Can yo umake money writing erotica/porn?

[Wildfire427]

I was just curious if anyone here makes money writing erotica or porn?

I would be interested in a sometime/part-time situation but I'm not sure it is worth the trouble. I have seen web sites that advertise books on the subject and would rather have the opinion of someone that has been there and done that.

I spend so much time in front of the computer, it would be nice to make a little money at it if possible. Any help or thoughts are appreciated.

 

[peachykeen]

yeah, i'd like to know tha answer to this too.

 

[its Leslie]

You can make money doing anything.

It always comes down to "how important is it to you?"

I am not concerned about money, but then it's not important to me.

If I wanted to make money writing porn or science text books fr that matter though, first I would have a journalism course under my belt (because we never know all the tricks of some trades until we are taught, and occasionally it's worth it).

Then I would assume it was work, and behave as such ie you have to say "I write between 10 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon" and actually make it happen. This also means expecting others around you to treat your "work time" as if you were at work.

Now whether it is porn or science text books, if it is done seriously, it will bring income. It won't always be a book, it might be a feature for a magazine.

But I don't suspect there is any money in Erotica, unless you really want cash seriously. I can't see it being profitable in the part time sense of the word.

 

[Guest]

Personalized-Custom stories

When searching the net for erotica, I have stumbled upon many sites that offer custom written stories for a price, one author even offered, for an additional fee, to have the work printed, bound and shipped to any address you requested. Perhaps you might test the water of your potential audience by posting a story at Lit or Chyoo and asking for critiques before commiting yourself to the expenses of a webpage.....Best of luck though however you pursue your dreams.....

 

[takingchances42]

You can make money doing anything.

It always comes down to "how important is it to you?"

(snip)

If I wanted to make money writing porn or science text books fr that matter though, first I would have a journalism course under my belt (because we never know all the tricks of some trades until we are taught, and occasionally it's worth it).

(snip)

Now whether it is porn or science text books, if it is done seriously, it will bring income. It won't always be a book, it might be a feature for a magazine.

I would say that it first comes down to how good you are at it. Looking at what professional editors say about slush pile submissions -- only about 1% of the writers who complete and submit manuscripts are actually good enough where strangers are likely to spend money and be entertained by a writer's mind and words for hours on end. Considerably less than 1% of slush pile submissions are published, if you are looking at novels submitted to major publishing houses (or those left that will look at unagented submissions). Obviously, talent is not enough, hard work is required as well. But the idea that hard work as a writer will necessarily bring income? Not in my opinion, no way.

Journalism courses are probably the last thing you want to take if you want to make it writing erotic fiction. Sure, it is all about words and writing, but you would be better off taking creative writing courses. Or better yet, doing field research...

Just my opinions...

 

[Dolma Kalem]

I don't know the answer to the question. But it's probably a long term goal for many of us.

If anyone would like to form a project group, with this as it's goal, then I'd like to be included. Conversely, if anyone thinks that its a good idea, but doesn't want to lead it. I'd be happy to give it a go.

Dolma's tales




Come In
www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=57083

Office games
www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=40866

Contract End
www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=40872

 

[deliciously_naughty]

http://www.erotica-writers.com/

The above link lists submission guidelines as well as rate of pay for erotic stories to various magazines, publishers, etc.

I think the bottom line is that you won't get rich writing erotica. Hell, you may not even make rent...but wouldn't it be cool just to see your work in something? For me that would be enough, although I'm certainly not going to complain if Playgirl throws $100 my way.

 

[Monazwx]

I think one should be able to make a few dollars writing porn stories. I mean, if porn sites charge their members for stories in their membership, then there should be some kind of lump sum payment or kickbacks included from that right?

How do sites like Taboostories.com compensate their writers? They charge about $25 per month for their services, writers should be getting something. Anyway, that's something to look into . . .

If you find out anything more, please share.

 

[its Leslie]

Web sites that charge for the use of their site are merely doing what works.

If your audience is based on a population of serveral hundred million, then it is only basic math, that you need only the merest fraction to make say a few hundred bucks a day.

Take the average job as an example. At 10 bucks an hour, for an 8 hour day, that's 80 bucks. So if you can bring in 80 bucks with a common money making notion, you have equalled the same rate of pay of an average job.

Personally, that would suffice for me. My life exists on 1300 bucks (Canadian) a month. I eat well, dress acceptable, have a nice place (rent is ordinary), I can indulge a net hi speed service, I have a family as well.

You don't have to get rich to live.

Now writing is like a lot of pursuits. If everyone i s doing it, then you need an edge. No edge and you won't be all that successful.
I have done woodworking. So has every other able bodied male in the neighbourhood it seems some days.
If you don't have something new to offer, odds are you will be supporting yourself some other way while indulging writing.

I mentioned Journalism earlier. Probably a bit hasty picking out Journalism by name. My brother went through a Journalism course. He is now a sports editor for a large newspaper. I highly doubt that he would have that job today if he had omitted the Journalism course.
Not sure Journalism is bang on useful for writing erotica. But a formal writing course in inescapable. Even though a lot of major writing books advocate forgetting what you are taught, and wroiting what you know, it never hurts to have a thorough exposure to the basics. Then you can go assuming that you know it all.

Anytime something involves money, people are going to want that annoying documentation, that says you are worth their time.

You know, and I know, that it doesn't end there, but it is hard to get anywhere if it doesn't begin there.

I have looked, every major best selling author explains on the dust jacket where they got their "formal" education. That is the only evidence I need to point to. And a best selling author saying they got a start in a formal writng education, is hard to contradict.

 

[SlickTony]

Clean Sheets pays $50 for fiction. I've gotten compliments from them, but no money to date.

 

[Guest]

Looking for stories to purchase

I am willing to look at a sample piece of your work, pay is neg.
E-mail me at cwjd13@yahoo.com, if interested.


Drache Media Group

 

[Monazwx]

its Leslie, I hope you're wrong.

One of the reasons I love writing so much is that all one needs is talent and the love of sharing ideas with people. There are many writers who have no formal training, but are able to reach many people through their words. If one needs a degree, documentation or whatever to justify that they should be paid, or to succeed then I'm knee-deep in hot water.

 

[takingchances42]

Most best-selling novelists do not have English or Journalism degrees. Of my favorite novelists (which is a different category), even fewer have degrees in the area. Unless your academic credentials are germane to the particular subject of the novel, it is questionable whether they should even be listed in a submission cover letter.

Previous works are a different matter. Of course, the rules are different for non-fiction.

I'm with you, Mona, talent and hard work are what matters. There is a lot to be said for English & Journalism courses, community college creative writing courses, and writer's groups -- but for learning, not to become "credentialed".

 

[its Leslie]

Well to put another slant on things....

Lets see my wife needed a stone removed from a saliva gland. It has been 4 visits to the same fucked useless surgeon and now she has decided to resolve her troubles with another surgeon.
Clearly a degree on a wall can mean something, but then maybe not.

I have a friend that has 4 degrees (he has no proof but I trust him). Then again one is a degree in Theology (waste of paper).
You can talk all day about Theology knowledgably, and still have wasted the whole day "expertly" talking about a lot of dogmatic bullshit.
Therefore a degree doesn't automatically give you something worthy of comment.

My brother was the top first year Journalism student in his course in college. The jobs came looking for him! But still, he had to put in his time in some schlock jobs before he ended where he is today. He KNOWS how to write, but I am sure he writes in his own style.
Still you write better with the comfortable sense of confidence gained from formal training. There is always time after the training to break every rule.

Me I am self taught in almost everything I know. I have nothing, not a single scrap of documentation for anything.
I can talk competently on physics, astronomy, geology, criminology, planetology, climatology, archeology, military science, woodworking, teaching....as well as writing.
But I have had no small number of people tell me "Leslie if you don't have the documentation, then none of it means shit".

On a different line of thinking. Once I wanted to be a cabinetmaker. I was all set to do the apprenticeship thing. I started looking around for a woodworker that could apprentice me. There were none out there zero zip nadda.
I worked for a lad (that was a few years yonger than me), for a time in my early 20's. He told me he had asked 32 successful woodworkers about apprenticing, and everyone was unable to fill that role. None of them had their papers either.
The response was a uniform "if you suck, you won't sell bugger all".

So there you have it.

Formal education, it matters to a lot of people, it doesn't ensure a damn thing. It's only good for personal confidence in the end, and you can get a self taught education that will work just as well in most cases.

I still advocate getting some formal writing courses if you actually "need" to make cash writing. But in the end, if you suck, you won't sell squat.

 

[Sabledrake]

I'd always intended to go the classic route: major in English, then teach to support myself until I was making money from my writing.

But I changed my mind and went for a degree in Psychology instead, while still taking creative writing courses along the way. For me, at least, that worked better. Having an understanding of motivation and behavior to help with developing characters and storylines, for instance.

And that psych degree did let me land a job to pay the bills while also giving me the time to write (night shift; unless things really hit the fan, I can count on a good five or six hours of writing time a night and I get paid, too <g>)

Sabledrake