Writers' Guidelines

The mustachioed villain ties the fair damsel to the train tracks, laughing evilly, as a train comes barreling down the track and the screen freezes – tune in next week!

A young man, rich, noble, innocent, is riding in his carriage and it is attacked by a handsome thief. He eventually falls in love with the rogue.

Thus are the traditions of the Saturday afternoon serial and the classic cod-piece ripper. Turn of the Screw is a marriage of these two elements. We’re looking for stories that will keep the readers tuning in month to month, for stories with heroes and villains and lots of erotica. We want the best of both the serial and the cod-piece ripper worlds.

We’re looking for Pirates and Vikings, Saracens and Knights, Vampires and Werewolves, for Cowboys and Indians, Starship Captains and Pilots, Angels and Demons. Fantasy, Sci-fi, historical, contemporary, we want them all. Bring us the best your imagination can come up with. Remember we want it to be gay, erotic, and to keep the readers both squirming in their seats and tuning in for the next part every month.

Follow our general guidelines and send your submissions, with "Turn of the Screw" in the subject line, to submissions@torquerepress.com attention M. Rode.

On acceptance: Authors will be paid for the stories as follows: authors will earn a 30% royalty based on subscription sales, paid quarterly. (While we cannot guarantee rates, royalties have paid more than $150 per author per quarter over the last year.) After the entire serialized novel is posted in completion, it will remain available for one month, then will be added to our ebook catalog. We ask for two year electronic rights -- for instance, if your serialized novel has 10 chapters, then we will contract to sell it as an ebook for an additional 2 years. These novels are eligible to be considered for print, depending on sales and length.