Publishing Erotica & Money

[romeothethird]

I have a concept, and some scenes already written for an offbeat, hardcore novel. I feel like it would be of great interest to some readers, and would love to get it out there, but at this point in my life, I could only devote the time (and the sleepless nights from imagining all that hot stuff) to it if there were potential to make money on it.

I've been wondering if anyone can tell me what kind of money can be made (if any) from publishing such works.

If not, I'll put it on the shelf until later on...

 

[michchick98]

I have a concept, and some scenes already written for an offbeat, hardcore novel. I feel like it would be of great interest to some readers, and would love to get it out there, but at this point in my life, I could only devote the time (and the sleepless nights from imagining all that hot stuff) to it if there were potential to make money on it.

I've been wondering if anyone can tell me what kind of money can be made (if any) from publishing such works.

If not, I'll put it on the shelf until later on...

There are plenty of publishers out there, you just have to read their submission guidelines for what they accept or not.

Excessica accepts just about everything, as long as the characters are over 18 and there's no beastiality involved.

As far as money? That can vary from author to author. I can't speak for any of them, but I can say in my experience, any income from writing is always a good thing. I don't make a lot, but what I do make helps out every few months.

Is it worth it? Yeah, I think so. It gets your name and your work out there. Based on a conversation I had with a woman who owns the used book store I frequent, she says most of her customers buy books based on name recognition.

Although, these days, if you're just starting out, e-publishing is the way to go...much easier to "get your foot in the door" so to speak. And even some of the most popular authors are releasing their work in e-book format now.

Check out Excessica to start with:

http://www.excessica.com

 

[dr_mabeuse]

There's no money to be made from erotica. Period. There's too much free stuff on the web. And unless you have an agent, don't bother sending stuff to any mainstream publisher. They're drowning in the stuff and they're not interested.

There IS money to be made in romance, but again, there's only a few publishers who will take directly-submitted manuscripts. Most want them to come through an agent.

If you go with an e-book publisher--and most of them will publish anything, because it doesn't cost them anything and they take a cut of whatever you manage to sell to family and friends--you can count on probably making less than $100. Depends on just how many family and friends you can talk into buying it.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Right now is not a good time for writers. My local paper was recently caught stealing material from bloggers and printing it. The publisher said, UH, WE'RE SUPPOSED TO PAY? I HAD NO IDEA!

I read a wise essay by Truman Capote last night. He observed that too many mediocre writers force good writers to be excellent, and the excellent writers are then forced to create art. The end result is, everyone makes no money and everyone beats themselves to be better.

 

[sr71plt]

There's no money to be made from erotica. Period. There's too much free stuff on the web. And unless you have an agent, don't bother sending stuff to any mainstream publisher. They're drowning in the stuff and they're not interested.

. . .

If you go with an e-book publisher--and most of them will publish anything, because it doesn't cost them anything and they take a cut of whatever you manage to sell to family and friends--you can count on probably making less than $100. Depends on just how many family and friends you can talk into buying it.

For starters, Dr. M, this is a non sequitur. $100 is more than nothing, "period." I also doubt you have made less than $100 for each of your books published by eXcessica. If so, someone along the line is withholding money from you. Time for you to look at your accounts.

 

[michchick98]

If you go with an e-book publisher--and most of them will publish anything, because it doesn't cost them anything and they take a cut of whatever you manage to sell to family and friends--you can count on probably making less than $100. Depends on just how many family and friends you can talk into buying it.

Well none of my family or friends have bought any of my e-books and I've made well over $100 every quarter. I didn't say there was a lot of money in it, unless you're a well-established author, but it is worth the effort.

And Selena can jump in here and correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to recall her telling someone on these boards (quite a few months back) that she made way over $100 on her writing.

ETA: I think those authors who are publishing erotica (in print as well as e-book) would probably argue with you, Dr. M., and tell you they are making a killing on erotica....ever hear of Lora Leigh, or Alison Kent, or Sherilyn Kenyon, or Lauren Dane or Erin McCarthy, or.....yeah, you get the idea.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

$100 is definitely big money in North Korea and Cuba and Vietnam.

 

[sr71plt]

ETA: I think those authors who are publishing erotica (in print as well as e-book) would probably argue with you, Dr. M., and tell you they are making a killing on erotica....ever hear of Lora Leigh, or Alison Kent, or Sherilyn Kenyon, or Lauren Dane or Erin McCarthy, or.....yeah, you get the idea.

Dr. M. does publish erotica in e-book form, and where his books are ranking on distribution sites in relation to other authors on the same lists who I know are making more than that $100 on each of multiple titles tells me his books have got to be selling better than he is claiming. So, don't know what the disconnect is.

 

[romeothethird]

Thanks everybody for your thoughts on this. It puts it into perspective for me.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Well, to go perfectly public, for the 4 books I have with Excessica, I make about $500-$600 a quarter.

I probably pick up another $30-$40 a month in direct sales a month.

The most I ever made on a book was with Ellora's Cave, where my last book with them brought in $7000 in first-month sales, of which I got about $3K. But these are graphic romance books, not really erotica. They rejected my last two books as being "too pornographic". I.e. not enough of a love-story plot.

I get a check for between $135~$165 a month in royalties from Ellora's cave, and that's for 4 books I have with them. And then my royalties for my book in print comes to less than $10 a month.

My other two books are with obscure e-publishers: Renaissance E-books and eXtasy. They don't promote, and my last check from renaissance was for a year's royalties: $14.56. I haven't heard from eXtasy in 2 years. From what I hear, this is typical for people publishing with obscure e-book outfits.

So if you're writing pure porn--or erotica, if you prefer--my experience tells me not to quit your day job. Good luck if you can even find a reputable publisher who'll even look at your stuff.

 

[sr71plt]

Thanks, Dr. M. (That significantly contrasts with what you first posted.) I'm sure many will be grateful to see some real numbers. I figure that over the life of such an e-book, a writer who launched them on a regular schedule of one every couple of months (I think new launches enhance buying of backlist) could average about $1,000 an e-book with erotica over the lifetime of the book.

I'm pretty sure that mine are in that ballpark . (I have to go on unit numbers and average profit margins of other writers, as I don't get the profits off mine.) And I launch one a month, so, I don't really think the profit possibility is something to scoff at.

I'm sure a lot of folks would be content with $1,000 profit off something they wanted to do for enjoyment anyway--with the added benefit of seeing your cover posted around and maybe getting a couple of good reviews on your writing. If you were going to write it anyway . . .

 

[michchick98]

I'm sure a lot of folks would be content with $1,000 profit off something they wanted to do for enjoyment anyway--with the added benefit of seeing your cover posted around and maybe getting a couple of good reviews on your writing. If you were going to write it anyway . . .

Yeah, I'd be very content with $1,000 profit, even if it was spread out over a year. The first quarter of this year was a lower profit for me, a bit less than $100, but since I've been published (September of last year) I'm averaging around $200 - $250 a quarter. No, by far not enough to quit my day job by any stretch of the imagination, but the extra money every few months does help. Last quarter's royalties especially helped with the really, horribly awful day I had at the beginning of August.

Of course, I expect next quarter to be a bit lower because I didn't have as many releases out. From September of last year, I was averaging one release a month. My last release was July and my next isn't scheduled until early October (with an up and coming publisher) and my next release with excessica isn't due out until the end of October. But even with the up and coming publisher, I got a few extra bucks to stick in my pocket since they're only selling through ARe right now, it wasn't much, but it helped.

And let's face it, isn't it nice to be making even a small amount of money on something you love doing and only consider a hobby? I think so.

 

[sr71plt]

Yeah, I'd be very content with $1,000 profit, even if it was spread out over a year.

I was suggesting that over the life of the title, not a year.

 

[michchick98]

I was suggesting that over the life of the title, not a year.

I'd be happy with that too. I thought you were talking overall royalties for all titles. Guess I gotta pay more attention. Maybe I shouldn't read/post here when I'm dead dawg tired.

 

[davidwatts]

I have a concept, and some scenes already written for an offbeat, hardcore novel. I feel like it would be of great interest to some readers, and would love to get it out there, but at this point in my life, I could only devote the time (and the sleepless nights from imagining all that hot stuff) to it if there were potential to make money on it.

I've been wondering if anyone can tell me what kind of money can be made (if any) from publishing such works.

If not, I'll put it on the shelf until later on...

Good luck to you. If you are new to writing (and I didn't see anything here on your profile) this is a great place to work out ideas and to hone your craft. The writers here are very helpful and supportive, and this is a good site to test out things. You still retain the rights to everything.

There are hundreds of writers here with great concepts and ideas, but I don't think there are that many of them drowning in royalties, so if you're here, you're doing it for love. I've been one of the more fortunate people here in terms of contests, and I figure that I've gotten about a nickle an hour for my efforts, but that's still a plus because I expected nothing. The e-books business is more lucrative, from what I've read, but maybe the real pot of gold is still further over the rainbow for that medium.

 

[romeothethird]

I'm glad some of you came back and said more. It's thoroughly appreciated.

I'm not actually new to writing, and not even totally new to writing erotica, although I've only ever written snippets for my own pleasure, and have never previously attempted to organize it into a real story.

But I can see the pleasure factor will remain the dominant purpose, and if I do the work to actually see this thing through to a reality, I'll can just deal with marketing it in the marketplace as it is when I get there.