JMS Books is a small electronic press that focuses on publishing LGBTQ+ erotic romance, romance, and young adult romance. They publish mostly shorter work, but stories between 40,000 and 60,000 words in length are eligible (but not guaranteed) to be published in paperback if they sell 50 electronic copies within the first six months of release. Stories longer than 60,000 words will be released in eBook and print format via print on demand. They use Amazon as their printer and distributor.
They do not publish any heterosexual romance, or any work that is only erotic without a romance element.
They publish stories starting at 12,000 words, with no strict upper limit, so are a little different than most traditional manuscript publishers in that regard, where the minimum starting length is usually much higher.
They are reading for the following story themes in 2024 with the deadlines detailed below:
- Halloween — Deadline: August 31, 2024
- Thanksgiving — Deadline: September 30, 2024
- Christmas/Hanukkah — Deadline: October 31, 2024
- New Year’s — Deadline: October 31, 2024
- Valentine’s Day 2025 — Deadline: December 31, 2024
- The Color of Love — Deadline: April 30, 2024
- Friends to Lovers — Deadline: May 31, 2024
- Summer Loving — Deadline: June 30, 2024
All submissions to these themes must be Adult LGBTQ+ romance, any heat level, any subgenre, over 12,000 words in length. You can learn more about the details of the themes and how they are published here. They are not published as anthologies, but as individual stories. They are also open to other stories that are Adult LGBTQ+ Romance and Erotic Romance, that don’t fit these themes.
They have been around for a while and have mostly received positive feedback for a small press on the Water Cooler, except for one post in 2019 that strongly implied their authors had to help with work usually reserved for the publisher, including helping find keywords for Amazon and cover art image options. You can read the details here.
On their website they do state that they assign all books an ISBN an editor and cover art. But they also say “Before you submit, make sure your story is well-written, free of errors, and checked for grammar. Submissions with extensive problems, including those of plot and character, will not be accepted.” Which makes it clear to me that the editor is not doing much in-depth work, if any.
There are a number of minor typos on their site and some out of date information is still there, though some of the errors have been fixed during the time we’ve reviewed the press.
They have a note that says explicitly:
“Please realize the large majority of our audience are women. This means we are looking for M/M romance and erotic romance, and not merely gay fiction. If you don’t understand those terms, research the genres before submitting your story to us to make sure we are the right publisher for you.”
They do have a readers rewards programs and seem to generally understand their audience over all. Their website is focused on readers over writers.
They have a long list of what sells best for them and what they don’t publish if you scroll down on the submission guidelines. We cannot cover all the formatting and submission details here, so please read the full submission guidelines before submitting and please only submit if you feel like your work is a good fit for the publisher.
They do not pay advances but authors earn 50% royalties on all electronic and print sales from their website and distributors. They do not specify if that is off gross or net.
Emily Harstone is the author of many popular books, including The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submissions, Submit, Publish, Repeat, and The 2024 Guide to Manuscript Publishers. She regularly teaches three acclaimed courses on writing and publishing at The Writer’s Workshop at Authors Publish. You can follow her on Facebook here.
