuscript, bring it to publication, and jointly market the work.
Guidelines for consideration:
Temptation Press allows for a fair stretch of leeway when it comes to an author’s creativity, and will consider most storylines, but … we do have standards! The following list will not be published by Temptation Press:
- Pedophilia. This means that all characters involved in a sexual situation must be at a bare minimum of 18 years of age. We don’t care what historical period the story is set in.
- Necrophilia. No sex with a corpse please – of course, Vampires are not technically dead, they are undead. Snuff scenes will not be accepted, nor will erotic asphyxiation.
- Rape. It’s understood that rape may sometimes be used as part of a plot-line, or a character’s backstory, but if it is used for the purpose of stimulating your reader-we will decline your manuscript. Do not use descriptive rape scenes.
- Bodily functions. i.e. Golden Showers, toilet play, or anything closely related. Just no.
- Bestiality. As Vampires are not considered dead, Shape-shifters are not considered beasts. However, characters can not have relations unless they are in the same form.
- Incest. This includes step-relatives.
- Snowballing/Felching. Just no.
- Only completed manuscripts will be evaluated. Our acquisitions team feels it is the only way to give an accurate evaluation of the work to writers seeking consideration for publication.
- Please upload images as separate files.
- Once a manuscript has been evaluated (approximately eight to twelve weeks), an offer may be presented to the author to enter into a partnership with Zimbell House Publishing to finalize the manuscript, bring it to publication, and jointly market the work.
Please Note: Chipper Press is not accepting Children's picture books at this time. The only children's books we are accepting are Chap Books, for ages 8 and up, and middle-grade novels. If you have a YA (young adult) novel, please submit under the Novel section for Zimbell House Publishing.
- Only completed manuscripts will be evaluated. Our acquisitions team feels it is the only way to give an accurate evaluation of the work to writers seeking consideration for publication.
- Once a manuscript has been evaluated (approximately eight to twelve weeks), an offer may be presented to the writer to enter into a partnership with Zimbell House Publishing to finalize the manuscript and bring it to publication.
