What sells better on Amazon et al. ?

[sporkfina]

Softcore erotica or hardcore? I'm thinking that if it is softcore, at least Amazon wont bury it deep. But then I've read some authors here mentioning that they get their bulk sales from SW and the like which are more accepting?

 

[Salacious_Scribe]

Softcore erotica or hardcore? I'm thinking that if it is softcore, at least Amazon wont bury it deep. But then I've read some authors here mentioning that they get their bulk sales from SW and the like which are more accepting?

I have no experience with either. On twitter this is often discussed.

Amazon requires a non compete for a period of time
Amazon has more customers
Amazon hides hardcore erotica
Amazon keeps a larger % of your sales.

Smashwords requires you identify works as adult but doesn't hide them.
Fewer customers.
You keep a greater % of your money
No non compete


Per my twitter writer friends they make more with smashwords than amazon.

Many of them say they don't make enough to pay the few hundred they spent for a cover, so there is that as well.

 

[lovecraft68]

Over the years amazon has been burying erotica deeper and deeper. I think at this point they see it as an annoyance, they'd really like to purge, but would take too much backlash.

Going back to around 2014 I was making a little over 1k a month there (with a lot of titles and been there since 2012) these days with close to twice the titles I'm barely cracking half that.

Part of it is more competition than ever, e-books don't go away, you're a pebble in the ocean there,

Part of it is their games of hiding keywords, controlling the algorithm and rankings. If you go into one of their exclusive scam programs like kindle unlimited you will get more visibility, but the book is free and you get pennies per download, if even that.

Then when the book goes for sale, no one buys it....maybe because it was free for 30 days? So you're better off with less visibility and actual sakes.

Hardcore did better there. Incest, rape even Bestiality did amazing there, then amazon kept changing the content rules to keep burying it because they would rather appease the 'morals' crowd than make money...but hey, they make enough money so they don't care.

Some authors are taking their hardcore stuff and picking romance as the category to avoid being dungeoned. It does work to a point, but anyone here who has been there for a long time knows it will lead to another witch hunt so they're risking their account in the long term.

That's some information, whether it helps or not, I don't know...but the answer to your question is despite any airs otherwise...the nastier the better on amazon. The kinks I mentioned sold like wildfire there.

Yes at this point because of amazon's games, people are tried of the hide and seek to find what they want and my sales on Smashwords and other venues are up significantly in the last year. I'm fine with that, those platforms deserve the money more than amazon.

As an aside, Barnes and Noble did the same thing a couple years ago, the new CEO was a "Family Values" type who banned incest and even a lot of BDSM....cost a site that has been on the brink of bankruptcy for years tens of thousands of dollars a month in sales.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

I have no experience with either. On twitter this is often discussed.

Amazon requires a non compete for a period of time
Amazon has more customers
Amazon hides hardcore erotica
Amazon keeps a larger % of your sales.

Smashwords requires you identify works as adult but doesn't hide them.
Fewer customers.
You keep a greater % of your money
No non compete


Per my twitter writer friends they make more with smashwords than amazon.

Many of them say they don't make enough to pay the few hundred they spent for a cover, so there is that as well.

You don't have to participate in Kindle Select if you don't want too. It's not required. I don't. Of course I don't know how many more views I would get if I did as I'm not willing to sign over the rights to my stuff to Amazon. I publish my stuff at both Amazon and Smashwords.

 

[R. Richard]

You don't have to participate in Kindle Select if you don't want too. It's not required. I don't. Of course I don't know how many more views I would get if I did as I'm not willing to sign over the rights to my stuff to Amazon. I publish my stuff at both Amazon and Smashwords.

I also publish my stuff at both Amazon and Smashwords. Sometimes one sells better, sometimes the other sells better

 

[KeithD]

For me, "just suggestive" niche books are selling better than either softcore or hardcore, and I write and publish extensively in those, plus literary (literary of mine sells the least, but I still write and publish it). Can only speak for my own portfolio, as I don't scrutinize what anyone else is doing.

 

[sporkfina]

Thanks for all your replies. Makes it a bit clearer now

 

[Ian_Snow]

Hey there. Just a little background on me so you know where I'm coming from on this. I have thirteen novel-length collections of short stories and novellas on Amazon, all of which are erotica and labeled as such. I have about four collections that haven't been dungeoned (which happens due to suggestive covers and certain keywords within the synopsis). All of my books are enrolled in Amazon Select, because the Kindle Unlimited page counts are where my real income is made.

I can safely tell you being dungeoned isn't as bad as it's made out to be. What really matters is subgenre and current trends in erotica fiction. You want to make sure your stories are properly categorized, and have keywords that reflect those kinks or subgenres well. Follow that up with stories or novels of a consistent nature - generally if someone buys your book and likes it, they'll want something similar and buy through.

Advertising erotica is a bit trickier, but there are some great ways to go about it. I find a great deal of success with advertisements on sites like Fussy Librarian and Book Doggy. By offering up a free day on your book (after you have multiple titles available, so people can buy through) and advertising on these sites, you'll get plenty of sales, assuming you have a good cover and an expertly crafted synopsis.

Good luck! It's a lot of fun.

 

[KeithD]

It's all relative. It's been less than twenty years since authors were wholly enslaved to mainstream publishers in getting what they write accessible by the public. On-line book production and selling is that young; my first book that I could have offer to the public without a mainstream publisher (although even it was selected by a publisher; the option of putting it up myself didn't exist even then) was launched in 2001, nineteen years ago. I've been writing for hopeful publication for fifty years.

If you can hold onto reasonable expectations of sales (which can be enhanced by producing a high volume of what you enjoy writing anyway) and readership, publishing and distributing through Amazon, Smashwords, B&N, Kobo, etc. is comparatively just fine. I can write and share in niches I never could before 2000. Having readers/buyers in the low thousands is just fine with me--I didn't do that well with what I got published in the mainstream before e-publishing/offering/distribution arrived.

 

[sporkfina]

I was just wondering if one could have two versions of the same story, you know like how the porn studios used to do in the 80s/90s - a hard core version for video and a softcore version for playboyTV etc to keep Amazon etc happy and get better visibility. Will that boost sales?
Writing for my own pleasure and my readers is the first priority, but times are tough and some extra spending money would be great, however little that might be.

 

[KeithD]

I was just wondering if one could have two versions of the same story, you know like how the porn studios used to do in the 80s/90s - a hard core version for video and a softcore version for playboyTV etc to keep Amazon etc happy and get better visibility. Will that boost sales?
Writing for my own pleasure and my readers is the first priority, but times are tough and some extra spending money would be great, however little that might be.

I'll never tell (but, yes)

 

[sporkfina]

Haha.. that's all I needed to know..

 

[KeithD]

Softcore erotica or hardcore? I'm thinking that if it is softcore, at least Amazon wont bury it deep. But then I've read some authors here mentioning that they get their bulk sales from SW and the like which are more accepting?

My results from over 200 titles at Amazon over several pen names and genres is that two sales centers do best, neither appreciably over the other: a bit less than even softcore lesbian and hardcore fetish GM. As far as distribution centers, I got in early on the wave, so Amazon has been the standard. Recently Smashwords and Kobe have been highly competitive with Amazon in sales.

 

[SyleusSnow]

Hint: Head over to eroticaauthors on Reddit for answers to all your questions.

 

[TadOverdon]

Amazon an exciting and profitable business model

^ Well, that's totally not a marketing bot.

Over the years amazon has been burying erotica deeper and deeper. I think at this point they see it as an annoyance, they'd really like to purge, but would take too much backlash.

I think they're disinclined to completely discontinue any product line that will bring a warm body to their site through a Google search.

 

[KeithD]

On the original question after more time/experience with this. I've found what sells "best" is on both margins. In my various treatments under various pen names extreme fetish and mild lesbian/Romance sell best over "medium core."

 

[butlerin]

Are transporting batteries still allowed? I wanted to order a vape from gearbest, and I wasn't able because the vape contains a battery, and batteries are restricted for transportation. I have ordered something that didn't contain any batteries, but it was delivered so slow. I always checked the epacket tracking and wondered why it is staying in the port of Singapore for such a long period of time. I got it after a month after I had done the order. I don't think this is a good result for such a popular website.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Are transporting batteries still allowed? I wanted to order a vape from gearbest, and I wasn't able because the vape contains a battery, and batteries are restricted for transportation. I have ordered something that didn't contain any batteries, but it was delivered so slow. I always checked the epacket tracking and wondered why it is staying in the port of Singapore for such a long period of time. I got it after a month after I had done the order. I don't think this is a good result for such a popular website.

Where are you and where are you ordering from that they don't allow batteries to be shipped? I've ordered batteries from Amazon, but I'm in the US.

As for the long delivery times from overseas... all the ships are sitting off the coast of California because of Joe Biden and his policies.