SilkWords is an online romance and erotica publisher with a focus on a choose-your-own-adventure format. Characters of their books navigate through a world the reader chooses; the character might go on a blind date only to leave with someone the reader’s chose and turning the story through another twist. These short, interactive romance and erotica (at least 10,000 words) are meant to blur the lines between fiction and gaming.

This marriage of gaming and reading came about as Keri Multerer realized the demands of mothering three children was taking a toll on her reading. Boyd Multerer, Keri’s husband and the founder of Xbox Live, founded SilkWords in July 2013. Sharon L. Fisher, a romance writer with various awards in the genre, and Amanda Sumner, an editor for W.W. Norton and Company later joined the endeavor. So authors can be rest assured that they will be working with experienced professionals.

SilkWords offers authors two ways to work with them. The first is a traditional manuscript submission, fully written with significant choices offered in the choose-your-own format. The second option is a pitch for a web series that offers online readers the opportunity to vote on where the story should go. This second option means an author submits a pitch with a writing sample and the understanding that, because of the format, the story may evolve based on fan choices. With either of these formats, SilkWords publishes an ebook of the final product, with an advance of $500 and royalties at 50%.

Authors interested in SilkWords should read more about them here and enjoy the web series currently in production, maybe even do some voting!

BIO: Mandy Brown is a writer in Central Texas, the 2013 recipient of A Room of Her Own Foundation’s Tillie Olsen Fellowship, and the author of The Sting (Sweatshoppe Publications, 2013). Mandy currently teaches English at an alternative school and loves it! Read more of her writing at mandyalyssbrown.weebly.com.