Update, May 2012: We are thrilled to welcome our new Aquiring Editor, Delia Latham. Please check out her bio below.

Submission Guidelines

Thank you for your interest in submitting to Inspired Romance Novels. We are currently considering manuscripts in the following genres: 

• Contemporary

• Historical (all eras including western, frontier, regency, medieval, depression era, etc)

• Inspirational and Christian titles

• Holiday

• Romantic suspense

• Supernatural

• Apocalyptic/futuristic

(A word on paranormal. We do not accept "traditional" paranormal titles featuring vampires, werewolves, aliens, etc. We will consider supernatural aspects within a story.   For example: angels, a haunting/ghosts, time-travel. We encourage you to email us with your idea to see if it's a fit.)

We publish romance in a variety of lengths:

• Short Novella (10-20K)

• Novella (20K-35K)

• Short Novel (35K-50K)

• Novel (50K-85K)

• Plus Novel (85K +)

Please note, we ONLY publish romance. Please do not submit women's fiction, poetry, science fiction, fanfiction, or any type of nonfiction.

Inspired books are never boring and sometimes step out of the box. If you have written a manuscript that doesn't quite fit traditional publishing guidelines, we'd love to take a look.

The key to writing an Inspired title is EMOTION, EMOTION, EMOTION! We especially are looking for:

• Strong, passionate, intelligent characters; remember strong does not mean physically. Strength comes from within to overcome hard situations.

• Intense, emotionally riveting plots and situations.  Feel free to delve into sensitive topics that affect real people (e.g. childhood abuse, rape, infertility, terminal illness, infidelity). I cannot encourage a potential writer enough—go there! Write deeply. Squeeze our hearts.

• Conflict to create the tension and move the plot. The entire book should be interesting to read, not just the beginning and end!

• A well-defined, well-executed romantic plot. Don't just inform your readers the characters are in love. Write so that we feel the love and bond growing throughout the book. Characters should help heal and nurture each other and in doing so, fulfill their happily-ever-after.

Break the rules! Draw us in as readers!  Just don't cross these lines:

• We have no interest in reading erotica, erotic romance, or stories where characters engage in casual sex. While natural sexual tension is encouraged in our romances (we want to feel the emotion the hero and heroine feel for one another) we have no interest in books that spend pages on the explicit, physical culmination of such feelings. The key to knowing what's acceptable in our books? Emotion. If it's about that—rather than self-gratification—you're probably good!

• Stories that promote atheism, witchcraft or devil-worship.

• Serious injury, rape, or violence portrayed in a positive light.

• Hate literature and positive portrayal of negative stereotypes.

• Partial works. Only send your story when it is finished and polished! No exceptions!

Think of Inspired Romance Novels as an elite club. To get in, authors must display high standards of excellence and true talent for telling an engrossing, emotional love story. We envision our future as a tight-knit community of exceptional authors working together to promote our books. Inspired Romance Novels does not and will not mass produce titles to push profit margins.  We believe every author should have their chance in the spotlight to shine and this cannot happen if they are being released amongst ten or twenty other authors a month.  Our goal is to publish between one to two titles a month.

More information is listed below in our FAQS section.

To submit, please send your FULL MANUSCRIPT, properly formatted, to: submissions@inspiredromancenovels.com or select an editor to submit directly to from below.  

• Files should be in .doc or .rtf format. We will not accept anything else.

• 12 pt, New Times Roman, single or 1.5 spaced with one-inch margins all around.

• Please do not include headers or footers or page numbers.

• Please do not use tabs. Indents should be set .3 or .5 for first line of every paragraph.

• Italics should be in italics, not underlined. Please do not use special formatting in your document. Set font to normal.

• Please save file as booktitle_authorname.doc

We will acknowledge receipt of your submission within twenty-four hours and respond within four to six weeks. If you would like to review our standard contract before submitting, email us at contact@inspiredromancenovels.com.

Meet Our Editors:

Joan Alley, Owner & Editor-in-Chief

Delia Latham, Aquiring Editor

Delia Latham has been writing since she was capable of clutching a pencil. A former Staff Writer for a large daily newspaper, she has sold many projects to public relations firms and magazines; worked with the president of Kindness Incorporated to produce several books; and served as newsletter editor for a prominent nationwide insurance company. Her first novel was published in 2006, and she soon discovered that she loves critiquing, editing, and encouraging other authors. Delia especially enjoys inspirational romance, both historical (think frontier romance) and contemporary, but also enjoys sweet secular romance, strange tales of the supernatural (Stephenie Meyers’ Twilight series), and epic accounts of good vs. evil (The Stand). She has too many “favorite” authors to mention, ranging from Stephen King and Dean Koontz to Janette Oke, Cathy Marie Hake and Frank Peretti. She’s convinced that a healthy hunk of humor makes any book better, but says that’s true of any kind of emotion. “Make me laugh, make me cry—make me feel something—and I’ll read on to the next page.”

 To submit your manuscript to Delia, email dlatham@inspiredromancenovels.com.  

 FAQS

What royalty rate do you offer authors?

At this time, we will be offering new authors an attractive royalty rate of fifty-percent of all copies sold, after third-party vendor discounts. For example, if we receive seventy percent of list price from Amazon, royalties thereafter will be split 50-50 between Inspired and the author.

Will I get rich writing for Inspired Romance Novels?

In short, no. How's that for honest? Your dream of publishing your book will be lived and you will make some money, but probably not much at first. Realistically, Inspired Publishing is a new company and you are likely a new author. As a publishing house, we promise to strive to promote our company and our authors, but your sales are dependant upon two main things: the buzz your story creates and self-promotion. Authors who produce engrossing stories that readers want as well as continually advertise their names will undoubtedly see sales growth as they release new titles.    

Will my book go into print?

Ebooks are changing publishing today and will remain our primary focus.  However, we are now placing titles of appropriate length into trade paperback utilizing print on demand. We will happily work with authors to meet their publishing and promotional goals.

Will you consider my previously published work?

Yes, we will consider your out-of-print books if you hold exclusive rights and can provide proof of this.

Have a question we didn't answer for you? Feel free to contact us at contact@inspiredromancenovels.com.