What category to publish in for a dark romance with a fair bit of sex?

[cassie69a]

I just finished a novella and I'm not sure which category to even search under for editors, let alone publish this story.

It's quite dark and features a lot of heavy subjects (sexual assault, violence, capital punishment, etc.) but it's ultimately a story about two people who meet each other in a terrible situation and end up falling in love.

I did read Tx Tall Tales's "LOVE YOUR READERS: CATEGORIES" post, which only left me feeling more confused. The story technically takes place in a fantasy world, but there's no magic. Almost all the sex is between two people who are married, but some of it is ritualistic and uncomfortable, so is erotic couplings really a good fit? Yes, it's a romance, but I worry there's too much sex (4 out of 9 chapters). I'd rather not post under novels/novellas, but maybe it just doesn't belong anywhere else.

I'm happy to give more info, plot/chapter summaries, full content warnings, etc. to anyone who's interested.

 

[StillStunned]

Add some bum stuff and put it in Anal.

 

[cassie69a]

Add some bum stuff and put it in Anal.

The first sex scene is in fact anal

 

[Bamagan]

I just finished a novella and I'm not sure which category to even search under for editors, let alone publish this story.

It's quite dark and features a lot of heavy subjects (sexual assault, violence, capital punishment, etc.) but it's ultimately a story about two people who meet each other in a terrible situation and end up falling in love.

I did read Tx Tall Tales's "LOVE YOUR READERS: CATEGORIES" post, which only left me feeling more confused. The story technically takes place in a fantasy world, but there's no magic. Almost all the sex is between two people who are married, but some of it is ritualistic and uncomfortable, so is erotic couplings really a good fit? Yes, it's a romance, but I worry there's too much sex (4 out of 9 chapters). I'd rather not post under novels/novellas, but maybe it just doesn't belong anywhere else.

I'm happy to give more info, plot/chapter summaries, full content warnings, etc. to anyone who's interested.

The EC category is a bit of a catch-all for just about anything that happens between two characters, so there's rarely a bad fit for that one (except maybe a focus on group sex).
If your nine chapters have significantly different themes related to their erotic content, the themed categories will logically not be great fits for the combined work. You can potentially post individual chapters in different categories, although some people suggest that makes the story too hard to follow. Novels and Novellas is probably the best landing place for longish works with varied erotic themes.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

I'm not sure why you think Romance stories can't have 4 sexual encounters in a novella. That doesn't seem excessive to this reader.

-Rocco

 

[TheLobster]

How fantasy is the fantasy world? Even without magic, it might still fit in Sci-Fi & Fantasy.

If it doesn’t, then I concur the other suggestions to put it in Romance. This is an erotica site, it’s expected that characters have sex. Just make sure you tag it appropriately to signal that it’s not a sweet sexy happy-ever-after kind of romance.

 

[cassie69a]

How fantasy is the fantasy world? Even without magic, it might still fit in Sci-Fi & Fantasy.

If it doesn’t, then I concur the other suggestions to put it in Romance. This is an erotica site, it’s expected that characters have sex. Just make sure you tag it appropriately to signal that it’s not a sweet sexy happy-ever-after kind of romance.

Technically high fantasy because it's a different world, with different countries, names, and titles of address.

Funny thing is, the ending is happy-ever-after, there's just a lot of dark stuff to get through first.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Novels/Novellas all the way.

Readers are patient, diverse in their kinks, and tolerant of things that they might not agree with as long as the overall story moves them.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Technically high fantasy because it's a different world, with different countries, names, and titles of address.

Funny thing is, the ending is happy-ever-after, there's just a lot of dark stuff to get through first.

Romance readers don't seem to like dark content, from what I can see, they like it more "traditional".

I reckon either EC or Novels and Novellas, from what you've described.

What you could do is submit it with a Note to the Editor, and ask Laurel where she thinks it would run best. I think she's got a good feel for that.

 

[cassie69a]

Romance readers don't seem to like dark content, from what I can see, they like it more "traditional".

I reckon either EC or Novels and Novellas, from what you've described.

What you could do is submit it with a Note to the Editor, and ask Laurel where she thinks it would run best. I think she's got a good feel for that.

Thank you for the info! I will probably do that.

 

[karina_jayde]

Technically high fantasy because it's a different world, with different countries, names, and titles of address.

Funny thing is, the ending is happy-ever-after, there's just a lot of dark stuff to get through first.

If it's high fantasy then I don't see any reason not to use Science Fiction/Fantasy. I myself wrote a pretty dark romance adventure series that resulted in a happy ending and it was entirely in the SFF category because of the nature of the world/storyline.

I mostly write fantasy stuff and use that category for most of my stories, unless a specific kink takes precedence.