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Generous Press

Generous Press publishes lush, high-caliber romance fiction and other books about love. Our mission is joy, as we bring historically marginalized people to the center of every love story. Our authors identify with one or more of the following communities:

  • Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Queer-identified
  • Black, Indigenous, and other people of color
  • Disabled, sick, neurodivergent

When you submit romance fiction to Generous Press, you will be invited to confirm that your work fits all five of the following Generous Press criteria:

  1. The story centers a relationship that is, or becomes, romantic.
  2. That story ends happily. Happy doesn’t have to mean simple—take us on a journey! Leave us feeling joyful, hopeful, satiated, blushing, changed. But consider that romance readers want to see the central romantic relationship last.
  3. One or more main characters embody experiences historically marginalized in romance fiction— ie. queerness, Black or brownness, sickness or disability, neurodivergence. We want to read about fat couples, trans protagonists, non-monogamous romance, butch-on-butch, multilingual romance, abolitionist romance. This is where we find ourselves reflected in a story where we don’t die! We’re not the sidekick or punchline or villain.
  4. The author identifies as a Generous writer: you are LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and/or disabled, and you share the Generous Press vision, believing that romance fiction can be a balm and joyful way inward and forward, illuminating the power of self-love, genuine interdependence, and abundant pleasure.
  5. The prose is a pleasure to read: carefully edited, rich in imagery, music, and metaphor. Whether you're writing crisp, punchy romcom scenes, shadowy horror, or high drama, we place high importance on the pleasure of reading. Generous authors might be coming to fiction from another genre such as poetry, literary fiction, or creative nonfiction, though we welcome romance veterans with open arms.

Visit generous.press to learn more.

Romance Novels Free

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Generous Press is looking for the next great romance novel!

We publish lush, high-caliber romance fiction and other books about love by brilliant queer, trans, Black, brown, and disabled authors. Before you submit, you must confirm that your book fits all five of the following Generous Press criteria for romance novels:

  1. The story centers a relationship that is, or becomes, romantic.
  2. That story ends happily. Happy doesn’t have to mean simple—take us on a journey! Leave us feeling joyful, hopeful, satiated, blushing, changed. But keep in mind that romance readers want to see the central romantic relationship last.
  3. One or more main characters embody experiences historically marginalized in romance fiction— ie. queerness, Black or brownness, sickness or disability, neurodivergence. We want to read about fat couples, trans protagonists, non-monogamous romance, butch-on-butch, multilingual romance, abolitionist romance. This is where we find ourselves reflected in a story where we don’t die! We’re not the sidekick or punchline or villain.
  4. The author identifies as a Generous writer: you are LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and/or disabled, and you share the Generous Press vision, believing that romance fiction can be a balm and joyful way inward and forward, illuminating the power of self-love, genuine interdependence, and abundant pleasure.
  5. The prose is high caliber: carefully edited, and rich in imagery, music, and metaphor. Whether you're writing crisp, quippy romcom dialogue or shadowy horror, we place a high premium on the pleasure of reading.

Generous submissions will be reviewed by Publisher Elaina Ellis (literary editor, formerly of Pulitzer Prize-winning poetry house Copper Canyon Press) and Deputy Publisher Amber Flame (poet and program director at world-renowned writers' residency Hedgebrook). You can read more about us here. Although we each have our favorite types of love stories—Amber has a penchant for noir and spice, while Elaina loves a slow-burn queer romcom—we are open to a full range of subgenres and tropes. Give us your best speculative, epic time-travel, experimental-yet-feel-good, forbidden enemies-to-friends-to-lovers-with-only-one-bed romance!

If your novel is selected for publication at Generous Press, you will be offered an advance of at least $5,000 towards your royalties. We are working hard to be able to offer competitive and equitable advances! Your work will be copyrighted in your name, with publishing rights granted to Generous Press for a limited period. Books may be published in e-book or audio, but our focus is high-quality print books. All Generous authors will receive robust editorial and publicity support, and national distribution.

Simultaneous submissions are welcome.

Contact [email protected] with questions and accessibility requests regarding submissions.

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