By now, most romance authors are familiar with erotic
romance. The term erotic romance covers a lot of ground
and includes stories in which the focus is primarily on the
erotic, with just a hint of romance to provide a loose plot.
The term also includes books which are primarily
romances with an increased level of eroticism which is
secondary to the plot.

Black Velvet Seductions has issued calls for submissions
for projects which combine the romance plot of traditional
series romance with a high level of eroticism, particularly
fetish content which is very popular with our readership.
We still continue to receive way fewer of these submissions
than we would like to receive.

What we are looking for is something very specific.
Authors interested in breaking into this market should start
by reading a bunch (10 or 20) category romances.
Category romances are those published by Harlequin
and Silhouette (primarily). Authors should note the pacing of
these stories.

They should note that the focus of the stories is almost
exclusively the developing romance between
the hero and heroine and the conflicts they face. They
should note that the conflicts are usually internal as
opposed to external. The characters often, though not
always start out as adversaries with history or axes to grind
with each other. The characters are often thrust together
by situations that they can’t control, and they are kept
together in close proximity by these same situations.
They are often forced, by things they can’t control, to call
a truce and work together, and in working together they
find attraction, admiration, and eventually love.

At Black Velvet Seductions we would like to see the
same kinds of stories for our erotic fetish-based
Forbidden Experiences line.

What stumps many authors is how to bring the fetish-
based sexuality (dominance and submission, bondage,
BDSM, spanking, multiple partners, etc.) into the traditional
story-line. The simple answer to the quandary is to make
the character’s sexuality a central part of their character.
Make the alpha hero not just alpha, but make him a dom
who is desirous of a submissive to share his life.

In His Perfect Submissive, author Alyssa Aaron uses this
set up. Her hero Slade has given up on ever finding the
perfect submissive partner to share his life...until one of
his employees embezzles $30,000. When Kara comes to
beg him not to go to the police about her brother’s
embezzlement he sees his opportunity to acquire the
submissive he’s always wanted. He offers to forgive the
theft and not involve the police, but only if Kara agrees to
become his wife and his submissive. The plot is a basic
marriage under duress plot, which will be familiar to any-
one who has read many category romances. However,
Ms. Aaron makes the plot her own by weaving her
character’s sexualities into the story. Her heroine, Kara,
though thankful to have Slade forgive her brother’s theft
can’t imagine herself in the role of sexual submissive.
She was kidnapped and raped as a child, and she
has yet to really recover from that ordeal. The book is
erotic, but the eroticism stems from the characters…Slade’s
dominance, Kara’s submissiveness. The story explores trust
and healing (two things explored often within the confines of
traditional category/series romance.) In this story the exploration
is deepened because of the dominance and submission lifestyle
practiced by the characters.

Other opportunities exist for authors to hijack familiar
category romance plots, twist them, and turn them into
erotic romances.

For example, what if we took the traditional story line in
which strangers (godparents maybe) are required to care
for a couple of kids while their parents recover after a car
accident. It’s been done hundreds of times in traditional
romance...but what if we give it a twist. What if both the
hero and heroine are dominants...what if their two
dominant personalities collide...can you see where this could
go?

What of the revenge plot? The reunion plot? Do you see  ways that
you could take those plots, twist them, and make them your own?
Do you see how you could take the nanny that comes to care for
the children plot and make it erotic? Do you see how you could take
the heroine under suspicion plot and turn it? There are numerous
plots offered up by category romance...many of them are
terrific starting places for erotic romances.

The difference with books that are rooted in traditional
category romance is that the pace of the eroticism is
slower than in many erotic romances. In books rooted in
traditional romance, part of the question the reader is
asking is when will the hero and heroine be intimate...
how will it affect their relationship when they are?
In books like this we want the build up to sex to be
slow...we want the reader to wonder, right along with the
characters.

If you are interested in writing in this exciting sub-genre
of erotic romance Black Velvet Seductions is looking for you.