Erotica is a strange thing to choose to write. There are as many fantasises as there are people, so attempting to write erotica that appeals to a reasonably wide audience can appear daunting.
There are different ways of approaching this conundrum. If you are commercially-minded, you can look at those subjects which sell well; the books which dominate the best seller rankings on Amazon. Then concentrate your efforts on writing to that market, and producing a regular stream of short works catering to it. You will still need to work hard to be noticed, but it clearly works for many authors.
Or you could go to the other extreme. Concentrating on work that comes from your own narrow niche; a kink, a fetish, an activity that you are actively involved in (or wish you were). It may be something that has a small base, meaning that your work could develop a small, but very loyal, audience. This can work as well, provided you’re not looking to become proverbially rich and famous.
There are an almost infinite number of positions between these two extremes, and each erotica author sits somewhere along the spectrum. We’re all (well, nearly all) juggling our own interests against the market. Deciding where we sit between writing what we want to write, and writing for mass sales. And this is on top of the usual difficulties for all authors; actually being seen and selling books in the first place.
It’s no secret that I started writing erotica by accident. After reading two or three particularly dire erotic works, I threw my Kindle down one evening, jokingly saying ‘I could do better than that’. The next morning, I took up my own challenge, and here I am.
I’ll leave my readers to judge how successful I’ve been, but as I near the end of my first series, I can say I’ve enjoyed every minute, and never regretted my decision to write erotica. Perhaps a few more sales – and definitely a few more reviews – would make me even happier, but I’ve got the bug and won’t be giving up any time soon.
So, coming back to my original question; why do I write erotica? Thinking about it for this article, I realise it’s a difficult question to answer easily. I’ll leave aside the reason why I write; all writers have their own answer to that question. But once we start, we just can’t stop.
The genre is more personal. My writing exposes a big part of me; it includes stories based on both my experiences and my imagination, as it does for most authors. But it’s in the sex scenes that I admit my weaknesses! I find it impossible to write sex that includes elements which I’m not attracted by; things that I can’t imagine myself doing. So what I write comes firmly from my experience or my fantasies.
My hope is that enough people share those fantasies – or at least, some of them. The first rule is the simple one; if I don’t get turned on by what I write, nobody else will. Yes, I always aim to frame my erotica in a compelling story, but in the end, I want my readers to be turned on. That’s the point of erotica. I want my readers to get off on what I write.
But I also want to encourage my readers to think. I want them to feel happy with themselves; to enjoy their fantasies and their fetishes. Everyone should be free to indulge their needs and desires without fear or shame (within the usual context of consent and legality, of course). I like to think my writing is going some way to allow people to explore their sexuality; to find things within them they didn’t know were there and to accept them.
Most people see erotica as rather one-dimensional; just written sex. Sometimes it is, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But it can also be an enabler. For people who are alone, or those who haven’t found a partner (or partners) to indulge their particular fantasies, it can be the next best thing. A way of exploring those needs and feeling comfortable with them.
I write erotica because I love it, because I enjoy it, and because I want to share that enjoyment with others. All of us who write in the genre may have our own reasons for doing so, but at the end of the day, we all want to make our readers happy and horny. If we succeed in that aim, I don’t think we’re doing much wrong!
