Level 1

• Holding hands or affectionate touching
• Compliments or confessing love
• Low-description kissing
• Tender embraces or cuddling
• Blushing and sighing
• Non-descriptive discussions of sex
• Established relationships
• Fade to black if married
• Any sexual encounters are only referred to from the past, not described or shown on page

Level 2

• Touch that signals attraction
• No touching in the underwear zone
• Long kisses, lightly descriptive
• Deeper kisses, tongue implied but not described
• Feeling warm or flushed
• Gasping, deep sighs, light growls or groans
• Thinking or speaking about desire in a non-descriptive way
• Fade to black for established relationships after a scene that matches this level, though this may be unpopular if they are not married

Level 3

• Hands moving, still not in the underwear zone
• French kissing with tongue described
• Make-out sessions that still follow these guidelines
• Feeling hot or sweaty
• Heavier gasping, groaning, deep growls, or panting
• More frantic moments and some loss of control
• Male shirt may come off, but nothing else
• Leg may straddle waist, but no mention of arousal
• If characters lie down together, there should be little description of contact or movement
• May happen in a bedroom or on a bed, but should be interrupted or end with a fade to black scene
• Focus stays on the emotion
• Fade to black should still happen between married couples or at the end of the book between engaged or committed couples

Level 0 — None

• No sexual innuendo
• No suggestive humor
• No crude or sexual jokes

Level 1 — Minimal

• Minimal innuendo or double meanings
• Light teasing
• Mild crude or dad humor
• Not frequent or strong

Level 2 — Moderate

• Moderate suggestive humor
• Double meanings
• Sexual tension
• May include crude or sexual jokes

Level 3 — Heavy

• Heavy innuendo
• Strong suggestive dialogue
• Frequent crude or sexual humor

Zero

• No swearing

Mild

• Up to 10 uses of “hel*” or “dam*”

Moderate

• 10+ uses of “hel*” or “dam*”
• And/or use of bodily swear words like “shi*,” “as*,” etc.

Severe

• 30+ swear words
• And/or any use of the F-word one or more times

Zero

• No on-page violence

Mild

• Violence is present without detail or only referenced vaguely
• May briefly mention blood or injuries
• Comparable to a G-rated movie

Moderate

• Violence is more frequent and/or more detailed
• Can be more intense
• Injuries may be lightly described
• Comparable to a PG-rated movie

Severe

• Violence is more detailed and frequent
• Blood may be mentioned and injuries may be described in detail
• Comparable to a PG-13-rated movie