No. Every submission goes through a quality review. We check your cover, blurb, read sample pages, page count, spice level, genre, and overall presentation.

We keep each event intentionally curated and as AI free as possible — fewer books also means more visibility for everyone included. We do not provide individual rejection reasons but you are always welcome to try again in a future event.

Some rejections are simply due to the event capacity being reached or you using the wrong link.

Full details are in our Terms & Conditions.

The following are not accepted as standard:

• Religious fiction of any kind — not accepted under any circumstances; mainstream religions only. Witchcraft and other similar types are considered on a case-by-case basis.

• Children's books or middle grade fiction — not accepted under any circumstances.

• Non-fiction — not accepted for standard events. May occasionally be included at our discretion for specific themed events where relevant. This is rare and subject to each individual event.

• Poetry — not accepted for standard events. May occasionally be included at our discretion for specific themed events where relevant. This is rare and subject to each individual event.

To ensure appropriate content classification and compliance with applicable laws, all books featured in our event must also follow these guidelines:

1) Underage Characters: Characters under 18 must not be involved in sexual content above Spice Level 2 in any capacity. Any sexual content at Spice Level 2 or below must involve characters who are at least 16 years old, and not above 17 years old in accordance with the UK age of consent

2) Consent & Restricted Content: Books that romanticise or glorify sexual assault, abuse, or non-consensual sexual acts are not permitted. Unconventional relationships between consenting adults are welcome, provided consent is clearly established on-page, excluding sexual relationships between biological family members. Sexual violence involving villains or non-love interests may be depicted. Dark romance is welcome, provided it meets these guidelines. These restrictions are not a judgement of darker themes or the authors who explore them.

3) Age Play: Sexual content involving characters acting or presenting as minors, including DDLG-style age play, is not permitted.

4) Explicit Images: Graphic sexual images or illustrations are not permitted within books.

Legal Compliance: All books must comply with applicable UK legislation, Amazon's publishing policies, and our event-specific content guidelines. Authors are responsible for ensuring their books meet these requirements. We reserve the right to decline or remove any book that does not meet our event standards.

These guidelines support creative freedom while maintaining legal standards and appropriate categorisation. They are event-specific policies and do not imply that all restricted fictional content is unlawful.

Standard free entry is one book per pen name per event.

The same book can be entered a maximum of six times per calendar year and you must skip at least one event between entries.

Members can enter more depending on their tier — see our membership page for details.

You may purchase an additional book entry as a non-member on the sign up form of your choice. More details on how on the sign up forms.

Approximately no later than one to three weeks before the event goes live.

Check your spam folder if you have not heard from us. We do not communicate decisions via social media or direct message.

We send out information about the event you are in, after the event prior to it ends. E.g. if you apply for Septembers event, you would hear more information after Augusts event ends.

We are a volunteer admin team for the events and are not able to work to strict schedules. We will respond/contact you at our earliest convenience and attempt to keep you informed as best as we can.

Paid features are non-refundable once the work has been complete.

E.g if you paid for a mini-upgrade in the event, and the event has gone live.

If you need to reschedule, or cancel, a paid option prior to the event starting you are welcome to reach out to the admin team via email - theindieauthorhive@gmail.com

We no longer offer complementary reschedules if your book is not on sale during the event.

Full details are in our Terms & Conditions.

Event is considered live/started at 00:00 BST on the first day of the event.

We have a full event calendar available on our website tabs.