I just checked their blog again and the standard contract for new books seems to have changed from 6 years to 3 years. Good, IMHO, and I'd be more inclined to submit. I'm still confused as to some of their kinks, though. E.g., they don't explain what 'forbidden' or 'taboo' means. These are usually incest but they state they don't publish that...Anyhoo, they've also added/changed a few kinks. . Anybody else looked at this publisher yet? I think I might e-mail their 'contacts' and ask a few questions.
They got rid of MILF for some reason (seems like a relatively tame category...strange) and cut down the religion section--took out the bits specifying no-priests and no-nuns. I wonder if someone brought that to their attention? I've seen a fair bit of m/m that contains a priest.
For a better idea of their "taboo kinks", try looking at their "Keywords for Story Ideas" section. It has loads of stuff--including things that contradict their No-No-list. Like "Mind Control" and "Dubcon" are on their keywords list, and seem to contradict the "no rape portrayed in a positive light".
And they've added a bunch of stuff (or at least I don't remember it) that just...doesn't...really seem professional I guess.
Like their entire section 2 ("Did we miss something?") on the Call for Submissions page is about how they've added kinks they found out about through research and how people should send them emails if there's any kinks they missed. And that just wouldn't inspire confidence in a publisher to me. They're willing to publish every kink (except the ones on the no-no list they copied from another erotica site) including ones they've never heard of.
If you do not know that “kink”,,, if you have not read and researched it well ,,, the reader will most likely be disappointed. Please know your subject matter well!
This goes without saying, and that's the thing: it goes without saying. A publisher should know their genre/subject matter well enough to tell if the author knows what they're writing about; how else can they tell if it's a good example of the genre? And how can they ask authors to only write what they know about when they're willing to publish subjects they know nothing about?
Also, please make sure that the manuscript you are submitting is of the highest quality possible. We want our readers to be happy with their purchases, and keep our refund/return rate low.
If a reader is not satisfied with your writing, i.e. they find a lot of grammar or spelling mistakes, or if the plot simply does not “flow” correctly, or if the the story is just all sex and no “romance”, then they most likely will reject it and request a refund or return for us. That is not good. Our name, “BannedFiction Press”, is important. We want readers to know that when they purchase a “BannedFiction Press” title, they will be receiving a quality purchase … although that purchase might be of a story a bit “kinky”.
You would think that a publisher would do their best to select quality stories and edit them well to avoid refunds. This explanation really doesn't need to be there and seems like airing the personal problems of their business model as a publisher. A "please only send polished, final draft manuscripts" would probably suffice. If a publisher doesn't want refunds, the onus is on them to select stories that match well with their intended customer base/audience.
I also find it a bit ironic to go on that much about the authors' responsibility to self-edit, when almost every paragraph on the page is filled with ",,,," at some point...but I wonder if that's a display error on my side because there's no way someone could think four commas are needed.