So as I've been looking for new work I've also been familiarizing myself a lot more with the world of paid erotica. I am not ready to do a full relaunch of myself as an actual professional writer rather than the ameture I still feel I am, but I will absolutly keep this place as informed as anywhere.
And in preparing, not only has Kindle Unlimited just been so helpful but there are also a good many books written by published authors about how they've managed to do that. How they might suggest others do that. And even though they'd be direct competition they all have been surprisingly helpful in their books, probably cause me reading their books gets them paid regardless of what I end up doing. And one thing they all agree on, read as much as possible especially of the books that make up the top sellers.
I still maintain a lot of it isn't great, and that there are more than a few armature writers that write better, but I'm also realizing a shift I hadn't made by my last post is that if I want it to be a business, it's important to put out what people like not necessarily what I like most.
I also feel a weird amount like I'm reading so much I should almost start just a recommendations list, but that's maybe more work than I'd want to actually do. But while there's a lot of tropes I'm probably not going to touch (so much incest content!) I am trying to get into the headspace of producing the kind of thing people seem to be liking and put my own spin (and hopefully skill) on it. Not pure vanilla, still plenty of D/s kink, but maybe with a bit more focus. I've planned out some stories and have even started writing even if it's not been near the speed I'd need to do to be more competitive since it's largely a volume/frequency game. So smaller more frequent stories rather than longer less frequent.
I also think reading as much as I have been is messing with me, my thoughts seem to drift to the lude so much faster than normal. Anyway that's basically as much as I will update for now, also if you are into it Smashwords has a sale for the month of July that I have been taking advantage of and if any of you like me crave this stuff there is a lot to like.
take your time and navigate it at your own pace, your audience will find you when you're ready!
ReplyDeleteExcited to see what you come up with. It's only fair that you get paid for the amazing stories.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who has helped a friend get his fantasy book published, I would recommend being thorough about how and where you publish. Smashwords is a good starting place and they do have a lot of material. I would talk to any publishers first and be up front about what you want. I would also make sure you hold the copyrights to any stories and any story ideas rather than selling them to any publisher. You are an amazing author and you will do amazing. Move at your own pace and your readers will support you. Be Blessed!!
ReplyDeleteBecause I was born in the 80s, the tiny punk in my head is screaming "Don't do commercial, commercial is crap, be authentic!" Of course the tiny punk is going to die poor. And probably unhappy too. But he is not wrong. ;)
ReplyDeleteSee I was more of a pop punk fan, so less reservations about "selling out" especially when I could certainly "use the money" to "buy things I want/need" if I went down this road.
DeleteWhile I agree with the "Don't sell out, be authentic" sentiment, usually what we like to do doesn't pay the bills very well.
ReplyDeleteAs this type of publishing process relies on bulk, long, niche works will sell much less than short stories filled with common popular tropes, like the mentioned incest, the cowboy threesomes, or the werebeasts (created to skirt around bestiality bans)
Whatever is the route you choose, you are certainly talented enough to do well (maybe even too much, given some of the filth that sells). I'm sure the filth YOU write will be much better than those.
But, even if only in private, keep writing what you enjoy. Just doing what the costumers want because of money saps the joy out of any creative process...
I wish you great success, and please keep us in the loop of your endeavours.
My problem of late (and by late I mean last few years) is I'm much better at building a world populated with characters doing things all in my head, my challenge has been getting that translated down to words on a page. Cause it's not the typing itself I enjoy, it's the fantasy, the typing is just a means of sharing it.
DeleteBut I've got an interesting one in my head now. And I've kind of plotted out years of her life, from the start of college all the way clear into adulthood. Focusing in on just one protagonist to me makes the journey more interesting but I don't know if everyone else agrees. It seems like most writers make a new set of characters for every thing they write, but that does have the advantage of letting you start at any given point without feeling lost.I don't know yet if I'm going to stick with her for so long, but it's also a change from the multi-threaded work of Bound Friends to just have one person. Yes, she will have other people in her life that can carry on, but it's all from her pov. basically at least, not literal pov as there is some omnipotent narration.