Literotica Plus Smashwords

[jack30341]

Am very interested to hear feedback on this concept.

Have been writing on Literotica for years and hope to continue to do so for years to come.

Lately, I've thought about also writing longer pieces and putting them on Smashwords.

Is it possible to use each as platforms for the other?

My Lit profile page seems to have an ebook portion I've never been able to access.

 

[R. Richard]

Am very interested to hear feedback on this concept.

Have been writing on Literotica for years and hope to continue to do so for years to come.

Lately, I've thought about also writing longer pieces and putting them on Smashwords.

Is it possible to use each as platforms for the other?

My Lit profile page seems to have an ebook portion I've never been able to access.

I have stuff published in Literotica and also in Smashwords. However, there's no overlap. Either Literotica or Smashwords, not in both.
I have stuff published in Literotica and also in Amazon. However, there's no overlap. Either Literotica or Amazon, not in both. Once I screwed up and rewrote a title that was still in Literotica and then I published the same title, with quite a bit more edited content. I then received a nasty note from Amazon, something about a baseball bat and my kneecaps. I withdrew the Literotica title right now.

 

[sr71plt]

I'm not clear on your question--can one be a platform for the other.

But . . . almost everything I have on Literotica is also simultaneously for sale in some form through Smashwords, Kindle, Nook, Kobo, etc. etc. (I have more for sale in the marketplace than is on Literotica, though, and the works appear in some form in the marketplace a long time before they are posted to Literotica.)

 

[sweetfanny]

I have stuff published in Literotica and also in Smashwords. However, there's no overlap. Either Literotica or Smashwords, not in both.
I have stuff published in Literotica and also in Amazon. However, there's no overlap. Either Literotica or Amazon, not in both. Once I screwed up and rewrote a title that was still in Literotica and then I published the same title, with quite a bit more edited content. I then received a nasty note from Amazon, something about a baseball bat and my kneecaps. I withdrew the Literotica title right now.

Unless you're enrolled in the Kindle direct program that requires exclusivity (I think it's 3 or 6 months?) it shouldn't be a problem to have your work on sites other than Amazon. Smashwords requires no exclusivity at all.

There's no reason not to put your work in as many outlets as you want, assuming that you aren't violating their terms of service or an agreement of exclusivity. I know by posting stuff here, you give Literotica permission to enforce your copyright for you, but according to what I read, they shouldn't be requiring other sites to remove your work if you place it there. Unless I seriously misunderstood.

 

[lovecraft68]

First off that ebook feature has never worked. Its a dead function they never removed.

As to your question. I think you mean can you use lit as
Means to advertise your sw books

The answer is technically yes but the results are minimal.

I have advertised paid works on my home page as well as telling people that if they email me through lit I will give them coupons.

In fact if you go to my page now you will see I am offering a coupon for a free book.

I have still gotten little response.

I know this sounds bad but to call a spade a spade most people here are to cheap to buy.

They come here everyday and read to their fill for free. Why pay for anything?

In fact I never mention lit on my blog or site because why would I want to direct potential paying customers to a vast free site.

Again I know this sounds negative but I have plenty of examples to back it.

 

[NaokoSmith]

I also publish on Smashwords, Amazon and here. I wrote a blogpost about how here is the most fun but the others are good too.

 

[jack30341]

Thank you VERY much for the replies!

I am embarrassingly shocked to have never considered any of this before.

I absolutely love writing on Lit, but have wondered how 'for pay' postings would do somewhere.

Has anyone gotten much money from their other postings?

Thanks again!

 

[NaokoSmith]

Thank you VERY much for the replies!

I am embarrassingly shocked to have never considered any of this before.

I absolutely love writing on Lit, but have wondered how 'for pay' postings would do somewhere.

Has anyone gotten much money from their other postings?

Thanks again!

Many people on here earn good money from books on Smash and Amazon. If you don't put yourself on the Amazon Select programme - I've never met an author who was happy after doing so, so best avoided, then you have to charge for your books. However if they're free elsewhere Amazon eventually make them free there too. But I did make about $60 on one before Amazon caved in to the complaints that it was splashed everywhere else free. (Only because it got a string of one star reviews saying it was depraved filth, LOL.)

 

[sr71plt]

Has anyone gotten much money from their other postings?

Define "much money." I (and wife) did a three-week around-the island tour of England, Wales, and Scotland in September-October, just got back from a Caribbean cruise, have another cruise coming up in September and another other one next March, all out of e-book royalty money as it comes in. So, if that's enough "much," I guess the answer is yes.

 

[NaokoSmith]

Making money on the books is partly to do with marketing rather than just publishing them, I think. Smashwords have a guide on how to do that which might be useful to read before you post up there and on Amazon. (Let me know! I keep meaning to read it, LOL.)

 

[Ironiclaconic]

You can easily do Lit+ Smashwords + Amazon. I have. The biggest annoyance is conflicting format requirements on Lit. The biggest advantage is different readerships. A lot of readers want to read on their Kindle or Nook, and want to search a store, not Lit's cumbersome interface. If it isn't an ebook, they won't know it exists or won't bother with it.

Don't expect to make more than a few bucks selling books, however, unless you have built up a massive following with free content, or you hit some sort of niche fetish market.

 

[sr71plt]

Making money on the books is partly to do with marketing rather than just publishing them, I think. Smashwords have a guide on how to do that which might be useful to read before you post up there and on Amazon. (Let me know! I keep meaning to read it, LOL.)

I think the main marketing angles to e-book erotica are to target the content to a buying audience (my nasy fetishes ones do best), price them right, have a great cover and blurb, and get them to as many sales points as possible. I think other promotion isn't energy/cost effective and isn't needed if you pay attention to the marketing issues I've noted. I expend no energy on my erotica promotion at all, and they sell better than the mainstream works I do put promotion toward.

 

[sr71plt]

Oh, yeah, and another thing:

If you want to get into the "much" money category, keep them coming. Name recognition and keeping that name close to the "new" lists and charts will have a synergistic effect throughout your booklist if you're a half-decent writer serving a healthy-sized interest audience.

You're not going to make money or have much of a chance of getting a buying fan base behind you if you only have one or two works out there no matter how well you exercised the other marketing tools.

I've also found (the sniggering of a certain someone aside--someone who I notice starts parrotting my advice a year or so after the sniggering and attacks start) that a reworked, and maybe expanded, relaunch after three years in the marketplace rejuvenates the sales to nearly the same level as the first round. You of course have to honestly blurb them for what they are, but the e-buying pool of today isn't the same one as the one that existed three years previously. E-books naturally have a benefit over print books in brick-and-mortar bookstores, because their shelf life is so much longer--but after a couple of years that e-book is going to sift toward the bottom and not even be seen by a lot of new buyers who would not otherwise buy it (but who will buy a new edition that's been expanded or regeared in some way).

Another technique I employ is to write separate genres under separate pen names (I write under seven of them). You can establish separate fan/buying bases. Thus the sales record of an individual work loses importance. It's the total sales figure that is meaningful.

Also in deciding what to do with promotion, watch your bottom line and use common sense. ARE, for instance, offers "up top" cover promotional slots for $3,000. If you are going to recoup that much money on a promotion, it's not going to be because a single online distributor slapped the cover in the "paying for the Web site spam" field. And as others have said, don't get sucked into the exclusive offering schemes like Amazon has. If you are going to sell well, it's because your offering is at as many sales points as you can get it. (And, no, you aren't going to generate sales by offering it on your personal Web site--or on your blog unless your readership is in the stratosphere.)

 

[jack30341]

Hey,

Thanks again so very much!

Would love to do more writing, but have just not had the energy and wherewithal given my necessity of working my day job.

Would love to actually receive some money---and more feedback---by testing the waters of ebook publishing. Not looking to quit the day job or even make gobs, but there is something profoundly telling and significant to me about the levels of response to writing if there is money involved.

We all would like to have more money, but on a different level, if someone is willing to pay their money to read something I have thought about and written, then I will feel a thrill and satisfaction that is absolutely not describable.

(At the risk of sounding overly dramatic.)

Was told when I was young not to waste my time writing.

So, there you go.

J

 

[NaokoSmith]

Hey,

Thanks again so very much!

Would love to do more writing, but have just not had the energy and wherewithal given my necessity of working my day job.

Would love to actually receive some money---and more feedback---by testing the waters of ebook publishing. Not looking to quit the day job or even make gobs, but there is something profoundly telling and significant to me about the levels of response to writing if there is money involved.

We all would like to have more money, but on a different level, if someone is willing to pay their money to read something I have thought about and written, then I will feel a thrill and satisfaction that is absolutely not describable.

(At the risk of sounding overly dramatic.)

Was told when I was young not to waste my time writing.

So, there you go.

J

Ooh no, give it a go! You're right, there's nothing like the thrill when someone reads the free extract and then BUYS the book. I only sold a few copies of my books on Smashwords but I feel really thrilled when it happens. It's very easy to publish on Smash and if your stuff isn't moving and you want to get it out there to a wider readership, it's easy to make it free instead of asking a price. You can get reasonable feedback there sometimes too. A good thing to do is offer coupons in return for reviews on there, to get books up and noticed.

 

[satisfy]

Yeah, making money takes hard work and determination. Just because you put a book up on any platform doesn't mean it is going to sell. You have to keep getting out there and reminding people that you exist. The more eyes you have on yourself, the more potential you have. And the more stories you have available, the more potential sales you can make. It's tough to start out, so make sure that you've got a nice catalogue or else it can be slow going. Good luck!

 

[lovecraft68]

I think the main marketing angles to e-book erotica are to target the content to a buying audience (my nasy fetishes ones do best), price them right, have a great cover and blurb, and get them to as many sales points as possible. I think other promotion isn't energy/cost effective and isn't needed if you pay attention to the marketing issues I've noted. I expend no energy on my erotica promotion at all, and they sell better than the mainstream works I do put promotion toward.

I agree fetish sells. Even on B&N my big sellers are my "daddy" stories where the "traditional" erotic stuff doesn't move as well.

And not sure if this is the right way to say it, but sometimes it almost seems as if apathy works.

I don't do a ton of marketing, but seem to be selling better than some people I know who drive themselves nuts with tweeting and blogging and facebooking and who knows what else.

The way I feel is I could have written another story in the time it takes to keep up with all the social media aspects of publishing.

 

[lovecraft68]

Hey,

Thanks again so very much!

Would love to do more writing, but have just not had the energy and wherewithal given my necessity of working my day job.

Would love to actually receive some money---and more feedback---by testing the waters of ebook publishing. Not looking to quit the day job or even make gobs, but there is something profoundly telling and significant to me about the levels of response to writing if there is money involved.

We all would like to have more money, but on a different level, if someone is willing to pay their money to read something I have thought about and written, then I will feel a thrill and satisfaction that is absolutely not describable.

(At the risk of sounding overly dramatic.)

Was told when I was young not to waste my time writing.

So, there you go.

J

Okay, well let me tell you something and I am not trying to be offensive, but am being blunt.

The "no time due to my day job?" Defeatist mentality my friend. MAKE time.

Up until a few months ago I worked 50 hours a week and split my spare time between an online e-bay business and my writing. Many nights my ass was listing comic books and editing stories at 1am.

Its not easy and can cause a lot of stress, both physical and mental as well as even some family strain when I started blowing off a lot of events to keep pushing my writing.

But if you want anything bad enough, sacrifice needs to be made.

Any excuse is simply a built in reason to fail.

As for the don't waste your time? I heard that one as well as "You'll be dead by twenty and won;t be missed. If nothing else "fuck you" is a great motivator.

You mention feedback and where I think lit sucks for actual drumming up of sales, it is the best way to get that feedback, make some connections, and learn from people who have been doing it for a long time plus get in "touch" with people who will be similar to your eventual paying audience.

 

[jack30341]

Excellent point.

Am in it to write rather than promote.

So, there's an audience at those places for fetish and taboo works?

My stuff is not mainstream.

 

[lovecraft68]

Oh, yeah, and another thing:

If you want to get into the "much" money category, keep them coming. Name recognition and keeping that name close to the "new" lists and charts will have a synergistic effect throughout your booklist if you're a half-decent writer serving a healthy-sized interest audience.

You're not going to make money or have much of a chance of getting a buying fan base behind you if you only have one or two works out there no matter how well you exercised the other marketing tools.

I've also found (the sniggering of a certain someone aside--someone who I notice starts parrotting my advice a year or so after the sniggering and attacks start) that a reworked, and maybe expanded, relaunch after three years in the marketplace rejuvenates the sales to nearly the same level as the first round. You of course have to honestly blurb them for what they are, but the e-buying pool of today isn't the same one as the one that existed three years previously. E-books naturally have a benefit over print books in brick-and-mortar bookstores, because their shelf life is so much longer--but after a couple of years that e-book is going to sift toward the bottom and not even be seen by a lot of new buyers who would not otherwise buy it (but who will buy a new edition that's been expanded or regeared in some way).

Another technique I employ is to write separate genres under separate pen names (I write under seven of them). You can establish separate fan/buying bases. Thus the sales record of an individual work loses importance. It's the total sales figure that is meaningful.

Also in deciding what to do with promotion, watch your bottom line and use common sense. ARE, for instance, offers "up top" cover promotional slots for $3,000. If you are going to recoup that much money on a promotion, it's not going to be because a single online distributor slapped the cover in the "paying for the Web site spam" field. And as others have said, don't get sucked into the exclusive offering schemes like Amazon has. If you are going to sell well, it's because your offering is at as many sales points as you can get it. (And, no, you aren't going to generate sales by offering it on your personal Web site--or on your blog unless your readership is in the stratosphere.)

3 points worth repeating. Any new book will generate sales on previous books. Smashwords actually e-mails you when you make a sale and a multiple sale will show up in the same e-mail. Whenever I release something new I will get sales from SW that show one of the new books being bought with a couple of the older ones. So simply put keep throwing shit against the wall.

$3,000 is a crazy amount of money to invest in an e-book that you may be making a couple of dollars per sale. You're talking 1500 sales to recoup that.

However there are smaller investments that might be worth it. I recently replied to an offer from ARE to have one of my books in a upcoming magazine for $105 which is not too steep to get some exposure.

and lastly never go exclusive with anyone. I recently joined fiction4all(thank you Klayton Frost) and you only get 50% royalty BUT if you go exclusive get 80% keep the 30% I want to be where ever I choose to be.

 

[NaokoSmith]

Excellent point.

Am in it to write rather than promote.

So, there's an audience at those places for fetish and taboo works?

My stuff is not mainstream.

There's a huge catalogue of stuff on Smash. Take a cruise through some of their categories, they are enormous. Stuff is being uploaded on there every minute. It's worth spending some time floating around familiarising yourself with the many many sub-categories of erotica on there to make sure you list your work properly when you do publish it up there. NB, you have to turn the Adult filter on to make sure you can see it!

Smash is really good in that they give you breakdown figures not only of your sales but of how many people downloaded the free extract to your story and how many looked at the individual page for it. So you can tell how many are showing interest but then move away, and at what stage.

Another tip, a good little page to have around is About Me. It's like a tiny calling card, it just allows you to list a small amount of information and links to your work easily, blogs as well as publications. I find it handy because Facebook won't link to here, and so when a new chapter of my stuff comes live, I just go on Facebook (I mean my naughty Naoko Smith FB page, not my other mommy page where other mommies come and say mommy things) and say: New chapter up, get the link from my About Me page. About Me pages are very easy to maintain whereas FB takes some work.

 

[jack30341]

Thanks very much!!!