Hi, I want to try my hand at writing some stories but would like to get some advice from others first.
I get the idea that erotica is sort of a niche now that 50 Shades is dead and gone, so is a new writer better off writing mainstream fiction? I hear that Lush writers don't get paid apart from the odd competition win, and have done some maths:
5,000 words per story
10 stories per win (say)
10 stories for $150 (£100)
10 x 5,000 words for £100
= £0.002 per word
I looked into internet copywriting for a little extra pin-money, and that pays around £0.02 per word, ten times as much as the above. Is this par for the course for erotica?
Lush apparently has a 'sister site' that does non-erotica. If anyone has been there then how does it compare?
ps Please don't reply that it's worth it for the fun of writing, that's already understood. My question is about the money side of writing erotica.
Worth it for a bit of fun / titillation, as a writing exercise and to enjoy the feedback and social interaction, sure.
For financial gain? To be perfectly frank, 99% of people will never make a dime from their erotica writing - not here, or anywhere else.
We shelved our ebook publishing section, because even after publishing 30+ erotic ebooks, our revenue didn't even reach $50 most months - even with the site's backing and all the traffic it gets.
The trouble is, every man and his dog, thinks writing erotica is easy, and Amazon is awash with hundreds of thousands of (primarily dross) titles. Unless you are an incredibly gifted marketer, you are going to struggle getting your name out there.
If you're looking to make money from your writing, I'd suggest you'd be better off getting qualified, then going into copywriting, journalism or editing.
You do of course hear of the odd success story, but most of the people I know who've made any kind of decent money from writing erotica, started churning out ebooks 5-10 years ago, when it was all rather novel.
What are you looking to achieve? A side income? Career in writing?
Writing is worth it to me, because it relaxes me. I agree with Nicola in the fact that most will not make a cent from writing. I own a small bookshop and I can promise you that fact. However, never lose your dreams, if that is what you aspire for. I write only for fun.
There is very small market in Erotica, but writing it will enlarge one's vocabulary and their hackles. I doubt if I sell more than one or two a month in my bookshop.
It all depends what you mean by 'worth it'. There are other rewards than money or fame. I get a great deal of personal enjoyment in writing about my fantasies — and nit just the mental satisfaction — and it is an extra pleasure to arouse similar feelings in other people. When it comes to poetry however, it is deadly serious, and the satisfaction there comes from knowing I might actually have produced a work of art.
I published an erotica novel in 2012, I think. It was at a small publisher that was just starting up and looking for titles.
And yes, there's a thrill associated with getting a royalty check. However, I've made probably made at least five times those numbers by winning contests on Lush. So, if 'worth it' means an hourly rate that isn't in the pennies range, no.
If only I could write the way I dream it, I would be my best fan. Somewhere in between paragraphs and stanzas, my mind wanders off track. Now if Lush only offered a writer's compass, I would be a good explorer.
There is no money to be made in writing erotica. Why would a person pay money to read sex stories when there are millions online absolutely free? It's mostly done by amateurs as a hobby, for a bit of fun.
If people are looking at making money from writing, erotica is not the way to go. 50 Shades was a freak one-off; it'll never happen again.
The quick response is clear. There is little money to be made writing erotica. For the vast majority of writers it is more of a hobby. I published an ebook of stories in Spanish. It has had continuous sales for the past four years. But in all that time the grand total for me in returns is just over $38.00, so no, I don't see myself making money in erotica. Also, I doubt if writing an ebook in English would make much difference.
I probably have one of the better records when it comes to comps and it's still not "worth" it money wise.
The one time it was worth it was when a new girlfriend discovered it and read it and the first thing she said was "...you want to put it in my butt." So that made that easy. That was the only time I was like wow this writing nonsense worked out.
Is it worth it? As a challenge to put my thoughts into words and engage with complete strangets to tell that story? Abso-bloody-lutely. I just wish I had more time (I have two stories 80% finished at the moment).
Making money from writing erotica? I thought about it but to be honest only for the novelty of trying to.
Making a living from writing erotica? No way Jose.
I think it's incredibly hard to make money as a writer full stop. I have an old school friend who has dedicated the last twenty years of his life to writing and is only just able to quit his day job. He writes children's books and has loads published but it's taken this long for him to get noticed.
It's all about standing out from the crowd and that's really hard to achieve. Getting your work taken on by a large, established publishing house is the best way to go but competition is fierce. Good luck with it.
Financially, its not, but it could lead to main-stream writing. I sell very few 'pure erotic' books in my shop. However, I write it for the pure enjoyment. My rewards are seeing it posted.
