Anthology that explores multiple sexualities

[lolaraewantsitall]

Hey all!

I'm looking to publish an anthology on KDP that follows different characters that exist in the same location. There will be numerous couplings: straight, lesbian, cuckolding, MMF, solo, etc. I was wondering if that would be a problem. I have heard mixed reactions, such as sexualities should be separated and that publishing those different topics under the same pen name could be a problem.

I was curious, what are you thoughts or advice on this? This will be my first published work under this name. I've only done ghostwriting and porn script writing and postings in the past on here under a different name.

Your help would be greatly appreciated. I'm so nervous and excited for this venture, and I just want to do it right!

 

[EarlyMorningLight]

I did the Kindle/Smashwords thing for awhile, and yes, the conventional wisdom is that to be successful, writers should try to make a name for themselves in as specific a niche as possible. That's why I got bored with it and gave it up. Churning out content about the exact same kinks over and over again wasn't fun, and there's certainly not enough money in it to make any kind of drudgery wortwhile.

 

[KeithD]

My experience is that buyers won't fork over money for an anthology covering that broad a preference scope. The ones that do well focus on specific fetishes and kinks--and sexual identity. (I currently have 98 anthologies for sale at Amazon.)

 

[lolaraewantsitall]

My experience is that buyers won't fork over money for an anthology covering that broad a preference scope. The ones that do well focus on specific fetishes and kinks--and sexual identity. (I currently have 98 anthologies for sale at Amazon.)

So that would mean, for example, an anthology dedicated to just cuckolding and another for lesbians? Do you post those different topics under the same name or under different ones?

You have almost 100 anthologies, that's crazy impressive! Are they all for the same kink/sexual identity?

 

[lolaraewantsitall]

I did the Kindle/Smashwords thing for awhile, and yes, the conventional wisdom is that to be successful, writers should try to make a name for themselves in as specific a niche as possible. That's why I got bored with it and gave it up. Churning out content about the exact same kinks over and over again wasn't fun, and there's certainly not enough money in it to make any kind of drudgery wortwhile.

Oh okay. Thanks for the heads up! Are you still an author for profit or is it purely for leisure now? You don't have to answer that last part if you don't want to.

 

[thomas1965]

I wouldn't buy it, because it contains many genres I don't want to read.
I can't think that there are so many readers who would like all genres you mentioned.

Why don't you create an anthology for each genre?

 

[EarlyMorningLight]

Oh okay. Thanks for the heads up! Are you still an author for profit or is it purely for leisure now? You don't have to answer that last part if you don't want to.

Purely for leisure. I write artwank literary shit and there’s not a lot of money in smut that’s trying to be art.

 

[EarlyMorningLight]

Oh okay. Thanks for the heads up! Are you still an author for profit or is it purely for leisure now? You don't have to answer that last part if you don't want to.

Oh, and like you I write across genres.

 

[lolaraewantsitall]

I wouldn't buy it, because it contains many genres I don't want to read.
I can't think that there are so many readers who would like all genres you mentioned.

Why don't you create an anthology for each genre?

That's what I think I'll do. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[lolaraewantsitall]

Purely for leisure. I write artwank literary shit and there’s not a lot of money in smut that’s trying to be art.

I'm glad to hear you still have your passion! Yea, multiple genres are so intriguing, but I can see that some people might feel thrown out of left field with the constant changes.

 

[EarlyMorningLight]

I'm glad to hear you still have your passion! Yea, multiple genres are so intriguing, but I can see that some people might feel thrown out of left field with the constant changes.

Absolutely. It’s disappointing that the majority of people who read porn have so many hang ups outside of their own narrow interests, but I guess that’s a reflection of how screwed up so much of our society is around sex. For me, if it’s a good story and there’s no gross misogyny, racism, fetishization of trans people, r*pe, p*do shit, or anything else that’s blatantly objectionable or dehumanizing, I’ll read it.

 

[KeithD]

So that would mean, for example, an anthology dedicated to just cuckolding and another for lesbians? Do you post those different topics under the same name or under different ones?

You have almost 100 anthologies, that's crazy impressive! Are they all for the same kink/sexual identity?

I keep the anthologies both genre/theme and preference specific, but I have anthologies that go all across the board. I also tend to keep author names preference specific. I have separate author names/work lists for straight, GM, bi, and lesbian erotica works--and for mainstream nonerotica categories as well.

I have found that buyers tend not to buy an anthology that will have stories/preference perspectives that they don't think they'll read, thus I don't think one as broadly based as you indicate will sell well.

 

[lolaraewantsitall]

I keep the anthologies both genre and preference specific, but I have anthologies that go all across the board. I also tend to keep author names preference specific. I have separate author names/work lists for straight, GM, bi, and lesbian erotica works--and for mainstream nonerotica categories as well.

I have found that buyers tend not to buy an anthology that will have stories/preference perspectives that they don't think they'll read, thus I don't think one as broadly based as you indicate will sell well.

Thanks for the clarification! This helps a lot. I'm a newbie, so I want to do as much research as I can beforehand.

 

[Voboy]

It’s disappointing that the majority of people who read porn have so many hang ups outside of their own narrow interests

For me, if it’s a good story and there’s no gross misogyny, racism, fetishization of trans people, r*pe, p*do shit, or anything else that’s blatantly objectionable or dehumanizing, I’ll read it.

One person's "hang ups outside of their own narrow interests" are another person's material "that's blatantly objectionable."

It's all in how you frame it. But it doesn't change the fact that almost no one is 100% open minded. Even you.

 

[KeithD]

Absolutely. It’s disappointing that the majority of people who read porn have so many hang ups outside of their own narrow interests, but I guess that’s a reflection of how screwed up so much of our society is around sex. For me, if it’s a good story and there’s no gross misogyny, racism, fetishization of trans people, r*pe, p*do shit, or anything else that’s blatantly objectionable or dehumanizing, I’ll read it.

I don't think that's all that relevant to this issue. When you're trying to sell something, you want to maximize sales. You may spend money on goods you don't normally buy just out of some sort of open-minded curiosity, but I don't think that holds with the general buying public too well.

 

[EarlyMorningLight]

One person's "hang ups outside of their own narrow interests" are another person's material "that's blatantly objectionable."

It's all in how you frame it. But it doesn't change the fact that almost no one is 100% open minded. Even you.

You’ll notice very clear themes in the examples I used — situations where there’s no consent, where people aren’t treated with dignity by having intrinsic physical characteristics fetishized, or stories that uphold oppressive ideologies. None of that is about kinks, it’s about morals that go beyond sex.

“It’s all in how you frame it” leads to false equivalencies. Saying “BTB stories are morally reprehensible” is not the same as “gay people are icky”.

There are some kinks I’m not into, but I’m not going to fly into a tizzy if they pop up in something I’m reading. I’ll simply go read something else, or if the writing is compelling enough, I’ll push through to see what happens in the story.

 

[TheRedChamber]

You’ll notice very clear themes in the examples I used — situations where there’s no consent, where people aren’t treated with dignity by having intrinsic physical characteristics fetishized, or stories that uphold oppressive ideologies. None of that is about kinks, it’s about morals that go beyond sex.

“It’s all in how you frame it” leads to false equivalencies. Saying “BTB stories are morally reprehensible” is not the same as “gay people are icky”.

There are some kinks I’m not into, but I’m not going to fly into a tizzy if they pop up in something I’m reading. I’ll simply go read something else, or if the writing is compelling enough, I’ll push through to see what happens in the story.

I'd argue that there are three/four main axis to look at a story, from any one individuals perspective:

1) Hotness - How much they are turned on by a certain aspect of a story. Somethings simply don't do it for some people. I almost never read anything in the 'NonHuman' catagory because whenever I do, I'm like 'okay, she's an elf, he's an alien, that's arousing why?' I'm not repulsed by it at all, it's just not for me despite being a huge sci-fi/fantasy nerd in other ways.
2) Ickiness (to borrow your phrase) - How much people disgusted by a certain aspect of the story. I've been doing some research in the BDSM category and there was a story about someone being tied up, having a crate build around them and then shipped to 'a new master'. It was all consensual (though consent in fiction is easy), so I couldn't say it was immoral, but it did get a whole 'oh hell no' from me.
3) Immorality - Either how wrong a certain aspect of the story would be if it's played out in real life or how wrong writing the story in the first place would be (there's probably a philosophical difference here, but I haven't fully thought it through)
4) Literary Value - how well the story is written.

Everyone's meters are calibrated a little differently for each of them. I've known some people who find any kind of porn including heterosexual porn icky despite being heterosexual themselves and who refuse to watch any of it. Similarly I suspect there are a lot of modern men who have no moral issues with homosexuality who find gay porn 'icky' and plenty of others who don't find it 'icky' but don't find it 'hot' either. (And of course plenty of others who indeed have a 'moral' objection to it). As a writer, you may put more value on the literary aspects of a story or as a person you may just have lower ickiness sensitivity for things outside your wheelhouse. I don't necessarily feel that's its much of pity that people want to read the erotica they want to read.

Of course, its when both Hotness and Ickiness are off the charts at the same time that things become pyschologically interesting....

 

[EarlyMorningLight]

Of course, its when both Hotness and Ickiness are off the charts at the same time that things become pyschologically interesting....

Ha! I’ve got a story going up tonight that pushes far into this space. I think it’s going to get some… interesting responses.

I get what you’re saying about different levels of calibration for different people. And I’m not going to fault anyone for saying “X isn’t really my jam.” I’d just like to think that in a slightly better world than the one we have, those preferences wouldn’t spill over into sex negativity, especially in a space that’s meant to celebrate sexuality in a variety of expressions.

 

[TheRedChamber]

Ha! I’ve got a story going up tonight that pushes far into this space. I think it’s going to get some… interesting responses.

I get what you’re saying about different levels of calibration for different people. And I’m not going to fault anyone for saying “X isn’t really my jam.” I’d just like to think that in a slightly better world than the one we have, those preferences wouldn’t spill over into sex negativity, especially in a space that’s meant to celebrate sexuality in a variety of expressions.

I don't think anyone's really being sex negative - it's just that it's hard to sell any kind of erotic work on-line and those who have more experience than me seem to think the best shot is to keep things thematically unified and say its a market reality.

I've tended to mix up different kinks or scenarios in my writing (stories where swingers rub shoulders with first timers and the swingers swing and the first timers first time and everyone lives happily ever after, just not in the same bed). Sometimes it goes down well, other times people are seem unreasonably pissed about it...

I'll look out for your story later (or in appoximately 6 minutes...)

 

[ElectricBlue]

I don't think anyone's really being sex negative - it's just that it's hard to sell any kind of erotic work on-line and those who have more experience than me seem to think the best shot is to keep things thematically unified and say its a market reality.

Even this site, where it's all free, exhibits an astonishing Balkanisation and with it, an out of category squick factor where people are quite content to comment against, and down vote, content they don't like, versus simply moving on. In that sense, there is a "sex negativity", or at least, a "sex immaturity".

I for one don't get that behaviour. I'd have thought adults reading adult content would be quite capable of back-clicking when they find something contrary to their taste, but judging by the number of moans we see, apparently not.

And without doubt, it can make category selection unnecessarily tedious. Or one just digs in and ignores the wowsers, because really, that's what those people are.

 

[TheRedChamber]

Even this site, where it's all free, exhibits an astonishing Balkanisation and with it, an out of category squick factor where people are quite content to comment against, and down vote, content they don't like, versus simply moving on. In that sense, there is a "sex negativity", or at least, a "sex immaturity".

I for one don't get that behaviour. I'd have thought adults reading adult content would be quite capable of back-clicking when they find something contrary to their taste, but judging by the number of moans we see, apparently not.

And without doubt, it can make category selection unnecessarily tedious. Or one just digs in and ignores the wowsers, because really, that's what those people are.

Sorry, I meant 'no one on the thread' is being sex negative. Obviously there are quite a few sections of the site with massive negative energy.