Amazon alternative

[JT_Stone]

Everybody sing, "I'm too sexy for Amazon." or if you prefer, "I'm too squicky for Amazon."

I just got the boot from Amazon too. This SUCKS because I sold nearly 1,200 books last month and until yesterday I was selling 100+ books per day for the last week.

So, of my 1,200 books last month, 25 were for Lust Letters, my well received but relatively puritanical erotic novel. Let's review: 1,175 sick and twisted incest fantasy books, 25 missionary position books. Looks like there are a lot of us sick and twisted perverts out there.

I'm starting a TooHotForAmazon site. If you'd like to be included, PM me.

 

[Stella_Omega]

call it "Too incestuous for Amazon"

because all the hot titles that I look for-- which don't happen to be incest-- are still there.

 

[sr71plt]

All of my books are still there--and the one that was launched three days ago is already there. Who knows about tomorrow, of course.

 

[meathead96]

Lost a book also. There are alot of other things that offend people on their site. Homosexuality is a HUGE battle in the US, just read the news if you don't already know it. Yet none of that category is being touched. I don't understand it. I think authors should ban together and find another common avenue. The US runs on money. Remove amazon's money, change their thinking. Let's stand up together!

 

[Stella_Omega]

Lost a book also. There are alot of other things that offend people on their site. Homosexuality is a HUGE battle in the US, just read the news if you don't already know it. Yet none of that category is being touched. I don't understand it. I think authors should ban together and find another common avenue. The US runs on money. Remove amazon's money, change their thinking. Let's stand up together!

The gay erotica battle has already been fought once; http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2009-04-14-amazon-glitch_N.htm

But "Homosexuality is a huge battle" is different than "I want to sell my incest fantasy novel."

Literotica ought to set up a ebook service! yeah-- because Manu has so much time on his hands...

 

[alwayswantedto]

<deleted>

 

[sr71plt]

A Literotica E-Book site would likely be quite profitable.

As would published anthologies of Literotica contest winners, I would think. But they haven't done an anthology for some time--not since the big wave in e-book sales.

 

[TxRad]

As would published anthologies of Literotica contest winners, I would think. But they haven't done an anthology for some time--not since the big wave in e-book sales.

The anthologies you're thinking about were not done by Lit but by one of our writers here, Impressive. They were for charities (under Coming Together) and they are still being produced from somewhere else. There is a big discussion on Amazon going on with them as well.

 

[sr71plt]

The anthologies you're thinking about were not done by Lit but by one of our writers here, Impressive. They were for charities (under Coming Together) and they are still being produced from somewhere else. There is a big discussion on Amazon going on with them as well.

Oh? The Coming Together series is the same as this?

http://www.literotica.com/book/

 

[TxRad]

Oh? The Coming Together series is the same as this?

http://www.literotica.com/book/

No it is not. Coming Together is a series of over 50 anthologies, the proceeds of which all go to charity. It was here started here in the AH but got too big so it was moved to a Google group.

 

[sr71plt]

No it is not. Coming Together is a series of over 50 anthologies, the proceeds of which all go to charity. It was here started here in the AH but got too big so it was moved to a Google group.

So, that's another way of saying I was posting about Literotica's anthology and you were posting about something else?

 

[sunandshadow]

So where are people going to be selling their incest ebooks now? I want to know so I can shop there. Presumably they'll be available in some format other than Kindle too, I'll be glad of that; pdf is my preference.

 

[sr71plt]

So where are people going to be selling their incest ebooks now? I want to know so I can shop there. Presumably they'll be available in some format other than Kindle too, I'll be glad of that; pdf is my preference.

Someone from the forum here just moved his to Smashwords.

 

[Bebeslut]

So where are people going to be selling their incest ebooks now? I want to know so I can shop there. Presumably they'll be available in some format other than Kindle too, I'll be glad of that; pdf is my preference.

Look in my signature line for the link to Dirty, Sexy Girls; several of the stories concern sib-sib incest.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

For now, you can still sell them on Barnes and Noble. For now. No telling what they'll be doing in the future.

And this hasn't just been incest titles. They were just first. Then there were the bestiality titles. (Which Lit won't even take).

Now it's anything with "rape" in the title. Two m/m books were removed. That showed up on Slashdot. It looks like they're going for "nonconsent" now.

What will be next?

 

[Stella_Omega]

For now, you can still sell them on Barnes and Noble. For now. No telling what they'll be doing in the future.

And this hasn't just been incest titles. They were just first. Then there were the bestiality titles. (Which Lit won't even take).

it's hard to believe there were bestiality titles on Amazon in the first place!

Now it's anything with "rape" in the title. Two m/m books were removed. That showed up on Slashdot. It looks like they're going for "nonconsent" now.

What will be next?

Necrophilia?

 

[Selena_Kitt]

it's hard to believe there were bestiality titles on Amazon in the first place!


Necrophilia?

Could be. Zombie-lovers watch out.

 

[JT_Stone]

So where are people going to be selling their incest ebooks now? I want to know so I can shop there. Presumably they'll be available in some format other than Kindle too, I'll be glad of that; pdf is my preference.

I'm trying to get enough interest in creating just such a site. If I can, I'll send you an email. From the chatter it sounds like there are a lot of authors who have books no longer available on Amazon. I hate to sound like a censor, but please no characters under the age of 18. Pretty much anything else goes. The whole point would be catering to the edgier crowd that Amazon has denied. And yes Virginia, there will be a pdf option.

B&N and Smashwords are a joke. My Amazon sales last month were nearly 1,200, netting approx. $2,800. My B&N and SM sales, approx. 30, netting a happy meal.

Again, send me a PM is interested.

 

[Stella_Omega]

your B&N sales may go up now as readers look for what they can't find on amazon any longer.

 

[sr71plt]

B&N and Smashwords are a joke. My Amazon sales last month were nearly 1,200, netting approx. $2,800. My B&N and SM sales, approx. 30, netting a happy meal.

My sales shadow yours (most of the sales at Amazon). Unfortunately, you've pointed to the real problem of not being able to get on Amazon. It's the gorilla in the closet. If you are starting up another distributor because Smashwords is a joke, you need to be aware that your site isn't likely to sell any more than Smashwords does. Amazon is where folks are going.

You could start up your site as yet another distribution site, which is fine, but if folks can't get their books on Amazon, they need to spread the offering across multiple smaller sites and just realize that their sales are inevitably going to be dramatcially lower than if they could get on Amazon.

Your site isn't going to compete with Amazon.

 

[JT_Stone]

{Your site isn't going to compete with Amazon.}​

I think we can pretty well rely on that. Hell, it won't even compete with a few other established sites quite yet, but what do those all have in common? They're all closing doors to the incest fantasy market and others.

My idea is to try to get the word out that there is a site that caters to a niche market. The odds are long, but I know there is an audience for this material and once they find it, they will buy it. It might take awhile, but word will spread. This will spread more quickly if the site is referenced in the beginning of all of our books.

I'm going to take the proceeds of my 4th quarter sales and commit that to advertising. There are a million blogs that have been discussing this. When one does a search on Amazon and incest, there are scads of them. If there is a followup to the story, i.e. Amazon's customers are turning to this alternative site for their specific tastes, some will likely post on it.

This Amazon thing is a real setback for a lot of us and there are two strategies available: 1. Write more mainstream material and 2. Sell banned books elsewhere. I'm doing both. The problem is that mainstream sex books don't sell as well as the edgier books. And we have learned that the other two major channels are not moving many books. In addition to that SW doesn't pay well.

Besides, the books have been written and otherwise aren't earning their authors much money. What is the downside of posting them on another site?

 

[sr71plt]

Besides, the books have been written and otherwise aren't earning their authors much money. What is the downside of posting them on another site?

The only downside is unreasonable expectation. Smashwords and B&N are only a joke (your term for them) in relationship to Amazon. As long as you realize that your site will inevitably be in the same category (and actually below) that of Smashwords and B&N for a long, long time. So, if you view those sites as jokes . . .

My suggestion is not to rely on any one site, but to spread to all distributors who will take them--yours included, once you get it up (which isn't as easy as it sounds).

But you were sounding out of whack on expectation by what you called Smashwords and B&N.

 

[Stella_Omega]

almost three grand in one month?
Hell, I'm going to write incest!

 

[Selena_Kitt]

almost three grand in one month?
Hell, I'm going to write incest!

Epublishing (incest or not) can be very lucrative right now.

As for B&N being a joke - my sales skyrocketed on B&N after Amazon banned my books. The numbers are mind-boggling. I sold 1400 books in ONE DAY on B&N after Amazon banned my books and it's pushed me into B&N's top ten Pubit books. This won't last - but gee, thanks Amazon.

I've also now released non-incest versions of two of the banned books on Amazon. They're selling - not at the levels the others were, but they are selling.

 

[Bebeslut]

What was the relation between Amazon banning your books and the sales going up on B&N -- did the word get out to look for SK on B&N somehow?

Epublishing (incest or not) can be very lucrative right now.

As for B&N being a joke - my sales skyrocketed on B&N after Amazon banned my books. The numbers are mind-boggling. I sold 1400 books in ONE DAY on B&N after Amazon banned my books and it's pushed me into B&N's top ten Pubit books. This won't last - but gee, thanks Amazon.

I've also now released non-incest versions of two of the banned books on Amazon. They're selling - not at the levels the others were, but they are selling.