Summerhouse Publishing

About Summerhouse Publishing

Summerhouse Publishing is dedicated to providing a middle ground for authors who have considered self-publishing, but are daunted by the tasks of cover creation, editing and formatting their manuscript as well as obtaining multiple distribution channels.

We are not a self-publisher, but we are not what some would term a “traditional” electronic press, either. Summerhouse Publishing accepts a broad range of content, but does not accept everything that is submitted for publication. Our editing and submission guidelines, while not exclusive to Summerhouse, are exacting for a reason. Since we do not edit for content and only for grammar, spelling and punctuation, our costs are lower, resulting in higher author royalties. As such, that makes the author’s pre-submission preparation that much more important.

We are looking for well crafted romance and erotica manuscripts which meet our Submission and Editing guidelines. Each accepted submission, regardless of length, will be copy-edited for spelling and grammatical errors as well as receive a professionally designed cover. All at no cost to them.

About the Publisher

Celia Kyle, Publisher, has over fifteen years of experience in the accounting and management professions and is responsible for a billion dollar portfolio at her day job. In 2006, in her off hours, she began her writing career and has published over thirty works as well as created the “Strange Hollow” series currently being published with Liquid Silver Books and the “Dragon Kin” and “Big, Blooming & Wild” with Changeling Press. With this experience came the knowledge of the inner workings of various publishing houses allowing her to best discern how to set up Summerhouse Publishing to both benefit authors and the house.

With the combination of her life and publishing experience, she’s anticipating building a strong publishing enterprise for authors in the years to come.

Submissions Guidelines

General Submissions

Summerhouse Publishing is now open to general submissions in all genres of romance (sweet to erotic or works with romantic elements) and erotica.

We will consider previously published works providing you currently hold all digital rights and can provide proof of rights retention.

We prefer not to receive multiple submissions and request that in the event that you submit simultaneously, you keep us updated as to the status of the work.

Summerhouse Publishing encourages authors to push boundaries and explore the inner workings of their mind. We do have scenarios that we will not publish, but encourage you to “nudge the line in the sand” if that’s what your story calls for. A happily ever after/happy for now ending is not required for erotica works. All submissions should have an engaging story line and well developed plot.

Our acceptable word count begins at 3,000 words though we encourage authors to give readers a well rounded reading experience.

Scenarios we will absolutely not publish are as follows: rape for titillation, pedophilia, bestiality and necrophilia.

Special Lines

Summerhouse Publishing has three special short story lines as follows:

Can’t Think Straight – Short story same-sex stories between 3,000 and 10,000 words.

Digital Decadence – Short story m/f stories between 3,000 and 10,000 words.

Electronic Excess – Short story multiple partner stories between 3,000 and 15,000 words. This line can also contain same-sex encounters.

Formating Your Submission

When sending your manuscript, please label the .doc file as AUTHORINITIALS_TITLEOFWORK.doc. The title of your email should be Submission: TITLE by AUTHOR

• 1″ Margins All Around
• Book Antiqua – 12pt font
• Double Spaced – This should be achieved via the paragraph setup portion of your word processing program and not through additional inserted via hitting enter.
• 1/2″ Indent at the beginning of each paragraph. This should be achieved via the paragraph setup portion of your word processing program and not through the use of the tab key on your keyboard.
• There should not be additional lines between paragraphs.
• Please use three asterisks (***) centered and on its own line to separate scenes.
• Insert page breaks between chapters.
• Always spell out the chapter number. (Eg. Chapter One)
• Within the body of the email, please include your proposed blurb. (A synopsis is not required at SHP)
  • The first page, in the upper left corner, should contain the following:
  • Name, both real and pseudonym
  • Email address
  • Title
  • Word Count
  • Genres
  • Sexual Language Level
  • Sexual Content Level

Please be sure to edit your manuscript according to our Editing Guidelines prior to submission. We are not a vanity press, but we are not a traditional press, either. Full scale editing, including corrections to plot holes, excessive telling instead of showing and indiscriminate “head hopping” will not be provided by Summerhouse Publishing. While in the future we may adjust our business model to include content editing, it is not in place at this time.

We expect our authors to be diligent in the editing and presentation of their work, making sure it is as error-free as possible. If it is clear that you have not edited your manuscript prior to submission, it will be returned to you and will not be considered for publication. Upon acceptance, your manuscript will be copy edited for grammar, spelling and made to conform to house style.

Submit your FULL manuscript to submissions@summerhousepublishing.com. We will confirm receipt of your submission within forty eight hours. Please allow up to six weeks for a decision regarding your manuscript.

Royalty and Contracts

Summerhouse Publishing is a royalty paying publisher that offers royalty rates on a sliding scale based on sales volume. Sales volume includes sales from all venues upon which the work is made available. The rates are as follows:

1-400: 60% Net1

401-1,000: 65% Net1

1,001+: 70% Net1

Authors are not required to pay any fees to Summerhouse Publishing for editing, cover art or for publishing. We are not a vanity or subsidy publisher. Our contract requests exclusive world wide English rights in digital format only. We will not contract for rights which we do not intend to exploit to their fullest potential. A sample of our author contract can be found here.

1Net for site sales is defined as the sale price less merchant service fees as levied by Summerhouse Publishing’s chosen merchant. For distributor sales, Net is defined as the actual publisher receipts from outside venues.