fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2551 ]

[ SECRET POST #2551 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2551 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

__________________________________________________

02.

[Resident Evil movies]

__________________________________________________

03. http://i43.tinypic.com/bg9zlf.gif
[moving .gif]

__________________________________________________

[ ----- SPOILERY SECRETS AHEAD ----- ]

04. [SPOILERS for something but idk what]

__________________________________________________

05. [SPOILERS for Frozen]

__________________________________________________

06. [SPOILERS for Bioshock Infinite]

__________________________________________________

[ ----- TRIGGERY SECRETS AHEAD ----- ]

07. [WARNING for rape]

[Martin Freeman]

__________________________________________________

08. [WARNING for rape]

__________________________________________________

09. [WARNING for domestic abuse]

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 000 secrets from Secret Submission Post #363.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

So, I read an article a few days ago about a group of people that write porn ebooks (monster porn specifically) and they talked about their success. My husband and I started joking about him writing some since he was looking to make money on the side, and, well, joking started becoming serious conversation. We figure that he could write and I could actually use my English degree and edit, as well as use my design talent to make covers (though they will definitely not be in my portfolio hurr hurr). I know he won't become the next E.L. James unless by some brilliant stroke of luck, but an extra few dollars a month wouldn't hurt our bottom line.

Having never delved into that world myself (serious here, I just Google my fap material), I'm curious if anyone here has any experience in it. If so, what do you look for when choosing a book? What sort of things are out there? Is quality an issue, or just fap-ability? Has anyone here actually tried to publish porn via Amazon or Smashwords? Is there just a deluge of utter crap and we're crazy for even considering it?

I've done it! I haven't had super success at it, but I'm also just kind of starting out/haven't actually put a lot into it. I have made a little bit of money. The Something Awful thread got taken down unfortunately, it was really informative. There is a community on dreamwidth for it but I'm not sure if it's exactly kosher to share it on a public forum? Anyone know?

General advice:
- Study the trends! Do what the popular best sellers are doing. Look up Selena Kitt, she has a ton of advice.
- But also: write what you like. If you're not enjoying something it's never gonna get done.
- Smashwords SUCKS, use it only so that you can generate a coupon to give to other writers so that they can review your stuff.
- People do like quality but like, it doesn't have to be that great a story? Just make it sexy, the plot can be tacked on. Generally they like good characters. Make sure you can spell and stuff. You have an English degree? You can write well enough for this.
- Good covers are important, but if you have design skills I'm sure you'll be okay. Study the covers of the bestsellers. Make sure the fonts you're using are free for commercial use, not free for personal use. Shop around for stock photos, sometimes you can find a good one for a low price on another site.
- Be REALLY CAREFUL with not linking your real name to your pen name. I fucked up and had to delete that pen name and pull my stories, which were doing fairly well.
- Remember that Amazon could pull the plug on this at any time and nothing is set in stone, so the time to do it is now.
- Think of a good pseudonym that doesn't sound like a porn name. This is just based on reviews I've seen saying "THIS WAS CRAP, I should have known from the author's stupid name!"

Hi! Do you mind sharing the SomethingAwful link anyway? I want to see if there is a cached version saved somewhere.

Is the community word-of-mouth/invite only or is it public? If it is public, I can't think of any reasons to not link to it. Hope that helps!

The thread has been archived, so it would cost a membership plus the archives upgrade, like $20 total, to read. The community isn't public.

Ouch, that's too bad about the SA thread. And I understand not sharing a private community. Thank you for replying!

I AM SO SORRY I JUST NEEDED TO LOOK UP ONE MORE SOURCE THEN I'D BE DONE BUT STUPID FIREFOX CRASHED AGAIN AND I SHOULD HAVE LEARNED TO WORK WITH MY SHITTY-ASS COMPUTER AND WROTE MY LONG REPLIES ON ANOTHER PROGRAM FIRST I

Stay tuned. Your reply is coming. With slightly more coherancy the second-time-around, perhaps.

Lazarus for Firefox & Chrome. It saves your form data in case of a crash.

OMG THANK YOU I just installed it. You've no idea how much time this will save me thank you thank you thank you!

I do it! I was pretty successful almost immediately, but that's not normal.

Anyway, stuff that worked for me: focus--I write only m/m, and on top of that, stuff that cascades into the same kink group: size kink, D/s, double penetration, knotting, fisting, age difference, h/c, dub-conny stuff, sex slaves, etc. This helps make sure that a reader who likes one of my stories will kink on all the rest, too.

Know the banned/borderline topics, and just don't go there at all. Non-con, pseudo incest, and pseudo bestiality are always under threat of being taken down. They are not a great place to expend effort unless you kink on it super hard, because the frustration will rapidly drive you nuts.

Quality is NOT an issue. Your work can be painfully rough and still sell. Practice makes perfect, and it's way more profitable to sell your practice than to agonize over it.

Short is okay, but I've had a lot of luck writing stories in the 10000 word range. I write about 3000 words of plot and 7000 words of super graphic porn, then end it. Remember that it's wank material, and lewder it is, the better. Make it as filthy as you can and you'll be giving your readers what they paid for.

Out of curiousity, where would one find your stories? From the sounds of it you're writing all my kinks.

Send me a PM and I'll give you a link and a coupon for free copies. I'd prefer not to have my pen name and fandom name linked in public.

Sorry about the snarfu above. So. I'm not actually in the business but I've followed a number of people over the years who have self-published. This a reader's PoV with some interjections of what I've seen from the self-publishing world, which may very well be out of date now since I haven't been keeping up with people as well as I did before.

What do you look for when choosing a book?
I tend to read stories with my favorite narrative kinks. For example, I seem to read a large amount of fantastical stories with magic/dragons/werewolves/vampires/demons/etc. and pan high-school romances. I have a similar practice when looking for porn.

I can read fanfics by ESL authors with spelling and grammar errors if I find the concept interesting enough. For paid stories, basic English is a requirement (but there is a chance I may pay for it even if there are a few mistakes I'm sorry). Beyond that, if the blurb interests me, it interests me. If it doesn't, it doesn't.

What sort of things are out there? Is quality an issue, or just fap-ability?
There's everything out there. M/M, F/M, M/F, F/F, multisomes, aliens, tentacles, large age differences, diaperplay, EVERYTHING. There are stories with absolutely awful blurbs that made me want to buy them just to see if the rest of the story is as advertised, if you know what I mean.

Has anyone here actually tried to publish porn via Amazon or Smashwords?
~~I know someone who is currently publishing short stories on Smashwords. I've sent her a message and asked her to share a few thoughts if she's available.~~

Cross that out - she delivered. :)

Is there just a deluge of utter crap and we're crazy for even considering it?
There is a lot of crap out there, yes. Are you crazy for considering it? It depends how you view it and what your goals are. For example, if you are trying to make this your main source of income without any experience then maybe, yeah, it isn't the best idea in the world. If this is a side project for you and your husband to have fun together working on and the money is a bonus, then why not?

Other thoughts:
Audiences
As most of the self-publishing authors I am aware of are found through either recommendations for my narrative kinks or through reading their fanfiction, I am not familiar with how sales and advertisement work for authors who are new to self-publishing with no previous audiences to build on.

The other contingent of self-publishing authors I am aware of are ones who blur the line between readers and authors too much. They respond very personally and negatively to reader reviews and become infamous rather than famous. Besides keeping personal and pennames separate, I strongly suggest adapting a very professional attitude should you wish to reply to reviews.

Amazon or Smashwords?
If I remembered right, Ann Sommerville made a few charts years ago showing her sales number from Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble and a few other sites I can't remember now. She sold about 1.5 times the number of stories on Amazon as she did on Smashwords, but the profits from Amazon was only slightly more than the profits from Smashwords (because Amazon kept a larger percentage of all sales than Smashwords did IIRC). She decided to keep on selling books on Amazon even though she couldn't make as much profit as if those sales came from Smashwords, because Amazon was able to reached a wider audience than Smashwords.

Now, though Ann Sommerville was not a NY best seller author, she was not an unknown either. She often weighed in on current issues on Dear Author and Goodreads. She built up a loyal reader base over the years. She had a catalogue of a dozen (or more) books and was one of the best-selling authors on Smashwords at the time that post was made. Despite all that, she still thought it was worth it to take the cut from Amazon and publish there.

Her post was made 5-6 years ago. The internet has changed a lot since then and Smashwords sales figures may or may not top Amazon's now. I don't know. But one thing does not seem to have changed - Amazon appears to be to be censoring self-publishing stories again (look for entries around mid-October, 2013). I believe Ann Sommerville considered pulling her stories from Amazon because of censorship as well. I really wish I can find the original post but I don't think it made the migration from LJ to her professional blog. Anyway, keep in mind that though Amazon = bigger audience, Amazon also = pull your smutty book down at their own whim.

Pricing
Don't undersell your work. Take a look at what other stories similar to yours are priced and price yours accordingly. Diane Duane, a successful published author, experimented with the pricing an original, novel-length ebook. She found that higher pricing actually sold better. The comments on that page has some good points on marketing theory and consumerism that may interest you.

Uh, that's a lot of words. Sorry. And sorry it took so long to post this comment - looking for that last link was what crashed my browser. I hope there is some good food for thought here! :)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ SECRET POST #2551 ]

Porn ebooks

Re: Porn ebooks

Re: Porn ebooks

Re: Porn ebooks

Re: Porn ebooks

Re: Porn ebooks

Re: Porn ebooks

Re: Porn ebooks

Re: Porn ebooks

Re: Porn ebooks

Re: Porn ebooks

Re: Porn ebooks