Very good advise. Id rather be a niche person than a people pleaser.
That’s exactly how I feel. I love dreaming up the story, writing it, tinkering with it. But once it’s published, like you, I feel very exposed & judged. I spend far too much time on the stats too.
My niche is so small I get very little feedback. But I don't mind being in a minority. Makes me feel special. (Shades of the Church Lady!!!)
What is your niche?
I've spent several years on the forums trying to define it. Here's my latest, "A straight male surrenders to something with dignity, very little attention to plot or character." Just recently asked the help of other people. Here's the thread, where I found some info about out why my niche is small.
There's your answer. If you have a niche kink, by definition the niche isn't going to appeal to everyone. Don't worry about it: celebrate your kink, and someone will like it, for sure.
Great advice! In fact, polarised feedback should be taken as proof of a mission well done as a niche writer.
You might like my series 'Worship', while it's not the main theme there's some lesbian foot licking and sweaty stuff in it.Great advice! In fact, polarised feedback should be taken as proof of a mission well done as a niche writer.
Also, writing about "less common kinks" can help fill a gap, help satisfy a demand that's out there but not big enough for the market to supply.
Case in point:
I am a lesbian with a fetish for feet and sweaty socks, but I'm not sub, I just like feet A LOT. The porn market offers an extremely limited supply of lesbian sock sex, and if you don't count sub/domme stuff, it's next to non-existent (trust me, I have been browsing for such online for 2 decades). And if one would like interracial or Black lesbian sock sex without sub/domme, it's worse than a needle in a haystack. However, after my first story got published, I've gotten response from a number of people who really loved my take on it, which indicates that there are some out there who crave the same things I do. I write for them. Not for the vast majority who think sweaty socks are nasty (in a bad way).
NB: One should keep in mind that what constitutes "less common kinks" is not static over time. In porn, it was just at the very end of the 90's that foot fetish began to trickle into mainstream porn and by now it's relatively common (for a niche kink). Remember that before that, not only did one never see foot fetish stuff, you wouldn't even see feet because women ALWAYS wore high heels in porn, all the time (except for in the swimming pool or the shower). So us writing about niche kinks might just in a small way help make our kinks more mainstream later...
I so hear you. My kink is crossing several categories and I don't seem to be a neat fit for any of them (I wrote about my dilemma here). I'm still working on my first story but I already know I will get at best little attention and at worst nasty reviews. But in a way that's also what motivates me to write. My goal is not please a lot of people but those very few who share my apparently very specific kink. They will probably appreciate my story even more and I would find that very satisfying because I know exactly how they feel.
