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Horny Devil Publishing

michael_b

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Another new one, this discovered from a friend's post on Facebook:

http://hornydevilpublishing.com/

According to their submissions some of the things that other publishers don't allow are okay for stories here, while others--the big four--aren't.

The submissions page is very difficult to read--as are other pages on the site--thanks to black text against a really busy mottled red background.

The about us page is a mix of black and white text, again on the busy background. Says they opened in January of 2012 but there are no books listed on the 'new releases' page and only one on the 'coming soon' page. As usual the 'about us' page doesn't say who they are.

Covers are... The only thing I can say is that most of the covers are really muddy and dark, mostly in black and white with splashes of red, so it's difficult to make out any details.

They apparently advertise for another company--or an offshoot of their own company, hard to know--that produces book trailers. Costs are way out of line compared to most such services I've contacted. The add-ons listed make it even more pricey.
 
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aliceshortcake

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(For forced captivity & forced impregnation stories, the intercourse must be a means to an end and not an end in itself, containing a form of happily ever after for all parties involved.)

I'm so glad they made that clear - I hate it when forced captivity and forced impregnation ends unhappily.

I'm also intrigued by the way they've trademarked a word:

Comerotica™— Erotic comedy, humor containing material within the above genre(s).
http://hornydevilpublishing.com/submissions/

The fact that one of their forthcoming books is Sex with the Boss's Son (Horny Housekeeper's Series) suggests that their editing is less than stellar.

In fact, the whole site is a bit weird. From the 'About Us' page:

Our titles are hand-picked, based on the true quality of the content and we feel adamant about giving talented authors a chance. Owned by writers, our main focus is to make our authors feel respected and our readers transported. We provide a variety of genres from mainstream
Contemporary Romance to the breathtaking experience of BDSM, without omitting our reader’s[only one reader?!] dirty little secret fantasies in our Smuttica™ range. Horny Devil Publishing is composed of a close knit group of professionals who are constantly searching for the most enthralling stories sure to make your blood boil with relentless heat. What makes us unique is the fact that our authors are also our readers, enjoying the forbidden fruit of erotic fiction, as well as an exclusive range of Horny Devil Merchandise...


HDP is a royalty-paying publisher offering a wide range of services including personalized editorial advice, trusted beta readers as well as dedicated cover artists that will bring your visions to life. Our publishing house is proud to support the up and coming authors of tomorrow and we will consider solicited and unsolicited manuscripts... We are based in Florida with round the clock international contacts.


Beta readers? What sort of professional publisher uses beta readers? And 'international contacts'?
 
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Pearl Gonzalez

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Dear Mr Barnette,

Thank you for bringing to light various issues you are having with our site and company. We always welcome feedback from fellow publishers, like yourself. My name is Pearl Gonzalez and I am a writer, and the owner of Horny Devil Publishing.

I am pleased to say we will be launching on October 24th 2012 as a short stories publisher that will push the boundaries of fiction to bring fantasies to life. I have made some changes to the site in light of your views. Hopefully, everything is visible and very clear now for you to better read our pages. Thank you so much for bringing to light concerns other authors may have, since I too fell into the clutches of a bad publisher a long time ago. We look forward to any submissions and are extremely excited about our launch. I would also like to point out that Horny Devil Publishing has no affiliation to the company, E3P. They were hired purely to make a promotional video. You are of course free to follow their link and contact them with any issues you may have. I am open to suggestions so please feel free to contact me.

AliceShortCake - Thank you so much, you made some excellent points! We can't promise to be perfect and we certainly don't know everything, but we're enthusiastic, hard working and willing to learn! :D

Have a great day,

Pearl.

Join us on FaceBook;
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Horny-Devil-Publishing/456258934403254

Our website:
http://www.hornydevilpublishing.com
 
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Tenaj

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Another new one, this discovered from a friend's post on Facebook:

They apparently advertise for another company--or an offshoot of their own company, hard to know--that produces book trailers. Costs are way out of line compared to most such services I've contacted. The add-ons listed make it even more pricey.


Hi there michael_b - I'm part of the graphic staff for Epic3 Productions and no, we are not an offshoot of Horny Devil Publishing, they're one of our clients.

While we know who our competitors are, we're not aware of who you believe our competitors are. However, we'd welcome the opportunity to view the services and pricing for those companies that you've contacted, and are basing your 'Costs are way out of line compared to most such services' statement.

Please be kind enough to post those links right here on your thread and we'll gladly check them out.

Thank you and we're looking forward to that information.
 

Fallen

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Thank you for being here, Pearl.

May I ask, what exactly is meant by:

What makes us unique is the fact our authors are also our readers...

Does this mean that your authors are obligated in some way to read other author works from your site? Is that stipulated in the contract?
 

shadowwalker

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Pearl, other than having fallen into the clutches of a bad publisher and being avid readers (both of which I've seen before with new publishers and which don't really qualify anyone to run a publishing company), what other credentials/experience do the staff/owners have in publishing?
 

Pearl Gonzalez

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Thank you for being here, Pearl.

May I ask, what exactly is meant by:



Does this mean that your authors are obligated in some way to read other author works from your site? Is that stipulated in the contract?

No, the authors are under no contractual obligation to read each others work. We think of ourselves as a family and encourage all authors to support each other, even if it's just commenting on a blog and also our authors write what they themselves like to read.
 

Pearl Gonzalez

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Pearl, other than having fallen into the clutches of a bad publisher and being avid readers (both of which I've seen before with new publishers and which don't really qualify anyone to run a publishing company), what other credentials/experience do the staff/owners have in publishing?

Some of the E-book publishers today started out as dissatisfied authors. We too are a group of authors who were dissatisfied. We wanted to establish a house that was more author friendly and that would also allow us to publish the shorter material that we believe there is a market for. We come from a varied background with business degrees, as well as many years of experience in sales and marketing. If you have any further questions you can also contact us directly.

[email protected]
 

Fae Sutherland

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Some of the E-book publishers today started out as dissatisfied authors. We too are a group of authors who were dissatisfied. We wanted to establish a house that was more author friendly and that would also allow us to publish the shorter material that we believe there is a market for. We come from a varied background with business degrees, as well as many years of experience in sales and marketing. If you have any further questions you can also contact us directly.

[email protected]


Oh wait...you *only* publish short stories? That is unique, I'll give you that.

Author friendly in what way? How were you dissatisfied and how are you doing it differently than the hundreds of already existing epublishers?

You have business degrees, but does anyone on staff have any experience running a publishing company? What kind of sales and marketing experience and how does that relate to publishing books?

I looked at your staff page and while it's nice to know your staff likes chocolate and Disney World and hoarding shiny things, there's no mention whatsoever of anyone having any actual qualifications to do these jobs. I'd love to see more about the staff's experience/qualifications. As an author, who's running the show is a BIG consideration when deciding who to trust with my work, as it is for most authors.

I look forward to your answers! :)
 
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shadowwalker

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We come from a varied background with business degrees, as well as many years of experience in sales and marketing.

I have a business degree (a couple of them, actually) and yet there is no way I'm qualified to run a publishing company.
 

JDMorgan

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I sent an inquiry to HDP and honestly, I was far less than impressed by the single response I received. I asked a number of questions and frankly, not one was clearly answered. Oh, and as I'm not yet a published writer, how the heck am I supposed to know what a "standard" publishing contract contains. Sorry, but I've had several contracts sent to me and not one would be considered "standard" in my opinion which is exactly why I asked the questions I did. I fail to understand why this information couldn't be shared to encourage me to submit my work rather than only AFTER I do.

Here's a copy of my email to them and the very short response.

Message Body : Dear Sir/Madam, I came across your website via a friend, and after checking out your current submissions I am wondering about the terms of your contact on any short stories, 9k-20k, that I may send in for consideration. Are these to be included in anthologies or stand alone titles? Could you please forward a copy of your standard contract for my review and are any of the terms negotiable? How long do you retain the rights to my work? What are the royalty rates? Are rights only for eBook as that is all you publish, or will I have to sign off print and audio rights too? How long would I need to wait to see my books or stories published were they accepted? I'm sorry, I know I have many questions and I am very interested. Please respond when you have an opportunity. Thank you,
J.D.

"Thank you for contacting Horny Devil Publishing. In short, our contracts are pretty standard in the industry, and yes some of it is negotiable, but that is handled on a case by case basis. The best way to answer all of your questions would be for you to submit a short story for us to consider. If we like it, we will offer you a contract. And if you have any questions or there is something you don't understand or, you want to negotiate, we will be happy to go over everything. I look forward to your submission.

CJ"
 
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AnneGlynn

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Well, there goes my opportunity to trademark Comerotica. Great minds think alike, eh?

Guess I'll have to go with my second choice, Guffawfulfiction. Not as sexy but still a winner.
 

C.J. King

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I sent an inquiry to HDP and honestly, I was far less than impressed by the single response I received. I asked a number of questions and frankly, not one was clearly answered. Oh, and as I'm not yet a published writer, how the heck am I supposed to know what a "standard" publishing contract contains. Sorry, but I've had several contracts sent to me and not one would be considered "standard" in my opinion which is exactly why I asked the questions I did. I fail to understand why this information couldn't be shared to encourage me to submit my work rather than only AFTER I do.

Here's a copy of my email to them and the very short response.

Message Body : Dear Sir/Madam, I came across your website via a friend, and after checking out your current submissions I am wondering about the terms of your contact on any short stories, 9k-20k, that I may send in for consideration. Are these to be included in anthologies or stand alone titles? Could you please forward a copy of your standard contract for my review and are any of the terms negotiable? How long do you retain the rights to my work? What are the royalty rates? Are rights only for eBook as that is all you publish, or will I have to sign off print and audio rights too? How long would I need to wait to see my books or stories published were they accepted? I'm sorry, I know I have many questions and I am very interested. Please respond when you have an opportunity. Thank you,
J.D.

"Thank you for contacting Horny Devil Publishing. In short, our contracts are pretty standard in the industry, and yes some of it is negotiable, but that is handled on a case by case basis. The best way to answer all of your questions would be for you to submit a short story for us to consider. If we like it, we will offer you a contract. And if you have any questions or there is something you don't understand or, you want to negotiate, we will be happy to go over everything. I look forward to your submission.

CJ"


Dear JD Morgan, I’m sorry you were unhappy with the response you received. Should we accept a manuscript, we will offer a contract. If our terms are deemed unacceptable to the individual writer we are very open to negotiating those terms. In short, it would be inaccurate to lay out each term because they are not set in stone.

Thank you for bringing to light that our website offers less than stellar information. We are currently in the process of updating it to a more user friendly site that will display much more about us and our services in the very near future.

We are a royalty paying publisher, we do not offer advances at present, and the author royalty rate is 40%


Again, we invite you to contact us, and submit your manuscript for consideration.

Kind regards,

CJ