Monetization of stories? Any tips?

[izenrann]

So I've been writing erotica for about a year now, and I have 112 followers (I have no idea whether that is good or not?) and about 25 stories to my name. I've gotten mostly good reviews (and some bad, but that's life!) and I realize that I do enjoy writing erotica.

That being said, I do have bills to pay (like most people!) and if I could make some money off my writing, that would be great. Several options suggest themselves - Amazon Kindle, Smashwords, affiliate marketing on a blog, Patreon...the list is endless. It's more about having TOO many options at this point!

I have done some research on then, but in the 21st century it's too much information, rather than too little. Different people say different things.

I figured that these boards are probably a good place to ask though. How would one go about monetizing your work?

Any tips or help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[sr71plt]

First, and most important, tip is not to expect publishing of your writing to pay any necessary bills--until/unless you get established as one of a very small percentage of writers who make enough money that it pays necessary bills. You can publish erotica and make cigarette money, if you're not a heavy smoker. I publish a lot of both erotica and mainstream works--over twenty separate works, and we're not talking separate short stories--a year make money for one or two cruises a year. I treat whatever I make as gravy money, though.

My approach is to use a publisher who does everything but the writing, which frees me to produce a lot and make up for the publisher taking a large cut of the profits. I also publish it to the marketplace first and to free-use sites such as this at least a year later. So the buyers are getting first pick but I have a profile on Internet for readers who might be buyers (that said, I don't make much of that opportunity. I publish to the marketplace under different names than I post to the Internet).

Folding back to the major tip, I like making a little money off writing, but it won't pay my bills and looks puny when costed out on an hourly work/profit rate. I made my money in other careers and take my enjoyment in this one.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

The stuff I publish makes me some money, but Like pilot said, it doesn't pay the bills. It's just extra pocket change to go out to dinner once in awhile or to by something I think I need for my writing or for my computer.

I don't expect to become a millionaire from writing. I just like to write. To my friends I give my pay stuff away for free. I do have some posted here as well as the for pay sites.

 

[Alice_Rosaleen]

In addition to considering the other advice in this thread, I would suggest you keep a look out for contests and open calls for submissions. Not only can there be prize money, but it can shine a spotlight on your work and potentially more. And keep practicing your craft, writing for your fans and pushing that erotic envelope.

 

[Voboy]

My writing proceeds go toward guitars and bass guitars. I can afford maybe two or three nice ones per year. We’re talking Fender money, not Gibson money.

I got started when a publisher read some of my work here and offered me the gig.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Every platform has their own rules on what you can and can't do on their site, some relevant to erotica, so make sure you read the policies. Non-consent and incest in particular may be rejected by some places.

By Amazon policy, you're not allowed to sell your self-published stories on their site if they're available free elsewhere. (I understand many authors flout this rule and market their stories on Amazon while also posting them free on Literotica etc., but if somebody reports it, Amazon will take them down.)

Smashwords has no such rule. I sell some of my stories there, and I've been pretty happy with it. I don't get a lot of money from them, but things run smoothly and I get paid.

Patreon recently screwed the pooch in a big way by announcing a significant increase in their charges which would be shifted to supporters rather than artists. They've since walked that back and apologised, so in theory it's a good platform once more for a regular "subscription"/recurring-donation sort of relationship, but the recent snafu is a warning of the risks in getting too dependent on just one site.

 

[izenrann]

Thanks to all for your help and advice!

Yes I'm not planning on quitting my day job anytime soon. Some help paying the bills would be good - not the bills entirely. Sorry I wasn't more clear!

>My approach is to use a publisher who does everything but the writing, which frees me to produce a lot

Would that be Smashwords, Amazon or someone else?

Also would you recommend trying to solicit print publishers, self publish or a mix of both?

 

[Sammael Bard]

Thanks to all for your help and advice!

Yes I'm not planning on quitting my day job anytime soon. Some help paying the bills would be good - not the bills entirely. Sorry I wasn't more clear!

>My approach is to use a publisher who does everything but the writing, which frees me to produce a lot

Would that be Smashwords, Amazon or someone else?

Also would you recommend trying to solicit print publishers, self publish or a mix of both?

If you submit to Smashwords, they'll pretty much distribute it to all other platforms (Amazon included). However, if you want to sell your book as a part of some special program (like Amazon's Kindle Direct), you'll have to publish it separately on that platform.

Print publishers are tough nut to crack. It's much different than self-publishing where you can post whatever tf you want. It's the serious side of writing business where you can't get in if you're pursuing writing as a 'hobby'. If what you're writing doesn't match the publisher's taste, you get the boot. Bright side, though, is that once you get in and make contacts it becomes a wee bit easier.

 

[sr71plt]

Thanks to all for your help and advice!

Yes I'm not planning on quitting my day job anytime soon. Some help paying the bills would be good - not the bills entirely. Sorry I wasn't more clear!

>My approach is to use a publisher who does everything but the writing, which frees me to produce a lot

Would that be Smashwords, Amazon or someone else?

Also would you recommend trying to solicit print publishers, self publish or a mix of both?

A regular publisher (google Erotica Publishers). Smashwords and Amazon are distribution platforms, although you can get the book set up for distribution through both those companies. That's not nearly all there is that's involved in publishing a marketable work, though. The last I knew print publishers weren't handling erotica from unknown authors.

Self-publishing is the most used way, but I need to note that the market has become supersaturated. If you aren't a known author in the market already, you have little chance of selling much, especially unless you publish a lot and keep them coming. The top of the wave of selling erotica in the marketplace was over a year ago. Folks now already have their Kindles stuffed with books they'll never get around to reading and there's now much more on offer than there was four or five years ago. Double whammy to anyone trying to break in now, especially with only one or two works.

 

[SeraphNocturne]

I'm a writer, sadly I've accepted that it's probably the profession that'll make me most happy in life. So I've been looking into how to get serious. Obviously, the smartest thing for me to do would be to pursue an English degree and look for professional work.

I enjoy writing fiction, horror and erotica so that's a bit difficult to place as far as work goes, but just to start making money I've been researching writing competitions on line. You can find a few good lists just by googling, and surprisingly, there are hundreds. Some you have to pay to enter but some the payouts are phenomenal... if you're confident and believe yourself a good writer I think that would be a start.

Ultimately though, I think the 'dream job' for writers would be something like writing professionally for television shows, Hollywood productions, scrips--things like that. And as always, you can write out a long novel and look for people who would be willing to public you instead of working independently--just some ideas I myself as a writer trying to become serious have played through my mind.

 

[cryptoxxx]

So I've been writing erotica for about a year now, and I have 112 followers (I have no idea whether that is good or not?) and about 25 stories to my name. I've gotten mostly good reviews (and some bad, but that's life!) and I realize that I do enjoy writing erotica.

That being said, I do have bills to pay (like most people!) and if I could make some money off my writing, that would be great. Several options suggest themselves - Amazon Kindle, Smashwords, affiliate marketing on a blog, Patreon...the list is endless. It's more about having TOO many options at this point!

I have done some research on then, but in the 21st century it's too much information, rather than too little. Different people say different things.

I figured that these boards are probably a good place to ask though. How would one go about monetizing your work?

Any tips or help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

What about entrepreneurship? That would go into self-publish category I guess.

I am a programmer, and I am looking for writers to team up with to make money with erotic content. PM me if you are interested. It has something to with crypto mining as an emergent payment method.

 

[Requiax]

Self-publishing suits hobbyists better than those who want to make writing a career. I make “treat money” from my book - because it cost me nothing to make but time, all royalties are profit so although I make only a small amount each month, I take them to spend on something nice, like my record collection.

If you want to make more money, you need either lots of books, a big following or, as has been suggested here, a publisher to take care of things like marketing.

I’ve no experience monetising short stories - I’ve seen others try but I don’t know how successful it is. People I imagine would find novels better value for money - especially as I have seen folks trying to sell a 20 page short with the same $2.99 price tag as a 200 page novel on Amazon.

I’d love to know how writers use Patreon, I don’t know much about it, and all I have seen from people who do use it is that it puts them under pressure to produce content at a pace set by their subscribers, which some find hard to cope with.

 

[Gentleman_G]

I’d love to know how writers use Patreon, I don’t know much about it, and all I have seen from people who do use it is that it puts them under pressure to produce content at a pace set by their subscribers, which some find hard to cope with.

I'd imagine that they do something like setting the pace to a week and then publishing a chapter. That triggers the payment for Patreon, so the next week they'll have to get a new chapter ready, since people expect them to adhere to that schedule. Of course, you could always post weekly and let Patreon trigger every month as well, so payment doesn't have to be done for single chapters, but rather as monthly subscription.

I probably couldn't deal with that either and I'd have a finished story to post a chapter once a week. Not that I have experience about it, but incidentally I was just talking about it with another guy who wanted to set it up, so I thought I'd share the details of what we discussed. I might have it entirely wrong though, but that's how I thought it might work.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I'd imagine that they do something like setting the pace to a week and then publishing a chapter. That triggers the payment for Patreon, so the next week they'll have to get a new chapter ready, since people expect them to adhere to that schedule. Of course, you could always post weekly and let Patreon trigger every month as well, so payment doesn't have to be done for single chapters, but rather as monthly subscription.

Sounds like a hamster wheel.

The erotica publishing models that I see, that might make a buck or two, are content, content, content, churned out as fast as possible to 'stay on the page.'

I couldn't think of anything worse.

The high churners who have wandered through AH from time to time are pretty consistent with their advice: if you do nothing else but write, you might pay a few bills but to make a living? You need another job.

 

[My I]

Tip: Never let your Mother comb your hair when she's mad at your Father.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Sounds like a hamster wheel.

The erotica publishing models that I see, that might make a buck or two, are content, content, content, churned out as fast as possible to 'stay on the page.'

I couldn't think of anything worse.

The high churners who have wandered through AH from time to time are pretty consistent with their advice: if you do nothing else but write, you might pay a few bills but to make a living? You need another job.

Or you have to write in other more mainstream genres. And it's a tiny tiny percentage of authors that make a living from it. But if you don't try you'll never know. And it's not just the writing it's the marketing. As a wannabe you have to market yourself because most publishers won't. One of the things mainstream publishers look at now is your profile and how successful you are at promoting yourself

 

[Jada59]

Getting published is easy. Getting paid for it is hard. Check out Writer's Digest. They're online now. You'll find all sorts of links there. I am not sure how much is available for free but you can buy books and magazines from them.

These will spell out the different genres of work and how to go about seeking publication. Different publishers have different requirements and time frames for submissions.