Category conundrum

[PennameWombat]

I have an upcoming submission I'm holding for after the Geek Pride rush since it doesn't fit that. But I have a conundrum about category. About 40,000 words but there isn't a huge amount of sexual content, more erotic content, but more plot, etc. for the bulk of it.

Main character is a woman (30s) who's now a police officer but had been a high school teacher. Sequel to my Halloween 2019 story (A Tale of Two Parties). Joyce Shaw, main character, has a one night stand with her former (male) student she encountered at the (second) party and we open there.

He disappears. The plot is then her pursuing what happened along with trying to get to the bottom of why the Church burned down (in the Halloween story.)

She attends an orgy and some sex happens around her but she's looking for a person, finds her to get some answers about the fire and possibly the disappearance. Some other characters in a later section are involved in exhibitionism but not Joyce. Finally, she has a sexual encounter with another younger man (hmm, she seems to have a thing for younger guys...)

None of these specific points seem dominant enough to be attractive to specific categories. The orgy happens around her, she's not involved, so Group readers would likely be disappointed. The Exhibitionism is also other characters in a subsequent section. There is a SciFi element but it only shows up near the end, but this aspect of it ties to some of my other stories in a shared universe.

I guess it might also fit in Mature. Both her encounters are with younger guys. But again, the encounters bookend the story rather than run through it. But, she does think about this aspect of her personality (she's 31-36 over the course of the story, both of her sexual encounters the guys are 21, although five years apart.)

I've never submitted to Novels & Novellas, so no clear idea of the readership there. But that's another thought I've had for this since it's plot and character focused.

Thanks for listening.

 

[lovecraft68]

My guess would be erotic couplings which is kind of a catch all. The readership isn't huge, but better than novels and novellas.

 

[gordo12]

As far as I know the mature features 40-50 onward or May December type of relationships. 30/21 sounds too young.

 

[RejectReality]

As far as I know the mature features 40-50 onward or May December type of relationships. 30/21 sounds too young.

It's not in the sweet spot of the demographic, but that's enough of a distance to catch at least a slim majority of the readership. The upper range of 35 given is much closer, but 31 isn't out of the question. The age-difference just needs to be a prevalent element.

That's just whether the encounters will scratch the readership's itch, though. I don't know how they'll receive a middle chapter of an ongoing story.

 

[Bramblethorn]

My guess would be erotic couplings which is kind of a catch all. The readership isn't huge, but better than novels and novellas.

Seconded. Doesn't sound like a strong fit for any of the more specific categories.

 

[SimonDoom]

Sounds like you've got the story pretty well in hand, and that it's sufficiently done that you are confident about being able to submit it when you want to. So here's my suggestion:

Review your story very carefully with an eye toward tightening up its erotic focus. Not everybody thinks this way, but this is the way I think, and I think it helps toward an erotic story's success: give it a unifying erotic focus. What's MOST erotic to YOU about this story? Once you figure that out, go through the story again and revise it to add things that give it more of a unifying focus. It may have many different erotic elements, but what are the most important elements? If it doesn't have a focus, that's a sign that maybe it could be improved to give it one. Sounds like you have time to work on it and improve this aspect of the story.

But there's no one right answer. It's whatever the focus is to you that matters.

I would say this: avoid erotic couplings if you can, because it's an unfocused category. Mature is a good category. So is exhibitionism. But you may need to work on your story so that every part of the story ties together and serves whatever the focus is that you want to give it.

Avoid Novels, too. 40,000 words isn't too long for other categories.

 

[PennameWombat]

Sounds like you've got the story pretty well in hand, and that it's sufficiently done that you are confident about being able to submit it when you want to. So here's my suggestion:

Review your story very carefully with an eye toward tightening up its erotic focus. Not everybody thinks this way, but this is the way I think, and I think it helps toward an erotic story's success: give it a unifying erotic focus. What's MOST erotic to YOU about this story? Once you figure that out, go through the story again and revise it to add things that give it more of a unifying focus. It may have many different erotic elements, but what are the most important elements? If it doesn't have a focus, that's a sign that maybe it could be improved to give it one. Sounds like you have time to work on it and improve this aspect of the story.

But there's no one right answer. It's whatever the focus is to you that matters.

Thanks, Simon, I appreciate the advice. I'm tweaking to tighten and enhance the Exhibitionist & Voyeur content, since that's the erotic part that flows through. It's not my main character, but since she does work in Vice she tends to come into contact with the right kind of people...

And with the Geek Pride rush I have a couple of days to touch it up. Let the waves settle a bit

I would say this: avoid erotic couplings if you can, because it's an unfocused category. Mature is a good category. So is exhibitionism. But you may need to work on your story so that every part of the story ties together and serves whatever the focus is that you want to give it.

Avoid Novels, too. 40,000 words isn't too long for other categories.

Yeah, I failed to mention in my opening statement I'd thought about Erotic Couplings but preferred to avoid it. I released a couple of my early stories there before I was more used to the categories. I end up in NonHuman and Erotic Horror as well as E&V and SciFi&F as a rule.

In another thread some time ago I had the discussion around Mature, and I've run through this before. I ended up using Fetish instead in that other case and that story has stayed 'Hot' since its release. But in that previous story my 'older woman' was on the 'young' side for the category and here even more so.

And it wasn't so much the length why I thought Novels, I just released a SciFi&F story of 70,000 words, it was more the lack of a singular erotic focus and the lack of any 'trump' content like I/T or NonConsent. But thanks for the the thoughtful writeup.

 

[PennameWombat]

It's not in the sweet spot of the demographic, but that's enough of a distance to catch at least a slim majority of the readership. The upper range of 35 given is much closer, but 31 isn't out of the question. The age-difference just needs to be a prevalent element.

That's just whether the encounters will scratch the readership's itch, though. I don't know how they'll receive a middle chapter of an ongoing story.

Yup, that was my thinking as well, too young. Thanks!

As to the middle story, the first one was in Erotic Horror, mainly due to a sex cult performing (well, planning to perform, they were thwarted) a human sacrifice. But that element is missing from this entry, well, other than the fact that it's discussed. But not to the point I could force this entry into that same category.

 

[Ginlover]

I'd suggest EC
I know someone who submitted a mature 46 man and 23 to girl. It was not put in mature instead got put in bdsm
So I wouldn't try under 50 in mature as the site dont support that either

 

[ElectricBlue]

I'd suggest EC
I know someone who submitted a mature 46 man and 23 to girl. It was not put in mature instead got put in bdsm
So I wouldn't try under 50 in mature as the site dont support that either

That was probably more down to the content than the age gap.

I've got a story cycle running in Mature that, if you read it without knowing anything else of mine, doesn't establish ages at all - but went into that category because that's where I wanted it to go.

People overthink the age gap thing, I reckon.

On this one, though, it sounds like Simon's suggestion focused the OP into E&V, so it's all a bit academic.