So it's been a little more than half a year, but what a half year! Lots of ups, lots of lows, but some things are just leveling off which is nice. I don't have nearly anything new written, at least not that's also finished, but thought I'd check in.
So for those who don't know, there's an adage called Sturgeon's law. It basically states "ninety percent of everything is crap." Meant to be applied originally to art but has generally been expanded over time, that truly "good" works make up an overwhelming minority.
Why am I bringing it up? Well, I have crossed over from just reading free stories to reading some of the paid stuff. I want to see how much of a difference there is, thinking in the back of my head that maybe some of my future work I might try to sell for some side something. Several of the early examples really did show "oh yes, there's a big jump, this is very well written." Some even annoyingly well written as a sometimes author myself, game recognize superior game.
But damn, there is a lot of crap out there. I cringe when I re-read what I've put out and there's a typo but I've seen typos in things people are actually asking money for, to say nothing of dry characterization and flat setting. "Oh, a billionaire/nobleman/warchief/boss wants me but he wants to dominate me, which I don't like but oh maybe I'll find out I do?" There are small libraries worth of stories where that is the sum total of the plot. And some of them are getting away with selling less than 10,000 word instalments as "books" in a series with that plot.
But maybe that's what sells and I'm the weird one for thinking there should be motivations and such with characters with enough personality they aren't just blank placeholders for the reader to self-insert. I've never been good at understanding what's popular and not.
Really makes me feel a lot more competent, and strangely appreciative of all the authors putting out work for free that absolutely is better than a whole lot of what is being sold.
I will assure anyone reading that I do not intend to lock the ending of this saga behind a paywall, I only got a following at all from these free stories and it would seem mean to change that. The worst I might do is if I write the events of the epilogue in more expanded form, *maybe* those might cost something if I get into that world, but I have mostly entertained the idea of selling stories for some of the other ideas I've had.
Mostly I just wanted to use my generic update to vent about what I'm finding in the state of paid erotica mediocrity. But hey, Sturgeon's law is holding up at least.
Having read both the free and paid material that is out there, yours is truly some of the best I have read. Most authors don't take the time to really develop their characters or their story line the way you have in the stories you have written. If you do at some point write stories for pay, you do have a reader in me. I wish you well and hope that we are able to read more about the girls you have written about here. Be well and Be Blessed.
ReplyDeleteYeap, indeed. I've seen t-shirts with more plot than some 'books' out there
ReplyDeleteThere are a few authors out there that I swear plagiarize their own works to create a new story and just change names and locations. I agree with spedoman - your writing is among the best of 90% of the "pay for" crap out there.
ReplyDeleteThis Sturgeon dude sounds like an asshole to me. Not exactly wrong though.
ReplyDeleteSo now that you know that you are on a relatively-worth-selling-level are you feeling more like a diva? ;) Kidding. Yep, because of this Covid business, the last year and a half have been depressing. Even writing fun stuff, like erotica is supposed to be, seems tough. So you know, if you feel energized one of these days, your readers are here.
Validation is always welcome, I can never get told I'm right too often! ;)
DeleteFor what it's worth I have some ideas I just have trouble with the follow-through sometimes. Even have some stories I've started but are sitting half realized.
Also in slight defense of Sturgeon, he was responding to a few critics that said Sci-fi books are less serious than other areas of fiction because they could show so many examples of low grade pulp in the genre. He responded by saying everyone puts out that kind of mediocrity, but over time we only remember the good books so it seems like fiction "back then" was better than now. That sci-fi is just too young a genre and so we see the good and the bad.
Which I tend to agree with, For every Dickens there were probably 10 hacks who probably wrote unimaginative stories for the masses whos names we don't remember. Just like for every Asimov there are a bunch of cliché pulp. And for all the bad erotica I've been encountering with my Kindle Unlimited subscription, there's a few authors who are actually very good not only at the writing itself but creating a unique situation that comes together well. Not going to be so bold as to compare it to Asimov or Dickens, but Captive in the Dark for example was very good.
You do have the better writing compared to some that is out there. Although, with all the books that involve what you mentioned above, someone...somewhere ought to write a parody of it. An employee at some company get a ticket with plus one option to an art gallery gala from her boss, and her boss says bring a girlfriend or whatever. She brings her boyfriend that she has been dating who...not a total asshole but in fact (insert generic horror sounds here) a nice guy. Things spiral out of control as she swept away by the charm of a billionaire (in very open relationship with his wife) and their wild secret lifestyle they live.
ReplyDeleteI actually remember seeing one that was pure parody. Something like the alpha billionaire tentacle motorcycle gang bread me, something along those line.
DeleteIt's weird seeing what is a staple and what is a rarity. Billionaire just makes sense, stories are a lot easier if you just have a limitless vault of money for your characters to use, I should know I'm guilty of that too. But the prominence of motorcycle gangs was a little surprising, I guess it's just shorthand for "bad boy" or something, but still.