Erotic Novellas....

I think it depends. I read one (have to remember the name...) where it was a good number of pages leading up to a single kink scene, and others where there's been maybe six. I'm guessing that's not showing up in the guidelines?

Personall I would see 5 to 10 or even 20 k as a short story and 20 to 40 or 50 k as a novella.

It depends entirely on the publishers, really both in terms of how many scens, how explicit and how soon into the story sex should occur.

Is there a specific 'type' of publisher you were thinking of?

My erotic romance novella sold with three sex scenes. But it wasn't picked up for the publisher's "Molten" line, which is the hotter, more hard-core stuff. I think it also depends on whether you're pitching it as erotic romance or "pure" erotica. I suspect three is a minimum, though.

Hope that helps,

Izunya

I have a 10k store with one, a 20k novella with two.

Based on the ones I have read I would say Ellora's Cave would likely need more sex, more explicitly described and earlier in the story, than Spice briefs. I think they also start around 10k with the Cavemen collections?

Speaking only as a reader, I've read long works with only a little sex that were hotter by far than works of similar length with much more action. I'd say write what you want to read and then find the publisher.

Unless I am totally off base, newbie and all. There are many others here with experience to share. Once I've got some, experience that is, I'll speak with more authority.

I have just moved into this genre and one of my WIPs is a novel which is planned to be 80,000 words over 20 chapters. I am currently reading a Black Lace novel to get a feel for what I am aiming for and a rough calculation indicates that sex of some kind takes up around 40%-50% of the word count. That includes minor scenes and action designed to prepare the reader for a major scene later in the chapter, or in the next chapter.
My own WIP includes a scene based on a particular version of sex so I am researching the whole topic which indicates that it would be expected to take longer than "usual", in fact with the build-up and relaxing afterwards it will go well over a chapter, around 5,000 words. I think! What I am picking up is that it depends on the type of sex scene - some necessarily take longer so this should be reflected in the writing. The build-up is essential to the success of the eventual sex scene therefore if written skillfully, I would guess that just one over a whole novella could be sufficient.
I think the point that it depends on the publisher is essential, they seem to "draw the line" at different points; Black Lace is very specific about what they are looking for and I am still trying to interpret it appropriately.