How did you become a published Erotic Fiction writer?

[Thematterisclosed]

And before anyone asks, there is no grand plan to become a full-time EF writer. But since I enjoy writing in other areas, and this one, I thought I would ask some of the people here who make money from it:

1. What did you do to get published (I mean, is it just self-publishing through Amazon or is there an inner circle of small publishers for quality stories?)?
2. How do you find writing it? Is it the plot that gives you trouble, or the coming up with "new" sex scenes?

 

[sr71plt]

I responded four times to publishers through my stories here on Literotica. Two were publishers buying selected stories from my file here on online story Web sites. Both of those publishers paid but didn't last long. The third publisher was a regular Lit. writer and poster, who put the publishing house eXcessica together, initially from interested/invited Lit. writers. That house is still going and I still have erotica books with it. The fourth publisher, BarbarianSpy, was started up by the Lit. author who suggested that I post stories at Lit. to begin with and then opened a publishing house which is still going.

 

[lovecraft68]

Saw other people were doing it and went with the "why not me?" Process.

I've self published for three years and it is a lot of head aches and hassles because you're dealing with everything from editing to formatting to covers etc...uploading to each site per their specifications (and some are a major PIA) keeping track of what site allows what content....

Then a few months ago I was approached by a publisher who was interested in my BDSM series. I exchanged a few e-mails with them then had a phone conversation. Slept on it a couple of days and said thanks, but no thanks. I didn;t feel what they could do for me was worth coughing up a percentage and the nail in the coffin was when the words contract and exclusive came out of their mouths.

Hey if it was a major publisher that would be one thing, but a small one, not so much.

 

[R. Richard]

After many, many attempts, I found a publisher that would publish my stories. I did okay with sales. I then found Amazon and self published there, I also found Smashwords and self published there. Later, I found Taboo and Andrews in England. I have become a very small time publisher in Smashwords. Then I found Carnal Pleasures. I now sell more.

 

[bronzeage]

Once I had my book in publishable form, I submitted to the house which had accepted my other short stories. The editor was kind but said they couldn't handle the subject, because it was not suitable for their readers. I went back and worked on certain parts, and was rejected again. I changed the title, made more revisions and shopped it to other publishers. It was rejected by all. Most had kind words, along the lines of "well written,"and such but said they couldn't touch it. One sent me an email less than 45 minutes later. She was rather rude.

I decided to go with smashwords, which meant creating my own cover art and formatting it to smashwords specification. It was put in the smashwords premium catalog, which means it was listed on Amazon and several other e-book retailers. I had no effective way of promoting it, so sales were disappointing.

Finally, I submitted it to a publishing house that does e-books and paper publishing. It was accepted and I worked with a professional editor for a couple months. She suggested small changes, which included dropping a few scenes she thought did not contribute to the story line. I didn't argue. I've done enough editing to realize an impartial eye is a very valuable thing for a writer. The book should be released sometime in the next month or so.

 

[NaokoSmith]

This is my blogpost on self-publishing. I figured that would be a good way to start, as I could show any interested publishers the feedback and stats from my stuff. But I had too much fun on here so I forgot to go on to publishers.

http://feministeroticawriters.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/where-to-publish-your-hot-stuff.html

The other day I got 26p from the sales of a book on Amazon Kindle! I'm still thinking about what to spend it on. I would earn a lot more from my werewolf story - the downloads on it since it was labelled 'depraved filth' by a disgusted reader have been phenomenal. But it's available free because I wrote it for a larf and in order to learn about writing.

(I think Smashwords work slightly differently since I wrote my blogpost; the post still might be helpful to you.)

 

[NaokoSmith]

And before anyone asks, there is no grand plan to become a full-time EF writer. But since I enjoy writing in other areas, and this one, I thought I would ask some of the people here who make money from it:

1. What did you do to get published (I mean, is it just self-publishing through Amazon or is there an inner circle of small publishers for quality stories?)?
2. How do you find writing it? Is it the plot that gives you trouble, or the coming up with "new" sex scenes?

Just to add, welcome to the board. There is a lot of fun and word-games on here, however as you can see, you can also get good answers to serious writing questions. Best to post a separate thread for each question.

Re. the writing, different strokes for different folks. Some people find the story just pours out of the pen, sex and all. Some take months to put together their next chapter, while their fans post plaintive comments begging for an update.

There be trolls in these waters! but they are much more intelligent than other chat room trolls, so don't be surprised if you get bitten on the bum, just larf it off and put it down to experience. Do not post stories in Loving Wives without coming in here for advice first .

 

[geronimo_appleby]

i got approached by 2 (genuine) publishers as a result of submissions here. 1 paid extremely well, in my estimation anyway, the other wasn't so generous with remuneration.

the more generous organisation sent outlines which i then fleshed out (no pun ) the other i had to come up with the ideas myself - concentrated on cheating, swinging or incest 3000-5000 words.

i'd be happy to share details via pm.

 

[Thematterisclosed]

Oh wow, that got a lot of replies. Guess I need to have a sit down and think about how serious I am about this. I mean people have always told me they like my "work", but it is an ameutar thing I do from time to time. I write on other topics, so I know how much work goes into getting something published. I will take a look at what everyone said and do some thinking.

 

[3113]

Same as others here. I got approached by an e-publishers (who also put out the books in paper). There are quite a few e-publishers out there (some good, some not so good) who are hungry for material and if your work fits into what they want to put out, they'll send you a message asking if they can publish you. I'd advise, however, that you do some research. Check here to see if others have had experiences with said publishers, and read a book or two that they've put out.

A lot of these erotic e-publishers are fly-by-night. They may not edit stories, thus leaving your stories with terrible mistakes that make you look bad (they pay out nothing for editors, slap on cheap covers, get as much as they can, then leave you with not much). Or they may give you what looks like a great deal, but it means they can't sustain themselves and will go very quickly out of business. Or they may give you some weird deal that gives them the rights and you have trouble getting those rights back.

One publisher I had, who was legitimate for a while, started embezzling the money and there were complaints from authors, cover artists, etc. about not getting paid. The whole company came crashing down real quick. Which was sad as they were doing pretty good (probably why she embezzled. If they hadn't been doing so well, she might not have been tempted...).

So as "easy" as it sounds from us saying, "we were propositioned and found fame and money" it's not so easy. And before you quit your day job, know that in most cases you're not going to get that much and you're not going to get it right away. Just FYI. On the other hand, it is nice to have one's stories out there with a cover and to be getting vacation money back.

 

[Thematterisclosed]

Yeah, thanks for the advice. No, I have no illusions about making this a full-time thing. Just vanity I guess, I want to see somthing I do go into print, even if its just for a few people. To everyone who left links or said to PM them, I will, but I want to get one or two more stories published before I follow this up. It sounds like something that is only worth doing if you have time, experience and patience, and at the moment I have two out of three.

 

[sr71plt]

If you'd like some information on how/where to get started, I have a "how-to" essay on Literotica that you might find useful: http://www.literotica.com/s/some-whys-and-hows-of-e-publishing

 

[LadyVer]

If you'd like some information on how/where to get started, I have a "how-to" essay on Literotica that you might find useful: http://www.literotica.com/s/some-whys-and-hows-of-e-publishing

Good essay you wrote. I enjoy reading Konrath's blog. Do you read The Passive Voice blog?

 

[Thematterisclosed]

Many thanks

Wow, thats great. Actually, this has inspired me to throw a story together about a character who is an erotic fiction writer, so even if nothing else comes of it, you have gotten a story out of it! I will read the links again and refresh. Many thanks.

 

[loquere]

Daemons.

 

[nomoretears00]

I was approached by a publishers after my first submissions here too. They've since gone out of business, but that gave me the push to submit to Dreamspinner Press (M/M publisher). They're my main publisher now.