Selling Sex

With so many new erotic imprints popping up and more erotica than ever being published, I was curious how marketing erotic fiction is different from marketing mainstream or literary fiction. What special obstacles do authors of erotica face in buzzing their books? What can be done to get past these obstacles?

So I asked two sexpert writers and editors to address the issue:

Sage Vivant: It’s an ironic question because even 10 years ago, the thought of marketing erotica was considered a waste of time by both writers and publishers. It was pretty marginalized and everybody seemed to understand that. The books came out, they were sold in the usual “progressive” bookstores or online clubs and the same audience that bought the last batch was privileged to see what was new. There weren’t a lot of books that contained sexual content (enough to be considered erotica) and so competition wasn’t all that fierce. Things are very different now. These days, publishers are falling over each other to establish erotica imprints. They want to publish it, it seems, but they aren’t really sure what’s “hot” and their in-house publicity machines don’t seem entirely sure about how to push it. So, the writers get some rather schizophrenic messages about the value of their books to the publisher as well as the market itself. Maybe mainstream writers face the same kind of mixed messages? In any event, it falls upon the writer to have some tricks (no pun intended) up her sleeve to promote the book above and beyond what the publisher will do. But the methods available to her are more limited than they are for mainstream writers.

M. Christian: I agree completely. Publishers know sex sells, but when it comes to getting the book out to people who want to buy it, the system kind of shuts down. A large part of that, of course, is that many of their marketers don’t want to proclaim what their books are: sexy. Designed to turn readers on. Of course, I can’t completely slam the marketers. I know from personal experience that another huge hurdle are reviewers and bookstores. Say your book is erotica and watch magazines and buyers run for cover. The book might be a bestseller but they don’t want to get their hands dirty touching it. The good news is that this really is changing, especially with the popularity of smut being too big for anyone to ignore (not marketers or even bookstores). I just wish it would happen faster – I have books I want to get out there!

SV: There are only a handful of sites, for instance, where we can announce the publication of any erotica book that we do. I recently had the experience of trying to send a press release through an Internet press release clearing house and having it rejected because the book was erotic in nature. The clearing house had rules about distributing adult-related information through its network. It made me furious but it also make me more creative. When you have to work around so many ridiculous barriers, you find new ways to draw attention to your book. I had to look pretty hard, but I discovered another venue that not only welcomed the press release, but turned it into more of a news story that gave the book better (albeit strange!) coverage in the media. The press release they created from mine presented the book in a way that I didn’t fully endorse, but I’m one of those writers who would rather have attention that’s a little offbeat than no attention at all.

Mainstream writers can rely on their friends and family to talk up their books and encourage others to buy it. Erotica writers might have a few friends who are proud of their books and may even buy them, but most of our friends and family members are either mortified by or just plain shy about talking about our books. If you can’t even get the people closest to you to buzz your book, you’re really starting at ground zero! But that’s where alternative marketing measures kick in and that’s probably where mainstream and erotica books actually share a lot more in common than you might suspect. For instance, I (under the auspices of my company, Custom Erotica Source) recently launched a free weekly podcast where I read a short story that people can download or subscribe to. I also use the podcasts to mention whatever book I’ve recently done. So, people enjoy the erotic story and if they like that, I give them information about how to get my work in written form. And Chris, I know you teach classes in writing erotica, so maybe you want to talk about how that dovetails into promotion for your books.

MC: I’m still completely floored by your podcasts, Sage – bravo! A great marketing idea very well done. Yup, I do classes and I love it. Gives me a chance to not only teach the classes I wish had been available when I was first starting out but it’s a great way to get my name out there. Sure, I sell my books at them but just announcing the classes is a great way to generate publicity. I agree with what you say about the wall around smut, by the way: it’s very frustrating to be doing the same quality work that gets other writers reviews, readings, and invites to conferences – except we don’t because our work has men and women’s naughty bits in them. But just as Sage turned her exclusion from the PR service as a bonus, I’ve done the same very often myself: if I’ve been excluded from some event or press venue, I wag my finger and call it what it is: censorship. Some will agree that it is and do an impression of the Church Lady, but others will scratch their heads and rethink their positions. We might write smut but we also are the authors of A LOT of books with more readers than many so-called mainstream writers -- the popularity of Sage’s business and podcasts prove that. Readers mean bucks, and sometimes it takes a bit of drama as well as clever promotion to make people realize that.

SV: I guess what we’re both saying is that in the world of erotica promotion, you have to be able to parley roadblocks into green lights. Promoting a book is difficult enough, but promoting an erotica title makes the game even more challenging. We see it as a game – it’s the only way to stay sane!

Sage Vivant operates Custom Erotica Source , which offers tailor-made erotic fiction to individual clients. She is the author of the forthcoming novel Giving the Bride Away and 29 Ways to Write Great Erotica. With M. Christian, she has edited four anthologies including Confessions: Admissions of Sexual Guilt .

M. Christian is the author of the critically acclaimed and best-selling collections Dirty Words, Speaking Parts, The Bachelor Machine and the upcoming Filthy as well as the editor of over seventeen anthologies including The Burning Pen and the Best S/M Erotica series. His short fiction has appeared in over two hundred books, magazines, and Web sites.

Comments

[Bob D. Caterino]

A good friend of mine just passed away. She was a great author of erotic thrillers and been in the mainstreem for well over ten years now. She always came up with new ideas for her stories so she wouldn't be pigeon holed into that erotica thing. She was a blessed author and will be missed by many.

[Manny Lewis]

I think Bob was talking about Miss Shadow Parker. RIP miss Parker and wow them up their