# writing erotica for money - how to get started? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 4, 2006, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-erotica-for-money-how-to-get-started/382880 "2006-12-04T23:04:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Malienation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Malienation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malienation)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-erotica-for-money-how-to-get-started/382880/21 "2006-12-08T05:04:22Z")
Frankly, I think you are wasting your time, unless you would write it anyway for fun and figure you might as well get paid. The quantity and quality available for free (best bet: [http://www.asstr.org](http://www.asstr.org)) is simply too great. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-erotica-for-money-how-to-get-started/382880/22 "2006-12-08T05:30:25Z")
The mostly short pieces at sites like [asstr.org](http://asstr.org) and Literotica resemble the novel-length books sold over Amazon the same way that fan fiction resembles officially produced Star Trek and Star Wars books. It’s not just that quality is better, because they’re produced by professionals. The tone and contents are different. Erotica tries to be well written and not a series of sex scenes (although that can vary greatly by the individual publisher and line.) Writers from one couldn’t just move over to the other any more than non-published writers on the Dope could suddenly start churning books novels and nonfiction. And specialty erotica - women’s, lesbian, gay, African-American, f&sf - need writers who approach the genre very differently than the mostly male, mostly clichéd writers on those sites. But it’s a lousy paying market and always has been. A few people can do it. Few can do it for very long. And **Stainz** , “I’m thinking of writing and selling customized erotica to meet someone’s specific requests, desires, etc.” There’s really a market for this? Who and where? ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-erotica-for-money-how-to-get-started/382880/23 "2006-12-11T04:47:39Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] But it’s a lousy paying market and always has been. A few people can do it. Few can do it for very long. And **Stainz** , “I’m thinking of writing and selling customized erotica to meet someone’s specific requests, desires, etc.” There’s really a market for this? Who and where? [/QUOTE] There seems to be [some market.](http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=%22custom+erotica%22&btnG=Search&meta=) ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-erotica-for-money-how-to-get-started/382880/24 "2006-12-11T04:49:36Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] Erotica tries to be well written and not a series of sex scenes (although that can vary greatly by the individual publisher and line.) [/QUOTE] I agree. There are so many writers out there, editors can be very choosy about what they accept. They want well-written work, and the level of professionalism in the editing has been high–in my experience. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-erotica-for-money-how-to-get-started/382880/25 "2006-12-11T17:37:05Z")
[QUOTE=Savannah] There seems to be [some market.](http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=%22custom+erotica%22&btnG=Search&meta=) [/QUOTE] Hmm. I checked out several of the links, though, and there’s less there than meets the eye. You wouldn’t expect a site on the first page to have “coming soon” as the only wordage on both the Samples and Payment pages. Another site had samples of 1500 and 3000 words stories but not a 5000 word one despite a copyright of 2003. Here’s one more response: > [@](#): > > Story sale volume varies wildly from month to month. Some months, only a couple of orders come in. Other months, particularly if Custom Erotica Source has received some publicity, as many as 12 orders might come in. And that’s for an illustrated story, which would probably generate better response. That quote is from Sage Vivant. If you remove her from the search, the Google total goes from 11,800 to 675. So 94% of the searches go to the industry’s one superstar who may do a couple of stories a month. There’s no there there. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-erotica-for-money-how-to-get-started/382880/26 "2006-12-11T18:54:06Z")
You’re probably right. Sage’s is the only one I’ve ever heard of. Scratch that (custom erotica) as likely a workable market for an aspiring writer. ---
**Author:** ![Stainz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Stainz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stainz)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-erotica-for-money-how-to-get-started/382880/27 "2006-12-11T22:14:17Z")
Darn, guess I’ll have to take the long route and try to get published. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2014, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-erotica-for-money-how-to-get-started/382880/29 "2014-05-03T20:57:08Z")
While this is a zombie thread, it’s worth pointing out that a not very good erotica novel has become a bestseller since then. So it’s certainly possible. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-erotica-for-money-how-to-get-started/382880/33 "2014-05-04T00:47:51Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I have no reason to assume keke34 wrote these books (which are credited to two different authors). Wanna bet that Ava Bonde is Molina Storm is keke34? ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-erotica-for-money-how-to-get-started/382880/36 "2014-05-04T03:00:59Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > While this is a zombie thread, it’s worth pointing out that a not very good erotica novel has become a bestseller since then. So it’s certainly possible. Yep, and seeing it in my mom’s possession was fifty kinds of wrong. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-erotica-for-money-how-to-get-started/382880/37 "2014-05-04T03:15:33Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > While this is a zombie thread, it’s worth pointing out that a not very good erotica novel has become a bestseller since then. So it’s certainly possible. If you’re talking about Twilight, it’s probably the worst erotica ever written. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-erotica-for-money-how-to-get-started/382880/38 "2014-05-04T03:39:49Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > If you’re talking about Twilight, it’s probably the worst erotica ever written. I was referring to Fifty Shades of Grey - Twilight fanfiction with the serial numbers filed off. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-erotica-for-money-how-to-get-started/382880/39 "2014-05-04T07:01:22Z")
Herewith:\* [http://www.westword.com/2014-02-13/news/virginia-wade-bigfoot-porn/](http://www.westword.com/2014-02-13/news/virginia-wade-bigfoot-porn/) The tale of a writer who broke new ground with bigfoot porn and had more than 100,000 downloads in a year. The link should be to the online version of westword’s 2/13/14 issue, in case it doesn’t work. \*I have to have Internet Explorer installed? On my desktop? Or I can’t do this link thing? What the hell? Internet Explorer is the devil. And I do have it installed. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-erotica-for-money-how-to-get-started/382880/40 "2014-05-04T08:54:45Z")
You could probably make more money _performing_ erotica for money. As, y’know… a prostitute. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-erotica-for-money-how-to-get-started/382880/41 "2014-05-04T11:07:53Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Reported post by **keke34** as spam. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’d question whether it’s spam. The OP asked a question about how to do something and keke34 pointed out some books that offer guidance on the subject. I have no reason to assume keke34 wrote these books (which are credited to two different authors). > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Well, what is **keke34** ’s posting history? He/she/it has _never_ posted before and his/her/its first post is to flog products that aren’t free? Sounds like spam to me. It’s not as if someone who has an active account suggested these books. > [@Musicat](#): > > Wanna bet that Ava Bonde is Molina Storm is keke34? > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Maybe keke34 is Jeff Bezos trying to push Amazon sales. It’s been settled. It’s spam. What a turn-on. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-erotica-for-money-how-to-get-started/382880/42 "2014-05-04T14:05:34Z")
It might be spam, but I see no reason for assuming it is one. I’m more interested in the reference to “50 Shades of Grey.” I mean, it’s success has hardly gone unnoticed, especially among romance writers, or EROTIC romance writers as a lot of them now call themselves. Go to Amazon and do a search for “erotic romance” in kindle books and you’ll find legions of such books, most of them self-published, but not all. But here’s the thing. Most of those erotic romances are just bog-standard romances with some explicit sex or some very mildly kinky sex thrown it. It’s pretty obvious that there are a lot of romance writers who figure that they can just alter their standard stories a tiny bit. The thing that makes Fifty Shades different is that their kinky relationship is front and center of the story. It’s not a few bits added to a standard romance, it’s a kinky romance from start to finish. That’s the obvious difference between Fifty Shades and other erotic romances, and it’s also why, despite the technical writing flaws, the book has proven so popular with romance readers. It is a true romance, charting the difficulties a strong-willed woman who loves submissive sex has in getting a strong-willed but damaged billionaire to overcome some flaws he’s developed as a result of a traumatic childhood. But it’s also a kinky romance, Ana and Christian LIKE doing all that kinky stuff that makes the romance erotic. It combines the two seamlessly. THAT is the sense in which the author of Fifty Shades of Grey is much better writer than her compatriots. So there IS a lot of money to be made writing erotic romances, if you can manage what E.L. James did. Because most of the many, many erotic romance writers are missing the boat … they have not moved as far, psychologically, as most erotic romance readers. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-erotica-for-money-how-to-get-started/382880/43 "2014-05-04T14:10:18Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > You could probably make more money _performing_ erotica for money. > > As, y’know… a prostitute. You are absolutely right. That’s where most of the money is in the sex industry at the entry level. Unfortunately, job requirements for prostitution are daunting for many people. You have to relatively young and attractive, for example, and you have to be OK with having sex with people of many different backgrounds and appearances. It’s no the easy career path it would appear to be. So let’s not give out false hope, Bryan … though I’m sure that wasn’t your intention. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-erotica-for-money-how-to-get-started/382880/44 "2014-05-04T14:50:25Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > It might be spam, but I see no reason for assuming it is one. First-time poster? Post links to outside content, especially content that costs money? Post revives dormant thread? Any one of those by themselves might not indicate spam, but together, you “see no reason for assuming it is”? You are _far_ too trusting. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-erotica-for-money-how-to-get-started/382880/45 "2014-05-04T15:07:20Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > First-time poster? > Post links to outside content, especially content that costs money? > Post revives dormant thread? > > Any one of those by themselves might not indicate spam, but together, you “see no reason for assuming it is”? You are _far_ too trusting. All those are indicative that it may be spam, but they don’t constitute proof. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-erotica-for-money-how-to-get-started/382880/46 "2014-05-04T15:14:05Z")
This is not a court of law; the only proof needed is the judgment of the moderators and administrators of the board. They were apparently convinced. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-erotica-for-money-how-to-get-started/382880.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-erotica-for-money-how-to-get-started/382880.md?page=3)