Sex Sells. Magic Fails.

5973 Views 64 Replies 42 Participants Last post by katrina46, Mar 25, 2015

William_Stadler

Discussion Starter · Mar 21, 2015

Hey, so this is a quick and easy question. Feel free to chime in. I graze the boards from time to time, and what I've noticed-or haven't noticed-is that I don't see a lot of new "other" writers breaking out like the erotica writers. Now, granted, I understand why, hence the title of this post, but…I'm just wondering: are there any new break-out writers in other genres that are sex-free?

I guess an even better qualifier would be: are there any other writers out there who don't have sex in their books and don't advertise with sexual images?

As a writer of fantasy, I'm just wondering if readers have ventured away from newbie non-senusal writers and only read the erotica. Let me know your thoughts.

For the record, I'm not knocking erotica. I'm just wondering if it's the only genre that catches on these days, because I've seen a handful of writers post here about their success; however, it has typically be in the erotica genre and perhaps some other type of subgenre like erotica/sci-fi or erotica/fantasty or some type of hybrid.

1 - 20 of 65 Posts

Heather Hamilton-Senter

· #2 · Mar 21, 2015

No sex and I've done well - though I've been told my cover images is sensual, which wasn't actually my intent LOL.

I'm in YA fantasy though and that is another market from regular fantasy.

♨

· #3 · Mar 21, 2015

I think it only seems that way because erotica is a popular market right now with the "50 Shades" movie and all that.

I doubt very much that readers of other genres have suddenly stopped reading their favorites and switched to erotica. Perhaps some new readers are less hesitant to start reading erotica because it appears to be more socially acceptable right now, but I really don't think that readers of other genres have suddenly made the switch.

For example, when cozy mysteries were the go-to genre, I don't think fans of science fiction suddenly went, "Gee, everyone's reading these cozy mysteries so I think I'll stop reading these space operas I enjoy and start reading about small town murders solved by pastry chefs."

I just don't see that happening.

Amanda M. Lee

· #4 · Mar 21, 2015

My main stuff sells well, and while the characters have sex, it all stops at the bedroom door. None of my images on my main stuff are sexy. I do have a pen name for romantic suspense, and that has sex. It's still a work in progress, though.

cinisajoy

· #5 · Mar 21, 2015

Shall I name names?
Better yet, other than EL James can you name me an erotic breakout author?

Briteka

· #6 · Mar 21, 2015

To be honest, erotica doesn't really sell well anymore either. There's still some erotica authors left, but most of us have moved into erotic romance and other types of romance.

Annabel Chant

· #7 · Mar 21, 2015

You can always look at the authors pages, here on KBoards. It might give you some idea of what sells. I look at it fairly frequently, when I'm feeling particularly demotivated :-[

:-[

The only thing is, I'm not sure they are very often updated, so they might not be particularly accurate. It's an interesting read, anyway

Navigator

· #8 · Mar 21, 2015

cinisajoy said:
Shall I name names?
Better yet, other than EL James can you name me an erotic breakout author?

Does Selena Kitt not count?

Honestly as much as I love reading Erotica (even about to start writing some of my own) I have a hard time remembering author names. :-[

:-[

Bluebonnet

· #9 · Mar 21, 2015

William_Stadler said:
Hey, so this is a quick and easy question. Feel free to chime in. I graze the boards from time to time, and what I've noticed--or haven't noticed--is that I don't see a lot of new "other" writers breaking out like the erotica writers. Now, granted, I understand why, hence the title of this post, but...I'm just wondering: are there any new break-out writers in other genres that are sex-free?

If you're reaching that conclusion based on what you read here in Writers' Café, it could be that the erotica writers just post more often about their sales success than writers of other genres.

I think plenty of writers in various genres are successful. See all the threads about people writing full time and making good money, and look at the types of books in their sig lines.

CJAnderson

· #10 · Mar 21, 2015

Desire for sex is powerful in most people and always will be. E-books make it easy to indulge compared to the old days of purchasing erotic magazines in a local store. Those who were ashamed to do it out in public can now do it with the click of an electronic wireless device in total secrecy.

C. Rysalis

· #11 · Mar 21, 2015

Hmmm. None of the Indies I know to be doing well have any sexual content whatsoever in their books.

cinisajoy

· #12 · Mar 21, 2015

Cryptic Fawn said:
Does Selena Kitt not count?

Honestly as much as I love reading Erotica (even about to start writing some of my own) I have a hard time remembering author names.

I thought of her myself, I know she makes good money but as far as a breakout author, no. The reason is she has been at this a long time and has many titles and a website.

I hate to admit it but she is one I have never read.

Gentleman Zombie

· #13 · Mar 21, 2015

Erotica isn't a get rich quick genre.

In fact, it's been saturated with internet marketing types and poor writing. Which has led many readers to be very picky about who they choose to read.

You've probably seen a few paranormal and erotic romance authors strike it big. But those genres have a huge following.

And FSOG definitely made erotic romance mainstream. So it's quite popular right now.

But honestly your books look gorgeous. They have great covers, nice reviews, and the samples seem well-written. I'm thinking you might just be facing a marketing problem not a genre problem.

Maybe seek out some advice from people doing well in your genre? They might have some ideas on how to grow your audience.

See less See more

Briteka

· #14 · Mar 21, 2015

Selena Kitt has moved almost exclusively to erotic romance.

katetanner

· #15 · Mar 21, 2015

Briteka said:
To be honest, erotica doesn't really sell well anymore either. There's still some erotica authors left, but most of us have moved into erotic romance and other types of romance.

I echo this. A few of the erotic authors i am familiar with have moved over to erotic romance. Romance has always been a big seller.

My two cents, I think E.L. James kind of made it ok for women to sit around in reading groups and dinner or cocktail or wine parties and talk about their love for erotic or steamy stories.

However, I feel that 50 shades books are more romance (erotic romance) than erotic, i'm not trying to be offensive but I've read steamier romance books than Fifty shades of grey.

Navigator

· #16 · Mar 21, 2015

Briteka said:
Selena Kitt has moved almost exclusively to erotic romance.

That doesn't surprise me. My first trilogy is an erotic romance and so is the one I'm working on right now.
The shorter 100% pure erotica piece I'm about to start is really just something to write during the weekends. But I take my longer works more seriously, my first trilogy is still making me money, even several months after not releasing anything.

KelliWolfe

· #17 · Mar 21, 2015

50 Shades is not erotica. It barely qualifies as erotic romance.

With erotica it's fairly easy to make a bit of money right off the bat, just because the demand is so huge. The vast majority of people writing erotica never get past that initial stage, though. Unless you're writing novel-length erotica that's *really* erotica like Selena Kitt's longer books you're never going to develop a significant fan base. Your chances of ever having a breakout book are essentially zero. The genre is saturated with internet marketer/warrior forum types who have dozens of ghostwriters churning out piles of 4-7k cookie cutter titles a month. Then even if you do get to a point where you're making a few thousand a month on your catalog you end up running in place just to keep at that level of income because of the huge influx of new writers looking to cash in on KU and the fast churn in erotica.

Title for title my romances do better than my erotica. They sell better overall and they stay below the 100k rank much longer despite the fact that I've got erotica titles consistently in the top 100 lists and I've never come anywhere close to getting into a romance top 100 list. This is why the writers who start out in erotica who can actually write tend to migrate to other genres; if you're any good at writing and willing to work on longer titles there's far more money to be had elsewhere. The trick is that you actually have to be good, because the readers in other genres won't put up with the garbage that makes up most of the erotica genre. They tend to expect things like punctuation and grammar usage at levels above Dick and Jane.

See less See more

Briteka

· #18 · Mar 21, 2015

KelliWolfe said:
50 Shades is not erotica. It barely qualifies as erotic romance.

With erotica it's fairly easy to make a bit of money right off the bat, just because the demand is so huge. The vast majority of people writing erotica never get past that initial stage, though. Unless you're writing novel-length erotica that's *really* erotica like Selena Kitt's longer books you're never going to develop a significant fan base. Your chances of ever having a breakout book are essentially zero. The genre is saturated with internet marketer/warrior forum types who have dozens of ghostwriters churning out piles of 4-7k cookie cutter titles a month. Then even if you do get to a point where you're making a few thousand a month on your catalog you end up running in place just to keep at that level of income because of the huge influx of new writers looking to cash in on KU and the fast churn in erotica.

Title for title my romances do better than my erotica. They sell better overall and they stay below the 100k rank much longer despite the fact that I've got erotica titles consistently in the top 100 lists and I've never come anywhere close to getting into a romance top 100 list. This is why the writers who start out in erotica who can actually write tend to migrate to other genres; if you're any good at writing and willing to work on longer titles there's far more money to be had elsewhere. The trick is that you actually have to be good, because the readers in other genres won't put up with the garbage that makes up most of the erotica genre. They tend to expect things like punctuation and grammar usage at levels above Dick and Jane.

This is all completely true. We really need a "like" button!

dgrant

· #19 · Mar 21, 2015

Do you remember a while back, when we had a giant drama-llama rodeo (they kick, bite, and spit! stay out of range!) over people posting 1-star revenge reviews to authors who were open about their success and sales numbers here? That would be about the time a bunch of authors pulled their sigs in self-protection, and some of the successful authors went from regular posting to rare. Heck, we're not that successful, and we got hit a couple times right after I posted on a thread. (Rosalind, thanks for still being here!)

After that, the board skewed very heavily to the erotica authors, many of whom didn't post their sigs and didn't care. We lost a lot of them when Harvey had to enforce the google adwords restrictions in order to keep the board running (Thanks for keeping the lights on, Harvey!), but fortunately, we kept some of 'em who are awesome about sharing help, advice, and humor (like Yodareads. Thanks for hanging out

)

The result is a mixture of authors that may or may not reflect the actual proportion of who's in indie, or who's successful. I figure, I just keep coming here, enjoying the company, encouraging folks, contributing what I can, and we'll see a rising tide lifting all boats. Who knows what this place will look like in a year?

See less See more

Peter Spenser

· #20 · Mar 21, 2015

Heather Hamilton-Senter said:
I've been told my cover images are sensual, which wasn't actually my intent LOL.

You are joking, right? As I'm looking over all of your covers, you say that they weren't intended to be sensual?

THAT is the LOL part!

1 - 20 of 65 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.