Currently I make a few bucks here and there writing for an affair blog which recently is in the middle of a move because of ToC violations. It doesn't amount to much maybe 200 a month that I split with the owner but I enjoy the work. I would like erotica to eventually take over my part time job that's helping put myself through college and ideally turn it into full time work. Is this just wishful thinking or have any of the authors here made this into a career?
can you make a living from erotica?
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That's a rather bleak outlook o.o
sr71plt
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Maybe a handful of people do--most of them aren't the authors of it, though. And, sorry to be the bearer of sad tidings, but at least the initial big wave is over on profits from it. Catching the wave meant getting in earlier than this, when there wasn't so much on offer and people's Kindles weren't overloaded with content that they now realize they're never going to get around to reading all of.
PayDay
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lovecraft68
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Define living
Amazon is at the point where they are getting close to purging indy erotica. At the moment they are doing everything they can to bury it and sales are way down for most people.
There are other sites....B/N at this point is a good platform because unlike amazon they do not pretend to have ethics they don't have and will sell anything/ Smashwords does okay on it sown, but they will put you on b/n and some others, but apple and kobo are down on a lot of erotica.
If you put up a lot of books and work all the sites you can make some money, but you'd have to get that lightning in a bottle title to make a living.
Even if you have a book that could make you a couple of grand a month most e-books have a short lifespan of max sales before they fade. I hit once or twice on a couple, but they quickly went from over a thousand a month down to a hundred or so and eventually a couple of bucks here and there
For a second income doing something you enjoy it's very possible, but a living? Highly doubtful, but you never know until you try.
Amazon is at the point where they are getting close to purging indy erotica. At the moment they are doing everything they can to bury it and sales are way down for most people.
There are other sites....B/N at this point is a good platform because unlike amazon they do not pretend to have ethics they don't have and will sell anything/ Smashwords does okay on it sown, but they will put you on b/n and some others, but apple and kobo are down on a lot of erotica.
If you put up a lot of books and work all the sites you can make some money, but you'd have to get that lightning in a bottle title to make a living.
Even if you have a book that could make you a couple of grand a month most e-books have a short lifespan of max sales before they fade. I hit once or twice on a couple, but they quickly went from over a thousand a month down to a hundred or so and eventually a couple of bucks here and there
For a second income doing something you enjoy it's very possible, but a living? Highly doubtful, but you never know until you try.
I did try a published short story erotica ( around 44k words I think) which made me a whopping 20 dollars a year ago. I get that the wave is over sadly but doesn't that mean there may be niche ways still available to take advantage of since all the other ways are clogged? I was hoping one or two of the guys and gals here had such success. In the end I like it as a hobby so it's not like I'll stop but it would be nice to turn it into more.
Ugh, you're probably totally right and I just don't have it in me to be an asshole most of the time. Too soft.
PayDay
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Ask JK Rowling how easy it was to sell her soul and be an asshole, same goes for that Twilight drivel author.
The hard way is to be a nice asshole and accidentally write an epic novel, like Douglas Adams.
TxRad
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One short story is a start. keep them out there as often as possible gets your name out there, which builds a following. You can make a few bucks off erotica on the internet but not really anything to brag about. But then again, everything helps when times are tight.
Define living
Amazon is at the point where they are getting close to purging indy erotica. At the moment they are doing everything they can to bury it and sales are way down for most people.
There are other sites....B/N at this point is a good platform because unlike amazon they do not pretend to have ethics they don't have and will sell anything/ Smashwords does okay on it sown, but they will put you on b/n and some others, but apple and kobo are down on a lot of erotica.
If you put up a lot of books and work all the sites you can make some money, but you'd have to get that lightning in a bottle title to make a living.
Even if you have a book that could make you a couple of grand a month most e-books have a short lifespan of max sales before they fade. I hit once or twice on a couple, but they quickly went from over a thousand a month down to a hundred or so and eventually a couple of bucks here and there
For a second income doing something you enjoy it's very possible, but a living? Highly doubtful, but you never know until you try.
Well that's mostly positive. If I can keep writing for that blog and churn out a decent book every couple of months I may just stand a chance of attaining just scraping by status!
So I just have to find 50 shades of asshole pick the right shade and luck into it haha
That's how I got into freelance writing. It's never paid the bills in full but it got me through some tough stuff. I want to post a story series on here just to refine my skills as a story writer but maybe I should take your advice at the same time and do both here and self published short story collections.
lovecraft68
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I average an e-book about once every two to three weeks. But each one can usually bring some attention to an older one.
that's the good thing about e-books, once they are up they are there to stay. My first one was published in March 2011 and I had a sale on it last week, so it still kicks in a couple of bucks here and there.
R. Richard
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If you want to try to make some money, you need a lot of titles and a continual flow of new titles. Even then the pay isn't commensurate with the effort required. However, if you get the one big title, you could make some real money.
Wow, that's super exciting! I mean I know it's not a lot by what you've said but it sounds like it's a decent part time job at least. Does it feel fun to still write or does it feel like work now? I only ask is because I sent in a manuscript and after a dozen or so rejections I got a yes-ish. After that it felt like work and I no longer wanted to write on that story. Since then I've managed to cross that bridge and writing doesn't feel like a job when I self published or write for a blog but seeing as you've done it longer I wanted your two cents.
Sort of gambling with words instead of cash, right?
Carnal_Flower
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PayDay
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It's easier to just be born with it.
Why ruin it for everyone else? Also: fighting the system.
sr71plt
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Yes, there are niches where you can make money that didn't exist before. But you asked about making a living just off publishing erotica. That's a far cry from making some money--or even significant money--from it or even being successful in selling it. I'm sure there are several here making significant money from it. That's not a living wage, though.
patientlee
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I have a different philosophy. Why sell the cow, when you can give away the milk for free?
Writing's a cheap hobby. I figure that when I'm writing, I'm not spending money on entertainment. That's practically the same thing as making money, right? If I could just find some time for some extreme couponing, I could quit my job!
Writing's a cheap hobby. I figure that when I'm writing, I'm not spending money on entertainment. That's practically the same thing as making money, right? If I could just find some time for some extreme couponing, I could quit my job!
ehhh so sort of a mixed bag, if you want to make a living you can't just depend on the publishing part. I guess diversification isn't just for investors!
I have a different philosophy. Why sell the cow, when you can give away the milk for free?
Writing's a cheap hobby. I figure that when I'm writing, I'm not spending money on entertainment. That's practically the same thing as making money, right? If I could just find some time for some extreme couponing, I could quit my job!
haha, not a bad philosophy but why not make a dollar off of writing that way your entertainment pays for your groceries after you go into extreme couponing? =P
So sort of the same boat, you and I? Beyond the few scraps I've earned it feels pretty dismal.
redzinger
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I'm kind of stuck as with my disability, writing's really the only thing left that I can do without setting off major pain; it's something I can still do on a bad day when I'm flat on my back in bed, it fits in with my sleeping patterns and it's a great distraction for when things are ultra-shit elsewhere.
Unfortunately, little scraps are more difficult to account for than nothing at all, and I get financially penalised for any income. But having something to do and a focus is worth it. It's nicer to be able to call myself a writer than a waste of space.
lovecraft68
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There was an article talking about Kitt mentioning how her "babysitting The Baumgarders" (not sure if I got the last part right) sold 500,000 copies.
That is the benefit of indy publishing and the e-market as there would not have been a "real" publisher who would touch anything that hardcore.
She had some very lucrative years, but even she is hurting now(although I'm sure still doing more than most) The paypal censorship deal cost her a lot of her books on some sites and amazon's games coupled with her constant prodding of them(not that they don't deserve it) has led to her hurting there as well
I know she is starting a new site, or trying to, that will carry incest and other "taboo" topics amazon claims they won't carry(but does) but the CC processing with erotica is close to impossible now, especially with Amazon in collusion with them.
Indy erotica will suffer until amazon finally boots it once and for all and people who want it realize you can get books for your kindle on sites other than amazon. Until then their hide and seek is keeping people looking there and probably just thinking there is less being published.
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