how.. does one graduate from amateur to pro

[Amanda_T]

in writing erotica?

I seem to have a wonderfully naughty mind, as well as a good command of the language, either the American or Canadian version, and unlike some of my other artistic endeavours people seem to like what I write. At least within the genre. And I enjoy it.

I am wondering what one has to do to become first, a published kinky erotica writer, and second, what one must do to become a successful kinky erotica writer.

Anyone know anything about it? I mean I know it kind of violates the idea this site is based on, which is free amateur erotica but I don't have much going on right now to create an income so I am considering the proposition.

 

[tomc55]

Writing

in writing erotica?

I seem to have a wonderfully naughty mind, as well as a good command of the language, either the American or Canadian version, and unlike some of my other artistic endeavours people seem to like what I write. At least within the genre. And I enjoy it.

I am wondering what one has to do to become first, a published kinky erotica writer, and second, what one must do to become a successful kinky erotica writer.

Anyone know anything about it? I mean I know it kind of violates the idea this site is based on, which is free amateur erotica but I don't have much going on right now to create an income so I am considering the proposition.

There are a few different ways. there are books on amazon, there are dozens of blogs, you can sell publish on amazon. Classes in colleges.

 

[Primalex]

in writing erotica?

I seem to have a wonderfully naughty mind, as well as a good command of the language, either the American or Canadian version, and unlike some of my other artistic endeavours people seem to like what I write. At least within the genre. And I enjoy it.

I am wondering what one has to do to become first, a published kinky erotica writer, and second, what one must do to become a successful kinky erotica writer.

Find a publisher. For this you need a book proposal. This is basically a business plan - the proposal has to convince the person with the money to spend it and time - on you. The core is showing why there is money to be made with your book and that you know what you are doing. So the proposal needs to answer stuff like
- what your book will be about
- why you are the one who should write it
- why it is a good time to write it now and publish it next year

If you get stuck writing the proposal, because you have no good answer, the next step is doing whatever is necessary to have a good answer.

 

[Amanda_T]

thanks

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Do the above or be so good that fame comes looking for you. I'm serious. If your wares are THAT good fame will stalk you.

And to be THAT good you gotta practice, practice, practice till your stuff sparkles and dazzles.

I suggest you collect 10 stories and dissect them for what works and what doesn't. Remove all the baggage so the sex is plain and obvious, then list all the sentences, noting whats flat and boring, and what gives you a tingle. Save the sentences that work, and discard the rest, until you have a large pile of reference material to play with.

Then invent some interesting plots with clever twists to surprise and delight readers.

Plagiarism is always bad for two reasons: its theft, and doing it doesn't make you a better writer than whoever wrote it. Your goal is to be better.

Create some clever titles and salt them away. Create some clever sub titles to draw readers in further.

 

[Amanda_T]

thanks but no. I already have one full time business that hasn't found much success yet. I didn't figure this would be an easy proposition but it is in a lot of ways like the music industry and frankly, I hate the business aspect of that, but no one else can do it but me. All I really wanted to do was write and get paid for it lol. I don't want to become deeply involved in a long long process and business that may or may not pay off in the end. Not another one anyway.

so thanks for the replies

 

[tomc55]

Finding a publisher is old school, they are disappering steadily and it limited your options.

 

[Amanda_T]

Finding a publisher is old school, they are disappering steadily and it limited your options.

and self publishing relies on the ability to self market and advertise in the appropriate venues.... which takes money, which is the thing i lack in the first place hahahahahahaha

cause just writing a well written work and making it available isn't enough if people never hear about it. in order for word of mouth to spread, it has to get a foothold somewhere with at least a small group of fans.

this i have learned from a do it yourself approach to music, and to be honest, without money to invest it's a shot in the dark.

 

[Touch_72]

Amanda...

I'm working through the writing process to kick off publication, too. I have a book in the works, but nothing out yet (even on this site). So, the following is just based off of what I've learned doing some looking around on the net and may be corrected by others. Something you will find, though, is that different writers have different approaches or ways of getting their stuff out there that they favorite, too.

The trend for erotica leans toward e-publishing and approaches that might work for other genres might not work as well for erotica. Two main ways authors seem to prefer to get their work out...

- Self publishing (you can find plenty on self publishing on the net)
- Net-based e-publishers like Ellora's Cave or Samhain (each of these does sometimes release works in paperback later... see their sites for policies on that)

Each of the above has its pro's and cons and it seems that different people have their preferences. A couple quick notes I've gleaned on that...

With self publishing, you have a bit more control over your work and where it's priced, plus you take a much larger royalty cut. On the flip side, you have to take care of everything yourself (cover art, promotion, etc etc) and consumers realize self publishers are hit and miss as far as quality because there is no vetting process to ensure well written / well edited work.

With e-publishers, they take care of some of the leg work you would have to do otherwise (cover art, in-house editors, etc) and since there is a selection process, readers may be a bit more assured they're going to get at least reasonable quality in their purchase. The downside is a delay of what seems like a few months as they work you through editing and prepare things for launch and when it's out, your royalties are obviously less per sale. You also need to work within their guidelines and allow for changes they feel would be best for the piece, so if you push certain boundaries, you may find requirements to notch that back.

The biggest thing I've seen said about becoming successful is: keep writing. "One hit wonders" are extremely rare. Those who make it in the business do so by building a following over time, which requires regularly putting something new out there. If someone picks up something you've written and it's interesting and written well, they'll go looking for other things you've written. When you find an author you like, don't you? Most of us do! So, it's more of a long haul commitment than an instant success story in the vast majority of cases.

I wish I could find it again for you, but there's a site out there that talks about how book sales are driven by so many little factors and that it's a matter of tweaking those little things until you find the right combination. Those things include the cover art, blurbs you've written about the book, price point... well, things like that. There's also a site out there that analyzed certain sales trends... what book lengths seemed to sell best for erotica statistically (I seem to recall it was novel length... something like 60k words) and what price point seemed to be the "new" sweet spot (I think it was $3.49, which is up from the $2.99 that seemed to work well before).

Again, though, those are just a few things I've gleaned from poking around the net to learn, myself, and I am no expert.

 

[Amanda_T]

Yes I read an article about self publishing by a moderately successful self published author. I also had a conversation with a successful self published author. my above statements stand.

 

[Amanda_T]

Frankly, as I said, I am not interested in another "quest" for success in a field that is new to me, even if my talent in it is more appreciated than my other talents lol. I neither have the energy, time, nor money, to invest in another such quest. I was just hoping, and knowingly in vain, that there was a simple, cheap, and easy path to make a little money doing it.

 

[glynndah]

You might want to stop by the AH and ask your question there.

 

[Touch_72]

Yes I read an article about self publishing by a moderately successful self published author. I also had a conversation with a successful self published author. my above statements stand.

I'm not trying to convince you of either, really. I don't think there's anything that says that you can't vary it down the road, too. If you start off with a publisher, then put some of that capital into self publishing, you can always do both and decide then what works best for you (or keep it varied).

Is it really that expensive, though? My impression is that you can find cheaper ways to do it. There are people out there who may be willing to edit as volunteers (of course, you'd need to find a good one) and likewise for cover art or if you have an artistic touch, you might be able to do it yourself with a good camera and willing subjects (if it includes people), though yes... you'd probably want the software and editing skills to make it look really good.

Marketing is something I understand all authors end up having to shoulder at least some of the legwork for. Even writers who work with places like EC or Samhain find they need to blog and social network for the added sales. But, that's time invested, not money... and if it's not something you're willing to do, are you really looking to succeed? Or are you looking for success on a silver platter without much effort involved?

My impression has been that the only place you really need to shell out a lot of cash up front with self publishing is if you're putting your work up for print copy with a vanity press or print-on-demand.

Those out there going the self-pub route... am I right or am I talking out of my butt here?

 

[Primalex]

Frankly, as I said, I am not interested in another "quest" for success in a field that is new to me, even if my talent in it is more appreciated than my other talents lol. I neither have the energy, time, nor money, to invest in another such quest. I was just hoping, and knowingly in vain, that there was a simple, cheap, and easy path to make a little money doing it.

All simple, cheap and easy paths to making money revolve around giving humans something to satisfy one of the cardinal sins of wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, or gluttony - and asking money for it.