In exchange for your short romance story, we offer $5 (payable on acceptance and via Pay Pal only) and a free ONE MONTH book cover or banner ad (a $10 value).  The author may also choose to substitute a TWO MONTH cover/banner ad (a $20 value) in lieu of monetary payment.  The author will also receive a link on our website to their personal webpage and/or blog.

We ask that all stories submitted for our non-erotic site be rated PG or lower, as we have all ages reading.  Special criteria for erotic short stories can be found here.

All genres are welcome as long as the story has strong romantic elements.  Additionally,  all the stories accepted at The Long and the Short of It MUST have love and romance as central. A “Happy Ever After” (or at least "Hopefully Ever After") is also a required, fundamental part of all the stories we publish. If your story does not conform with these guidelines, please seek an alternate home for it.

In addition to offering our readers quality fiction, we wish to offer authors an opportunity to place their work where readers, publishers, and editors can see it.

Our editorial standards are high and we do not publish every submission we receive. If necessary, editors will work with authors of successful submissions before the story is placed on the site. As we publish only one new story per week, space is limited and will be reserved for only the best submissions we receive.

The story will appear on the Thrifty Thursday page for one week, after which it will be archived. Six months after the story appears on our website, full rights may revert back to the author upon request.  If the author doesn't request rights, the story will remain archived indefinitely.

In consideration of the author allowing The Long and the Short of It to publish the short story, links to the author’s website and/or blog may be presented on the story page.

1. All submissions must be the original work of the author.

2. No submission may be published anywhere else (including blogs or websites) at the time submission.

3. Submissions must be sent in the body of an email with “short story submission” and the title in the subject line. Please single space and use readable fonts like Times New Roman or Courier. Attachments will not be opened. Failure to put the correct heading in the subject line may result in your submission being deleted as spam.

4. Include the word count, title of the story, your name, pen name (if desired), and email address, along with link to your website or blog, if available and a short (50 words or less) author bio.

5. Word limit—approximately 1000 words. Items over this limit will be automatically rejected.

6. All short stories, regardless of genre, must have strong romance elements included.

7. Please allow thirty days before inquiring about the status of your submission.

Email your Short Story --

Click here for non-erotic and here for erotic

Additional Guidelines for Whipped Cream Erotic Short Stories

• No depraved or illegal acts

• No bestiality

• No degradation of women or men (rape or forced seduction)

• No incest

• No pedophilia (no sex involving underage characters, regardless of consent)

• Although we do accept stories containing explicit sex, it must occur between consenting adults.

Whipped Cream short stories may contain graphic love scenes between the main characters only, possibly including sex toys, light consensual bondage, and/or moderately explicit language.