YNOT – The concept behind the new website EroticStoriesAndToys.com is simple, says owner Karen T.: Give a writer inspiration, and let them run with it.But Karen doesn’t provide any ordinary inspiration. By supplying three adult toys as jumping-off points for each monthly contest, EroticStoriesAndToys encourages writers to create erotic tales of up to 5,000 words, tickling readers’ imagination with how they might employ the toys themselves. Visitors to the website vote for as many stories as they like, rating them on a “steaminess” scale of 1-5. The story that collects the most points wins a prize package consisting of all three adult toy inspirations.

Karen said writers love the concept for several reasons.

“First, by receiving an ‘assignment,’ they can get right to work on the story,” she said. “Second, EroticStoriesAndToys allows all submitting authors to link to their published books, blogs, websites and other promotional activities. Third, the cap of 5,000 words is far less than what a publishing house would accept, so these short stories can be written fairly quickly, and hopefully entice a reader into purchasing a published novel.

“And fourth,” she added with a grin, “who doesn’t love receiving a box of sex toys in the mail?”

Novelty manufacturers love the concept too, Karen said, sponsoring a month at a time by donating the story inspiration products. EroticStoriesAndToys offers a sex toy e-tail shop where all the toys are available for purchase, so readers who want to research and/or purchase an item may do so. The project provides ongoing, inexpensive advertising for the manufacturers, since all stories and story inspiration products go into the site’s Story Archives, with live links to the store embedded.

“In building this site I’ve done a lot of research, and I can honestly say that I’ve never found another site like ours,” Karen said. “Sure, there are many, many erotica websites, but none that assign a theme, then actively recruit published authors to obtain quality short story erotica.”

The idea so intrigued Ravenous Romance, an e-publisher of romance and erotica, that the company requested Karen create a way for them to work together. The September 2010 contest resulted. Ravenous Romance solicited stories from its stable of published authors to create short stories for a toy-themed anthology. In addition to the toy prizes, the winner of the September contest will be published in the ebook anthology, tentatively set to release in October 2010.

“It’s a dream come true for an unpublished writer,” Karen said. “This is an opportunity to have your writing featured with published authors, released by a major e-publisher.”

The website accepts stories through the 25th of each month, with voting taking place all month long until the second to last day of the month. The winner is announced on the last day of each month. A new contest starts the first day of the following month.

For more information, visit EroticStoriesAndToys.com.