“The two most engaging powers of an author are to make new things familiar and familiar things new.” ~Samuel Johnson
2001 was the year I decided I wanted to give writing a try. I didn’t have any friends who were writers. I didn’t know any writers, and I didn’t know anything about the business. Basically I decided to try writing because I’ve always been an avid reader, I enjoyed creative writing in high school (I refused to think about the fact that, for me, high school had ended in 1987), and I wanted a new career that I didn’t have to go back to school for.
After almost 2 years of thinking about giving writing a try, I actually gave it a shot, and sold right away. I started writing short stories on my days off, and basically whenever I felt like it., and I sold everything I wrote. Part of me thinks this was luck, but mostly I think it was because I approached this as a career, and not a passion.
When I decided to seriously try writing I took a correspondence course that guaranteed it would teach me how to make money with my writing. That course didn’t teach me to be a good storyteller, it taught me how to write to the market. It taught me that if I wanted to make money, I had to write what was selling. And when my tutor found out I was a reader of erotica, he aimed in that direction with my writing.
Many authors will tell you if you don’t love writing, don’t try to make a career. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – I disagree. When I started writing it was purely to build a career. I keep writing, because I love the job.
I’ve been writing erotic fiction for 6 years now. I know, it’s not a long time compared to many authors, but it’s been a busy 6 years. I’ve had over 9 novels, 3 novellas, and easily over a dozen short stories published in that time. Oh, and I have another novel coming out in 2009.
Erotica has been around for decades, but traditionally it’s leaned to quite a literary stance. Today’s erotic fiction is mostly aimed at female readers, authors that used to write more traditional erotica have started adding more romance to their stories, and romance writers have started to add more heat. This has it’s pros and cons…but one of the biggest pros is that it means that those who like to write hot and sexually intense stories have many more options to get their work out there.
There are some people out there, be they authors, frustrated writers, reviewers or readers, who can’t stop sniping and snarking that erotic fiction is nothing more than sex or porn, and while that sometimes frustrates me, that’s not what this post is about. What I want to share with you is how the erotic market has changed, and grown. Why has erotic fiction been gaining so much popularity in the last couple of years?
I think it’s because women aren’t shying away from their sexuality anymore. Instead, we’re embracing the power we have. The strong innate sensuality that most women have inside them that has been crying to be let free of its restraints. For years adult entertainment was focused solely on the male point of view. Then women slowly started breaking that barrier. Playgirl was the start, and is still going strong, helping make it mainstream for women to openly enjoy the sight of a hot hard body… and to explore and express their own sexuality
Today’s erotic stories are about women exploring and enjoying their sensual, sexual and downright primal side, sometimes without the need for love and a traditional happily ever after. That’s not to say that there isn’t a happily ever after, just that it’s not always a HEA of the traditional man-woman-marriage sort. (Although there is also plenty of erotic romance with traditional HEA’s as well)
Society is changing; women don’t always want love and a traditional happily ever after anymore. We’ve become stronger and more focused on our own needs and desires instead of the women of my mother’s generation who thought any man was better than no man. And this new mentality is showcased in novels that contain an engaging story, and a plenty of hot sex for those of us that like to read about real honest and intense emotions.
There are critics out there who think just because the stories have a sexual focus that there is no emotion in them, or worse yet, no story. I challenge those people to tell me that desire isn’t an emotion. Or yearning. What about excitement, anger and fear? Those are emotions, and many of them are found in erotic stories. And yes, love can also be found in many erotic stories.
The market for erotic novels and stories has ballooned in the last couple of years. It’s gone beyond fringe magazines, ePublishers, and small press. New York Publishers like Berkley, Kensington, Avon, and St.Martin’s Press are now releasing erotic fiction in multiple styles, lengths, and sub-genres. And that means there are plenty of options for readers … and writers in the erotic market.
I love that the more I write, the more fascinated I became with the genre I’ve chosen. Human sexuality is multifaceted and there are so many ways to write about it. So many sub-genres and specialties and levels of heat. My personal favorite place to check out what publishers of erotic fiction are looking for is the Erotica Readers and Writers Calls For Submissions Page. It’s where I found the guidelines when I started to build my career 6 years ago, and where I still go to see what publishers are looking for. To be a successful career writer, you need to know the market, and be able to write to it. I enjoy writing erotic fiction, but I’m also smart enough to know that enjoying what I write is just a bonus.
