Don't!--veinglory So having covered that I think anyone should be able to read anything I thought it might be a good time to realise whose squicks do have to be taken into account--the publishers. So looking at the top 10 erotic romance epublishers what is forbidden if you want to submit to them...

1) Pedophilia 10/10
Apart from being an almost universal squick this might also lead to legal issues.
2) Rape 9/10
Interestingly one press forbids only 'forced seduction', while another forbids rape but allows forced seduction.
3) Bestiality 9/10
Sentient animals are allowed. I would mention that 'sentient' here is used to mean 'like people'. In other contexts earth animals are considered to be sentient (meaning: able to think and feel).
4) Urine and scat 8/10
Many presses mention only 'bodily functions' which technically would include, um, tears, vaginal lubrication and ejaculation. What they mean, however, is poop and pee.
5) Necrophilia 8/10
Although, unlike werewolves etc, it is not specified by any press--but vampires and zombies etc are presumably not considered dead dead.
6) Hate or degradation of demographic groups 5/10
It's a politically correct age....
7) Incest and in once case specifically twincest 4/10
I think some of the others never thought to forbid it, but wouldn't really want it. But it is hard to tell.
8) Excessive, unnecessary or sexualised violence 3/10
This strikes me as massively subjective as an issue.
9) Snuff 3/10
No corpse bonking--ergo no corpse making for the purpose of bonking. Just killing people is fine so long is the plot requires it...
10) profanity 1/10
No one can say cunt. Except in the submission guidelines.
11) Weapons put in va-jay-jays 1/10
Ouch.

Spot the deliberate mistakes
"...not accepting any works of ... prose"
"Ariel, 12 pt"
"Yellow showers"

Of course now I have a strange urge to see how many of these I can slip into a story without actually making it something most erotic romance readers would find objectionable ;)

Does anyone have a manuscript where characters do a don't? let me know and I will see how many presses would consider it in a submission :)  ¶ posted at 5:31 PM by Emily Veinglory