We’re thrilled to announce submissions are now open for two new books in our Flame Tree Romantic Fantasy series – a captivating blend of our signature Gothic Fantasy collections with the passion and magic of Romantasy. Our first call was for Of Love & Dragons and A Breath of Time, and our open call for submissions is now live for the next two enchanting titles: Dreams Divine and Of Swords & Roses. Please read through the submission details carefully as we’ve changed some of our guidelines and it could result in your submission not being acknowledged if you do not follow them.

Flame Tree, an independent publisher of over thirty years, is renowned for gorgeous hardcover books and exceptional foiled notebooks, often created with new artists and authors. These Romantic Fantasy titles will be proud new companions to our existing collections.

Dreams Divine and Of Swords & Roses

We’re seeking short stories for our brand-new Romantic Fantasy series, a paid market for new and established writers. We're looking for tales featuring strong-willed, independent leads who are resilient, perhaps flawed or possess hidden powers, secrets or royal bloodlines. Such protagonists would not be defined solely by their love interests but grow through emotionally charged journeys. Friendships and love interests might be brooding, mysterious or dangerously alluring. Relationships might emphasize deep emotional connections, with lyrical, romantic scenes central to each character’s arc.

Ideal submissions will weave emotional tension such as longing, betrayal and love into epic fantasy worlds depicting prophecies, injustice and conflict. We welcome stories that explore moral dilemmas or sacrifices tied to love and duty, and will look out for richly imagined settings, from fae realms and alternate worlds to magical kingdoms, complete with unique magic systems, mythical creatures, royal courts and epic quests. Romance should be integral to the plot, with other elements such as slow-burn attraction, enemies who become lovers, forbidden love or fated matches. If you’re ready to immerse readers in unforgettable adventures where love and fantasy collide, we’d love to read your story.

Read on for more tips on the themes of the specific titles…

Dreams Divine

Enigmatic escapes from reality and gateways into unknown worlds, dreams arrive in different forms, a distant whispering, prophesying a message. They are unbound. An illogical succession of events, freed from the constricts of time, understanding and place. Our fantasies may be revealed in our dreams, they find us, suspended in the twilight zone of reality and a dream-like state, blurring what is real and what isn’t, balancing on the known and unknown. Lost loves or new loves materialise from the mists in this amorphous world – will they solidify into reality or vanish from whence they came? Still, we yearn to dream, craving to see a face again from a distant place, but where there is light, the cracks can be filled with darkness, where dreams can look like nightmares, a veil that is pulled across our eyelids. It jolts us back into reality. We choose to create and control our desires, yet with no beginning or end – are we really the masters at all?

Of Swords & Roses

Since ancient times and across realms the clash of swords and clatter of shields punctuate pursuits of love. A part of Flame Tree's thrilling new series of Romantic Fantasy titles, Of Swords & Roses features tales of chivalry and court intrigue; quests of passion and honour; wars waged for the sake of a beloved's hand; and great sacrifices made in the name of love. Such endeavours may play out as open clashes on the battlefield, or as guileful strategy woven into court rivalries. With a flavour of the fantastical, tales are twined with magic or abound with whimsical creatures, spanning kingdoms or bridging worlds. A chivalric hero may clash with their enemy to win another's affections; or perhaps that enemy proves to have been The One all along?

Please note: Without wishing to curtail freedom of expression, we ask writers to be conscious of the risks of offence or abuse when pushing the boundaries of erotic imagination.

Submit to: romanticfantasy@flametreepublishing.com

Please specify in the body of the email which anthology theme (Dreams Divine, or Of Swords & Roses) your story is for.

Terms:

• Multiple submissions are fine but must be in separate emails.
• Simultaneous submissions are fine but you must have the right to license your story in an anthology.
• Stories using AI-generated text will not be accepted.
• For accepted stories we pay Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) rates of 8 cents/6 pence per word for original stories, 6 cents/4 pence for reprints.
• We will aim to read each story and confirm its status within 4 months of the submission deadline.
• Payment for the chosen stories will be made within 30 days of the final advertised publication date (see our website flametreepublishing.com for details), although some may be paid earlier than that.
• Submission does not imply the right to publication. Each story will be read and assessed by the selection panel.
• Let us know in your submission email whether your story would be a reprint or is currently unpublished.

Important Notice about Submissions and Guidelines

We're always looking for better ways of working so we've tweaked our submission process to allow us to read more stories, and spend more time assessing the balance of our books.

• Submissions must use the dedicated email address.
• The subject line of the email must be the story title.
• Include which anthology you’re submitting to in the body of the email.
• The file with the story must be attached to the email (.docx, .doc or .rtf format).
• The name of the file must match the name in the subject line.
• If submitting more than one story, please submit one story per email.

Other useful tips for a more successful submission:

• The file name of the submission must be the story name only.
• Please just use spaces between words in the title (not _ or - ).
• If the story name starts with A or The, please use it at the beginning of the file name.
• Story length is most likely to be successful at 2000 – 4000 words, but we will still read stories slightly outside this range.
• If submitting a story that has recently been submitted to us for consideration to another anthology, please state this in the submission email.
• Publication will be in March 2026.
• Deadline: 24th August 2025.

Thank you, and good luck!