How to get readers over to patreon

[IllyHymen]

I've posting my books to Literotica since December. The first chapter of my first book has over 10,000 views, almost all the chapters of my two completed novels have a hot rating, and I have 67 followers. My problem is that zero people have come over to patreon from literotica. I think it's a little ridiculous that I can't leave a link to my patreon page at the end of my stories. It stifles the ability of an author to monetize their work, thus creating less content. The link to my patreon is the first thing mentioned in my bio, but other than that I have no idea how to get people to visit my patreon page.
Has anyone here had any success in getting readers over to patreon?

 

[KeithD]

I'm surprised that Lit. doesn't just erase your call to go over to a competitor.

 

[Saint_Ann]

I've posting my books to Literotica since December. The first chapter of my first book has over 10,000 views, almost all the chapters of my two completed novels have a hot rating, and I have 67 followers. My problem is that zero people have come over to patreon from literotica. I think it's a little ridiculous that I can't leave a link to my patreon page at the end of my stories. It stifles the ability of an author to monetize their work, thus creating less content. The link to my patreon is the first thing mentioned in my bio, but other than that I have no idea how to get people to visit my patreon page.
Has anyone here had any success in getting readers over to patreon?

Is that a new kind of tequila?

 

[Pookie]

I've posting my books to Literotica since December. The first chapter of my first book has over 10,000 views, almost all the chapters of my two completed novels have a hot rating, and I have 67 followers. My problem is that zero people have come over to patreon from literotica. I think it's a little ridiculous that I can't leave a link to my patreon page at the end of my stories. It stifles the ability of an author to monetize their work, thus creating less content. The link to my patreon is the first thing mentioned in my bio, but other than that I have no idea how to get people to visit my patreon page.
Has anyone here had any success in getting readers over to patreon?

Lit should allow your links to another site on pages that they host paid advertisers links?

 

[rae121452]

um, gosh, this isn't a "subtle" way to do that, right?

 

[IllyHymen]

there has to be some way to let readers know I have a patreon besides putting it in my bio which I would bet 99% of readers never see. At this point they're not really providing any kind of service for me but I've generated tens of thousands of hits for them.

 

[Aglaopheme]

Buy Lit and post what you like. You get what you pay for.

 

[rae121452]

better yet, buy patreon and refer readers to this site.

 

[OldJourno]

I wrote a book here, went back and deleted pretty much all the posts while copying over the verbiage to Word, edited and added and edited and added, then put it up on Amazon where it was an instant smash.
Last time I checked I sold maybe 10 copies, all to immediate family members.

 

[NoRefundUK]

Lit should allow your links to another site on pages that they host paid advertisers links?

Pookie, speaking of Patreon, I hope you consider setting one up. To my mind, if anyone deserves to rake in money for adult writing, it's you. There are a couple of adult writers who seem to be doing pretty nicely for themselves on the platform.

 

[NoRefundUK]

I've posting my books to Literotica since December. The first chapter of my first book has over 10,000 views, almost all the chapters of my two completed novels have a hot rating, and I have 67 followers. My problem is that zero people have come over to patreon from literotica. I think it's a little ridiculous that I can't leave a link to my patreon page at the end of my stories. It stifles the ability of an author to monetize their work, thus creating less content. The link to my patreon is the first thing mentioned in my bio, but other than that I have no idea how to get people to visit my patreon page.
Has anyone here had any success in getting readers over to patreon?

Illy Hymen, there is something odd about your Patreon. When I press the follow button, it takes me to the pledge page and if I don't make a pledge, it doesn't let me follow you. I don't know if this is a setting, a bug or some obnoxious new feature implemented by Patreon.

I may become a Patreon in the future, once I've had a chance to read your work, but if I can't follow you, I am likely to forget.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I've posting my books to Literotica since December. The first chapter of my first book has over 10,000 views, almost all the chapters of my two completed novels have a hot rating, and I have 67 followers. My problem is that zero people have come over to patreon from literotica.

Why should they, when they can read free smut here on Literotica?

I think you need a non Lit-based marketing strategy, like everyone else who has moved from Lit to the paying marketplace (or be like KeithD who brings his content from the market to Lit).

 

[ChloeTzang]

Why should they, when they can read free smut here on Literotica?

I think you need a non Lit-based marketing strategy, like everyone else who has moved from Lit to the paying marketplace (or be like KeithD who brings his content from the market to Lit).

I think others have commented that there's not a lot of crossover between Literotica and other reader channels like smartwords and Amazon. I'm trying to build up a presence on Wattpad with a different reader audience and I'm finding it a lot harder to get the exposure there than on Literotica. Haven't tried smashwords yet but that's coming. I'm not sure about Patreon. The whole building a wider readership thing is one there's no quick solution for in any case.

 

[SimonDoom]

Does anyone actually make significant money selling erotic stories on Patreon? Is it worth the effort?

Erotica is so widely available for free I would think it would be extremely difficult acquiring a sufficient readership willing to pay to make it worth it. But I don't know.

 

[Handley_Page]

I've posting my books to Literotica since December. The first chapter of my first book has over 10,000 views, almost all the chapters of my two completed novels have a hot rating, and I have 67 followers. My problem is that zero people have come over to patreon from literotica. I think it's a little ridiculous that I can't leave a link to my patreon page at the end of my stories. It stifles the ability of an author to monetize their work, thus creating less content. The link to my patreon is the first thing mentioned in my bio, but other than that I have no idea how to get people to visit my patreon page.
Has anyone here had any success in getting readers over to patreon?

That sounds to me like the desire for McD to host and advert campaign for Burger King or whoever.
But then, Literotica is surely a place to develop as an Author of short stories, not as a place where fa reader gets the first part free and then has to go elsewhere for the rest of the story - and at a cost ?
If an Author wishes to reap a financial reward for his/her work, perhaps finding an agent and a publisher might be more appropriate ?

 

[Vaylon]

Erotica is so widely available for free I would think it would be extremely difficult acquiring a sufficient readership willing to pay to make it worth it. But I don't know.

It is possible to make it worth it. As you said, though, the availability of free erotica does indeed push down prices overall.

 

[Bramblethorn]

there has to be some way to let readers know I have a patreon besides putting it in my bio which I would bet 99% of readers never see. At this point they're not really providing any kind of service for me but I've generated tens of thousands of hits for them.

1% of "tens of thousands" still sounds significantly better than nothing.

This sort of topic has been discussed many times before. The site owners appear to believe that the audience you get from Literotica, and the options that do exist here for plugging your commercial stuff (bio page, forum signature, this thread), are a fair trade for the hits they get.

(After all, how much is a hit worth? Probably 99% of readers never click on the ads that fund this site either.)

If you don't think that deal is fair, you're not obliged to take it, but I doubt they're going to change it.

 

[IllyHymen]

You can read my first two novels for free here on literotica to see if you genuinely enjoy my work. You don't have to subscribe to my patreon to find out if you like my work, I don'tn know how you got that idea.
The argument that there's so much erotica that it's impossible to monetize it is also a poor one. There is virtually unlimited free porn, but it's still a multi-billion dollar industry. A cute girl with a good webcam can make a living camming.
The most popular videogames in the world, fortnite, league of legends, arena of valor, dota, and hearthstone are all free yet there is still a colossal industry for pay to play videogames.
Just because there's a vast quantity of erotica doesn't mean people are unwilling to pay for it. What I see is, when you pay for erotica, you're more likely to finish reading the full novel. When you support authors you like, you get to see more quality erotica instead of digging for quality. A dollar a month is not some massive expense. If you buy 3 coffees in a week that's more than you'd spend all year on me. Basically, the premise is that you enjoyed an author's work and want to kick back something to them to show your appreciation. You in essence get to cut out the publishing industry and decide for yourself which authors get to be professionals and which ones get the acclaim they deserve. If you think the most popular novels of our time are garbage, and the publishing industry keeps pushing vapid crap from big names who have ghostwriters do their books, then you should support indie authors.
All I want is the means to make my readers aware of an opportunity to support me.
Edit:Also, I would never post erotica on wattpad. That site is just terrible. I got more views and followers in my first two days here than my first 3 months on wattpad. Ironically, both sites are tied for the amount of patrons I've received.

 

[RejectReality]

It takes WAY more for a camgirl to make even some decent pocket money nowadays than just good looks and some time.

The market is absolutely overflowing to the brim. Too many sites, and too many models.

Even a hot girl has to have a personality, a gimmick, the willingness to post nudes on social media as teases, ( and brief videos ) and put a lot of hours into it that aren't directly profitable ( i.e. not actually on cam — just advertising )

Most are also supplementing by selling custom videos via a site designed for exactly that.

Even the hard-working models in low cost of living areas don't generally make enough to live on. That's a complete pipe dream. It never was realistic, but at least back in the late 90's, early 00's, it was somewhat feasible — for a while.

Thinking you're going to break into the erotica market right now without a huge existing back catalogue to release on a frequent, regular basis for a while, in exchange for some minor profits is also a pipe dream.

The only erotica authors making money off Patreon are the ones posting one to two new stories per week ( not 1 Lit pagers, either ) or neverending serials.

Patreon is a production-first model. The moment you start slacking off, your fund stream dries up quicker than spit in hell.

 

[Handley_Page]

How to get readers over to patreon:
why?
Lit is free and provides a good range for readers.

there has to be some way to let readers know I have a patreon besides putting it in my bio which I would bet 99% of readers never see. At this point they're not really providing any kind of service for me but I've generated tens of thousands of hits for them.

Erm. . . put a trailer in your sig towards your bio ?

 

[ChloeTzang]

... Just because there's a vast quantity of erotica doesn't mean people are unwilling to pay for it. What I see is, when you pay for erotica, you're more likely to finish reading the full novel. When you support authors you like, you get to see more quality erotica instead of digging for quality. A dollar a month is not some massive expense. If you buy 3 coffees in a week that's more than you'd spend all year on me. Basically, the premise is that you enjoyed an author's work and want to kick back something to them to show your appreciation. You in essence get to cut out the publishing industry and decide for yourself which authors get to be professionals and which ones get the acclaim they deserve. If you think the most popular novels of our time are garbage, and the publishing industry keeps pushing vapid crap from big names who have ghostwriters do their books, then you should support indie authors.

All I want is the means to make my readers aware of an opportunity to support me

And there you have the dilemma that faces all Authors that want to make some sort of an income from writing. There's a whole industry out there geared to selling you courses and how to books on this. If it was that easy, that industry wouldn't exist and thousands of wannabe authors wouldn't be wrestling with the same question.

There's no easy way to convert Literotica readers into paying readers. Some will, if they like what you write. Literotica does not have any way of making that easier for you. Your signature and your profile and interaction with readers is about it. Patreon is a whole different story and you're committing yourself big time for not much money when you start there.

I guess my suggestion would be, every time you get a new follower or some y favorites one of your stories, contact them, thank them and let them know where else you are active and how they can find you and why they should. On the other hand the risk you take with that is chasing readers away..... tough call

 

[Pookie]

Pookie, speaking of Patreon, I hope you consider setting one up. To my mind, if anyone deserves to rake in money for adult writing, it's you. There are a couple of adult writers who seem to be doing pretty nicely for themselves on the platform.

Thanks! Maybe one day. I don't always have time to devote to writing, and that seems to be an integral part of developing a paid following. It could happen in the future, just not the foreseeable.

 

[jaF0]

At this point they're not really providing any kind of service for me ...

At this point, I believe you may be misunderstanding the purpose of this site.


(Hint, it's not to help direct readers elsewhere.)

 

[ChloeTzang]

At this point, I believe you may be misunderstanding the purpose of this site.

(Hint, it's not to help direct readers elsewhere.)

And you'll note Wattpad is much the same. Their author profile functionality is similar to Literotica. These sites are traffic-driven and pointing viewers elsewhere isn't going to help them. The service they provide us as Authors is a venue with a lot of readers where we can post stories and get more views than pretty much anywhere else on the web. How you take it from there is on each of us as authors if we have ambitions beyond Literotica. But on Literotica there really is no easy way. You got to build your followers across different platforms.

 

[KindofHere]

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