I am Looking to Publish...genuine advice and readers sought

[real_first_time]

Hello!
I need your help. I have published stories with literotica under the name real_first_time.
I removed all my submissions about 6 months ago...actually they did pretty well and im sure their removal confused alot of people but I was considering something a little more ambitious.

I am part way into completion a full length novel...what i would describe as an intense sexual thriller. That label doesnt quite do it justice but it's the closest term i could come up with.

I've always been fascinated with metamorphoses and descent....you clould say that the novel is about this but that would be over simplifying what i believe is actually a quite complex novel.

I need to know a few things....im willing to share the first 4 parts (approximately 23,000 words)
with people who i trust to give good advice....a range of people..males and females.

Im interested in hearing from people who have actually published if that is possible (in actual print or e-book form)

My novel is called 'Finding Amy'.
It's a fine line....I believe the novel is too complex to be considered an erotic story but ....the question is ...is it too graphic in parts to be a mainstream novel?.....i don't know the answer to that( hell if Brett Easton Ellis can publish 'american Psycho then anything is possible)...i dont believe any of the sexual content is gratuitious...i belive it serves the story....it is supposed to be gripping and take people and a dangerous journey.

My email address is xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I am interested to hear from suitbale people who want to give good advice and help an author get published (if they like what they see)....for those I trust and are willing to help I will send the first four parts of the novel by e-mail in pdf form but there is much to discuss before that happens...if you honestly want to help then i want to hear from you.

Sincerely...William.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I can't help with your search for beta readers, but perhaps I can help you with your other quandary.

My opinion is that a novel can be called an erotic novel if the erotic elements are important to the plot, or develop the characters for the reader. If it falls into any other genres as well, then it's an erotic genre novel.

Does that help?

 

[real_first_time]

Well in that case, using that definition..'Finding Amy' is an erotic novel.

 

[lovecraft68]

Well in that case, using that definition..'Finding Amy' is an erotic novel.

I'm thinking by the title, this is a type of BDSM piece?

Oh, BTW you may want to remove your e-mail address from your post. That's not allowed for some reason.

 

[real_first_time]

To call it BDSM would perhaps be over simplifying things....there are elements there...obsession and descent....the dissaperance of a close friend and an ordeal to be endured....psychological as much as physical....erotic thriller perhaps...if im asked by staff to remove the address i will...but i really do need beta readers to contact me.

 

[lovecraft68]

...there are elements there...obsession and descent.... an ordeal to be endured....psychological as much as physical....erotic thriller

So ummm, bdsm.

What you can do is put your e-mail in your user profile. Click user CP and it gives you an option to set it up, I think, its been awhile.

People can also request it through a PM and you can send it that way. I don;t think the rule makes since, but its their rule.

 

[TxRad]

To call it BDSM would perhaps be over simplifying things....there are elements there...obsession and descent....the dissaperance of a close friend and an ordeal to be endured....psychological as much as physical....erotic thriller perhaps...if im asked by staff to remove the address i will...but i really do need beta readers to contact me.

Ask them to PM you and then give them your address. The site could well take you completely down as a spammer. Just a word of advise.

 

[_Lynn_]

To call it BDSM would perhaps be over simplifying things....there are elements there...obsession and descent....the dissaperance of a close friend and an ordeal to be endured....psychological as much as physical....erotic thriller perhaps...if im asked by staff to remove the address i will...but i really do need beta readers to contact me.

The site has guidelines.

4. We do not allow phone numbers, email addresses, private messages or quotes from private emails to be posted on the forum.

 

[real_first_time]

no worries..will remove address....submitting novel direct to an online publisher..will see what the response is

 

[real_first_time]

Well i did it....i leap frogged the whole beta reader phase and just submitted the first 4 parts of my book to and e-publisher of erotic novels.

LET THE REJECTION PROCESS BEGIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[real_first_time]

Have gone ahead and posted the first four parts of 'Finding Amy' to Literotica for evaluation purposes (wordcount approximately 24,000) still with aim of perhaps e-publishing the full novel.....if its accepted i wont know for weeks anyway (only submitted to one publisher so far).
Should show up in the novels and novellas category in a couple of days depending on Literotica.
People can read it and make up their own minds on it.

 

[Stella_Omega]

add a link to your signature when it does. People here are way too lazy busy to search for it over there.

 

[real_first_time]

cheers..i will post a link to it in this thread when Literotica clears and posts it.

 

[evanslily]

Incidentally...

When I was looking at your post yesterday, I wondered about why you'd removed your original stories from Literotica - but of course, we all have different reasons for doing things and you're perfectly entitled to do so, of course. I do get that you wanted to write something better, but sometimes it's fun to leave your original stuff be, if only to remind yourself how far you've come.

The thing is, when I did a bit of searching around the Internet, I found your stories freely available to read. If you're wondering how, I searched on your user name and Literotica, which gave me one of your first lines: "I'm not a spiteful person. I don't carry grudges and I don't hold onto hurt, but this was different" and then searched on that line. Lo and behold, it turned up on another website (and in this case I don't mean AskJolene). 'Breaking Jen' - that was yours, wasn't it? I'm guessing this other site lifted your story when it was available on Literotica. One of the wonderful things about leaving your stories here is that Laurel and Manu will help to get your story removed from other sites when it's obvious they've been 'borrowed' from Literotica.

Just something to consider for another time. Once you've posted your story here and let it float into the Internet ether, it's likely it'll remain even if you take it down from the first site to which it was posted.

Good luck with the new story - as Stella says, post a link here when it's available!

 

[real_first_time]

Holy crap....you just accurately pulled the first line of 'Breaking Jen' out of the ether!!??!! That blows me away...yes that was me and i deleted it six months ago.
Actually im very fond of that one..the final chapter (#4) pulled in a respectable 4.89 rating.
'At the Mercy Of A stranger' was another that went a bit nuts on me.

I just hope people will have to patience to realise that 'Finding Amy' is a novel and as such has a longer and broader structure..partially why I didnt want it compared to my short stories even though I am very proud of most of them.

Strange things are happening with 'Finding Amy'......it's still in the 'Pending' phase on Literotica but it's already recieved three times as many views as any of my short stories did in the same phase...i wasn't expecting that from a story in the novels and novellas section..especially when i made it clear that it was only the first third of the novel...I hope that is a good omen somehow..

Yes i will post here.....you get extra brownie points 'evanslily' for being such a smart cookie and blowing me away with that surprise..i dont mind at all the the stories still exist somewhere..finding out that they have a secret life beyond me fascinates me.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Not to worry. There's a bug in the coding, and submitted stories are gathering ridiculous numbers of false views. (They used to only gather a small number of false views...)

 

[real_first_time]

Ha ha...
Well..the 'Finding Amy' submission has been languishing in pending phase for a week now with no additional views.
Pretty much tells me what i need to know..I'll give it a couple more days but after that Ill withdraw the submission....will push on and complete the novel pretty much for my own enjoyment.
Clearly a great submission would be edited and aproved quickly(my others took no longer that 4 days)....I'm not concerned by that at all...i write for my own enjoyment....It actaully doesnt matter to me what others think of what I produce..i find the process enjoyable.

I still dont mind emailing what ive done to anyone interested but hell there's so much choice out there!!!
I really dont feel the need to be read by thousands....I enjoy writing.
I think that maybe people thend to think that what they write is somehow special and that their experience should be of interest to others..I've never felt that way..to assume that is perhaps delusional and narcissistic.

I tend to follow the 'Tyler Durden' philosophy.
"You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake."

Forget your Rom-coms ladies. Fight Club is still the most revealing insight you're going to get into the true workings of the male mind (except for the psychotic parts)..sad but true.

 

[FallingToFly]

With one contest ending, another gearing up, and other such things that have to be handled daily, I would recommend leaving it until it is either rejected or accepted. There are only a very small number of people who can approve stories, and they get swamped.

 

[sun_sea_sky]

Ha ha...
Well..the 'Finding Amy' submission has been languishing in pending phase for a week now with no additional views.
Pretty much tells me what i need to know..
...
Clearly a great submission would be edited and aproved quickly(my others took no longer that 4 days) ...

I submitted a couple of stories during the contest and they got approved within the advertised time (72 hours). I don't see how they can approve a "great" submission quickly, Laurel would have to read it to know if it is great (or not) and after that she may as well hit the "accept" or "reject" button.

However right now it sounds like they are busy deciding who wins the current contest. I wouldn't take it personally.

 

[real_first_time]

Nah not at all...its not a personal thing.
I was in two minds about posting it anyway. Wasnt aware there was a contest....ive heard about them but ive never had the faintest clue about how to enter....LIT is a great site but i dont find it very user friendly that way. Maybe if they could have an 'enter contest' on the home page so people could enter whatever submision of theirs they nominate...i dont know.

....I think a week in pending is enough...kind of makes up my mind for me....if it's not accepted tomorrow ill just remove.
Actually Id rather not sumit it now to be honest. Also I'm a bit tired to checking every day to see what the reaction to it is only to find out it's still pending. Yes there is a bit of the 'petulant child' taking his ball away so nobody else can play with it....but also I don't even know if I want people to read it now (its been personally very gratifying writing it and that is enough for me) so in a way Literotica did me a favor.

 

[lovecraft68]

With one contest ending, another gearing up, and other such things that have to be handled daily, I would recommend leaving it until it is either rejected or accepted. There are only a very small number of people who can approve stories, and they get swamped.

From your posts I take it you have not been around in awhile.

It was revealed awhile back that there is only one person who approves the story, Laurel.

 

[real_first_time]

Cheers for that..good to know. I can tell from my latest submission that it's not been edited in any way yet let alone approved (i could always tell when my previous submissions had been edited just from the layout changes)...so it's likely to be many more days before approval anyway.

I might resubmit some of my earlier short stories (after a re-write) some time in the future but have pretty much decided to withdraw the novel.

 

[sr71plt]

Cheers for that..good to know. I can tell from my latest submission that it's not been edited in any way yet let alone approved (i could always tell when my previous submissions had been edited just from the layout changes)...so it's likely to be many more days before approval anyway.

I might resubmit some of my earlier short stories (after a re-write) some time in the future but have pretty much decided to withdraw the novel.

No editing of the stories is done by the submissions editor of this Web site. You have to get your own edit before you submit the story.

 

[sun_sea_sky]

Cheers for that..good to know. I can tell from my latest submission that it's not been edited in any way yet let alone approved ...

I think you might be confused about the process here. How can you tell that? If you click on the link to view your story (to see if has been edited) that will send it back to the end of the queue. No wonder it is taking a week. If you don't click on it, how can you tell?

No editing takes place, excepting that, perhaps stuff like <I>italics</I> becomes real italics, which may well be automated.

 

[real_first_time]

Ha ha...yeah you could be right..who knows..was more referring to the fact that the spacing between lines changes when its been edited and by edited i mean viewed and formatted (they dont change the word content...there wasn't a better way to put it)...just semantics..but the devil is in the details i suppose.

How bout those Crusaders! Best professional Rugby team in New Zealand and planet earth for that matter (he says changing the subject because he is a wee bit sick of talking about erotic fiction)