Posts
For those of you emailing me that I have been
going over the requested limit.
Here is Xena to my rescue! :-)
To Those of You Who Are Looking for an Insecure Writer's Support Post, here it is:
DOES X-RATED SEX MEAN SALES FOR YOUR NOVEL?
Readers are snapping up E.L. James' Fifty Shades erotic trilogy faster than billionaire Christian Grey can handcuff his innocent young mistress Ana.
No surprise, then, that mainstream publishers are eager to pounce on the next hot new erotic romance.
Berkley has already scored with Bared to You, Sylvia Day's tale of erotic obsession, which climbed to No. 10 from No. 36 on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list.
Originally self-published, Bared was snapped up and repackaged with a Shades-like cover featuring silver and gold cufflinks.
"Everyone in publishing was trying to figure out what the Fifty Shades of Grey fans would read next," says Berkley Books publisher Leslie Gelbman.
"When we discovered Bared to You, we knew it had the potential to be the next erotic romance breakthrough."
The Berkley paperback edition of Bared had a first printing of half a million copies, and 100,000 e-books have been sold since Berkley assumed distribution.
Berkley will follow Bared to You's success with Because You Are Mine by Beth Kery, a serialized erotic romance e-book to be released over eight weeks.
Question:
If you were assured bestseller status in USA TODAY, would you write erotica that included the demeaning of women or men?
Would you write a genre you hated if assured bestseller status?
Would you write a genre you hated if assured bestseller status?
I'd definitely write erotica, but then again I quite enjoy writing in that genre.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't rule out writing it but not sure it'd be very good. I can't help feeling these publishers are like vampires snapping up books to jump on the current trend and drain it dry.
ReplyDeleteI don't hate erotica, I've written a few short stories in it. I'd be fine with it. LOL
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, I was having such fun watching Ellen, I forgot the question.
ReplyDeleteHow can anybody write on a genre they hate...unless they are writing a self-criticizing novel!
ReplyDeleteKriti
Regards
[Stopping by from AtoZ Blogging]
No. Erotica is not my genre. I don't have aspirations in that direction.
ReplyDeleteBesides, there are no guarantees in life. If the timing is right or the stars are in alignment, any book can succeed or fail.
Love Ellen. She's such a trip. Anyway, I have to write my passion and when I write, if I feel I'm to embarrassed to write it front of my dad...well, I won't right it. That would be like posing in Playboy and having all of my dad's friends gawking at my mag pic.
ReplyDeleteHugs and chocolate,
Shelly
Kellie:
ReplyDeleteYour book would probably be oohed and aahed in your library, too. :-)
Nick:
Every publisher seems hot to jump on the bandwagon of the moment. Greed and fear will do that!
Summer:
I phrased it wrong I'm afraid. SHADES seems to dwell on bondage and dehumanizing both women and men. I would have a hard time writing that! Ouch! That darn whip! :-)
LD:
Wasn't Ellen funny?
D.G.:
How true. If it takes you a year to write on a hot topic, by then it could have frozen over, right?
Shelly:
ReplyDeleteOr your friends! I write what I would like to read and would feel comfortable having my friends read!
My prayers are with you!
How fun, you are doing this backwards! I didn't realize it at first. When I did my Swedish A to Z theme last year, I too used X-rated. But it was for us Swedish girls/women of the 1950s, who were unlucky to walk in the footsteps of Anita Ekberg. Don't know if you are old enough to remember her. Big boobs, blond hair, Italian film career....
ReplyDeleteNot sure about writing erotica. Definitely not my strong suit.:)
ReplyDeleteNutschell
www.thewritingnut.com
No I wouldn't write a genre I hated. First of writing is hard, and if you want it to read as true you have to be passionate about it. I couldn't spend the time and effort on something I wasn't passionate about. And trends change. Why spend so much time on something you didn't like when it would change in a year or two anyway.
ReplyDeleteXena!!! Yeah!!!
ReplyDeleteFor a ton of reasons, I wouldn't write erotica, but I'll give one that surely all writers can relate to...how in the world would the pages not end up repetitive? It seems the scenes would have to get really twisted to distinguish them from the others. If I wrote erotica,I'd have to wear a disguise, to hide my permanent blush, before shopping at the local grocery store, lol!
Glad you are still going, even if it is the wrong way LOL
ReplyDeleteJO ON FOOD, MY TRAVELS AND A SCENT OF CHOCOLATE
The answer to both questions is no.
ReplyDeleteErotica is writing intended to arouse sexual desire—I've no problem with erotica. HOWEVER, I don't personally find demeaning someone even remotely arousing, so for me, stories like FIFTY SHADES don't qualify as erotica. And no, I wouldn't write one. Let's face it, I'm no good at obeying the rules of the genres I *do* write, there's no way I could write BDSM fetish lit just to become a best seller. LOL!
That said, I have no problem with the genre as a whole, apart from the deplorable writing. Would it be so difficult for publishers to find someone who could write BDSM erotica above a first grade level? I mean, love it or hate it, FIFTY SHADES is a literary disgrace, and I'm not talking subject matter.
~VR Barkowski
No, I will not write erotica. It goes against everything I hold sacred. What is intoxicating has to be more than hormonal.
ReplyDelete'Readers are snapping up E.L. James' Fifty Shades erotic trilogy faster than billionaire Christian Grey can handcuff his innocent young mistress Ana.' Hahaha! Love it :)
ReplyDeleteAnd in answer to your question: No, I would not write erotica for love nor money. Just doesn't rock my boat. Give me a wand and a wizard any old day :)
Love love love that video!
Sorry, not a chance. Between my moral values and the fact it would embarrass me to death just to write it, I'd pass.
ReplyDeleteInger:
ReplyDeleteI know Anita. Her ghost haunts Meilori's! Yes, backwards occurred to me to be a lot of fun, so here I am! Thanks for visiting! :-)
Nutschell:
Especially not bondage and sadism erotica! Sandra, my best friend, would pimp slap me!
S.P.:
Spending so long on something you hated would be gruesome -- you're right!
Celeste:
I was and still am a Xena fan. I like strong women but hers was also a story of redemption.
Erotica is something that would gag my muse I'm afraid!!
Jo:
Backwards going still. As my hero, Victor Standish, says: the wrong road still leads somewhere! :-)
VR:
I and the ghost of Mark Twain agree with you. He read some snippets and the prose was truly laughable! Demeaning, dehumanizing, and torturing someone is as far from sexy in my mind as you can get.
Susan:
Hormones fade. The meeting of two halves of one soul is healing. But then I'm a romantic!
Wendy:
Thanks for the Twitter shout-out. And I am like you: give me fantasy, magic, and Arthurian romance every time. And your putting up of Ellen's vid reminded me of it, so since it blended with my post, here it is. :-)
Alex:
I am with you. I pray for The Father's help in my books, and writing such prose would be like an insult to Him. No sir. Not gonna do that!
Hi Roland,
ReplyDeleteI think erotica is fine... As LONG as the story has an intriguing plot ... Not just one sexually degrading scene after another .
I have written erotic scenes in my second novel, bu I don't consider it erotica... Just a part of life...
Michael:
ReplyDeleteAs VR stated, cruel dehumanizing and demeaning of another human being is far from alluring to me. Sexy scenes in a novel are fine -- and as you say: just a part of life.
I fear the definition of what is erotic is becoming increasingly dysfunctional in our society. Sigh.
Great to see you here. Liking Florida's cool snap? :-)
thank you, just thank you...
ReplyDeleteJeremy:
ReplyDeleteI am without a personal car at the moment, it being radiator-challenged! I promise your autograph of Rick of THE WALKING DEAD will one day limp its way to you! Sorry about the delay.
I would have to say NO and yet if I had small children who depended on me for a meal I'd have to change my vote.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe Desert Rocks:
ReplyDeleteI believe there are other ways to make money for meals for children than writing sadistic prose. But of course, if young children were at risk, you do what you must. :-)
no worries at all... i was thanking you for the xena montage... i forgot all the good things and bruce campbell...
ReplyDelete