Agents for Erotica at agentquery.com

Another

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www.agentquery.com lists "graphic novels," "offbeat/quirky" and "erotica" as categories of fiction handled by listed agents. Two questions:

- thoughts about differences between the three categories from the agent’s point of view? Of course, I plan to look at each potential agency for samples of the type of fiction they publish to get a sense for how my work does or dies not fit the categories. Still, any thoughts on differences in the categories given today’s publishing trends?

- thoughts on using www.agentquery.com site for finding agents for erotica? My hunch: not so good for pure erotica (shall we say "porn") and better for erotica tied to romance, literary or other genres with strong plot and character development. Of course, I plan to research reputation of any agency via crosschecks on this site, Predators & Editors and others people may suggest.
 
veinglory

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The differnce between the three? One is a story with pictures, the other is whacky and the final one is about sex?

Interesting site though. I'd never given much thought to seeking an agent for erotica. I would guess it would make sense for pitching to the higher paying markets regardless of the subgenre.
 
JanDarby

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If you write erotica, look for that in the agency's self-description. Not the other two categories. You could also query based on the type of erotica, such as literary, romantic, etc., that you mentioned. If an agent represents reomance, for example, it wouldn't hurt to query about an erotic romance, especially since the line between erotic romance and a steamy-but-not-erotic romance is a pretty fine distinction these days.

Also, note that agents do not publish material; they represent material to publishers, which gives you another option: submit directly to erotica publishers that accept unagented material.

JD
 

Another

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erotica agents - if and when to use

Thanks to posters. Good to know "graphic" does not mean "explicit" in agent’s parlance. Forgive me – I come from another time. And, I gather, "offbeat/quirky" does not equate to erotica either. Thank you.

Most interesting is the thought about going directly to publishers instead of using an agent for erotica. Have scanned lots of "erotic" publishers in last several days, weaving my way from this site and Fish Tank onward. Indeed, the types of publishers one finds often appear to accept direct submissions. How, uh, novel in this day.

Problem: my novel employs erotica as platform for tragic and – dare I say – philosophic love story (far from "romance"), and thus not what I see erotic publishers generating. I suppose I could start by finding agents of a few authors who come close to what I’ve got, though most of those authors are dead. Hmm.

So point of discussion: when does erotica need an agent and when not? Maybe when it is "literary," or is that another term with new meaning?
 

Giles English

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You're not writing erotica...

Another said:

Problem: my novel employs erotica as platform for tragic and – dare I say – philosophic love story (far from "romance"), and thus not what I see erotic publishers generating. I suppose I could start by finding agents of a few authors who come close to what I’ve got, though most of those authors are dead. Hmm.
Click to expand...

It's only erotica if people are supposed to read most of it one-handed!* :Headbang:

There's plenty of Literary Fiction out there - both "ancient" and "modern" - with explicit shagging. Your book seems to fall into this category. Go research your market - you might want to start with the literary examples in "The Joy of Writing Sex: A Guide for Fiction Writers".

*That's not to say that erotica can't explore philosophical or psychological subjects. (Mine does.)
 

Another

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Joy of Writing Sex - On Target?

Thanks for reference to "Joy of Writing Sex ..." Cover blurb suggets it is aimed at craft: writing convincing and compelling work. Think I'm there after 4 years, three paid editors and many beta reviewers in S&M community, my staging ground. So, does Joy also address markets? Or suggest publishers or agents?

I started this thread on the note about agents. Am I right that if my book is, as you suggest, "literary" fiction (it certainly would seem to fit given deep character development, clash of ideas/concepts, plot important but less key than character and themes), then I'm stuck with Penguin type houses where only an agent can get in? And therefore I need to seek an "erotica" agent with literary bent/credentials?

What toil we create when a book writes itself with no thought to the world of markets!

Another (but maybe not)

PS: Indeed, there are many pages, my readers report, where one hand reading seems to be required.
 

Giles English

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My understanding of the markets - which may be out of date - is that from a publisher's point of view, a book is either erotica, or some other genre with lots of sex (which may however be the selling point!).

So, if it's primarily "philosophical love story", then it need not be sold as erotica at all: you just need an agent who handles literary fiction. This could give you more readers, more exposure, and more cash. However, you need to get out there and read literary fiction with and about sex, and polish accordingly.

Here are some allegedly bad examples, who however got published: http://www.literaryreview.co.uk/badsex.html

Here are some supposedly good examples:
http://www.nerve.com/multipageapp/henrymillerawards/021.aspx?multipageid=36


If you want to sell it as erotica, then you don't need an agent. However, you might want to reconsider how much of your story is located outside the bedroom. Again, this depends on the publisher.

Myself, I am particularly proud of the existential thread which runs through my own novel: would you trade sexual gratification for erotic experience? I'm also proud of the way I used the central device - the male chastity belt - to explore the characters and psychology of different female "types". However, I built the story almost entirely from explicit scenes - it's erotica.

Good luck
GE

PS The JoWS is about writing sex for non-erotica markets, e.g. it even discusses writing realistic bad sex. It might give you an idea of how to tweak what you have for the literary market. However, it's about craft so doesn't really cover markets - and would be out of date anyway.
 

Another

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Summing Up Lessons on Erotica Agents

GE makes excellent points for those pondering the market for literary fiction fully doused with erotica, and the implications for seeking a literary agent versus going directly to publishers. To sum up, I think these are the lessons so far::
  • No need for an agent if what one is writing is purely and fully "erotica," even though there are agents listing "erotica" as a specialty. See site at beginning post on this thread.
  • If a work is mostly literary (see below) but with some or even many explicit sexual scenes and one wants to try for big time publishers, using an agent makes sense, though finding one for same may not be easy. I’ve only had ten rejections so far for my "fish out of water" novel, but miles to go before I sleep.
  • The definition of "literary" narrows when linked to erotica. For those of us raised on Joyce, Dostoyevsky, Fowles, Kafka, Mann, Durrell, Lawerence (DH&TE), Malraux, Gide and more recently McCarthy, Proulx, Ondaatje and Morrison, the definition seemed clear enough: character, theme (preferably "human condition"), style ("lyrical") dominate, plot is secondary and sex scenes serve broader purposes. However, as a review of GE’s referenced site for Henry Miller Award nominees of "best and worst literary sex scenes" makes evident, "literary" erotica may well be short on many of the above points but retain the term merely because of writing style. Witness a sample below from Alchemy of Desire where reviewers rate it above average on the "literary" scale:
"I took the hard little ball of her ankle in my mouth and sucked it so fully that it acquired a deeply erotic dimension. I then journeyed to the promise of her fleshy calves and sucked them so fully that they became sexual organs. And then I slowly curved around the shin and ascended the dome of her knees, resting at the peak, mouth open and lips moving. Descending on the other side I banked to the back, and drove my tongue flatly down the smooth highway of her inner thighs, eyes firmly set on the dark line of the final ranges. And so I journeyed slowly, seeking the source of the musk; and as I came closer and closer and the flesh grew and grew and the musk grew and grew, my control began to waver. From my mouth I became my nose. From handing out pleasure I began to hunger for it. Window by window, my thinking mind shut down. Reason, intellect, analysis, perception, speech — everything went, one by one."

I suspect readers class this as "literary" for such phrasing as "ball of her ankle," "ascended the dome," "smooth highway of her inner thighs," and perhaps the passing, shallow probe into mind set with, "Window by window, my thinking mind shut down." How we all could slice-edit this junk is another issue, but the point remains: If one is shooting for old term "literary" even if highly erotic, seek an agent for literary fiction houses. If one is merely writing erotic scenes with some style flourish, go directly to "erotic" publishers. Of course, there is another option, a very old and extinct one: write only from the heart and only for yourself, then let the chips fall where they may.

 
Michelle Hoppe

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Another said:
Of course, there is another option, a very old and extinct one: write only from the heart and only for yourself, then let the chips fall where they may.
Click to expand...

This is one of the most valuable lessons I've learned over the years and one I still stand by.
 

Giles English

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Michelle Hoppe said:
This is one of the most valuable lessons I've learned over the years and one I still stand by.
Click to expand...

Yes, but the chips don't just fall on their own. Once - like the OP - you have a work in your hand, you have to decide what to do with it.
 
Michelle Hoppe

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I write where my characters and imagination lead. I do not set out with a predetermined idea of how long the story will be, how much sex will be in it or which publisher I will submit it to when it's finished. There are a lot of publishing possibilities in todays market and for me at least, I write from the heart. Once the project is completed it is easier to decide which is the best avenue for publication because the answer will have revealed itself in the finished product.
 

Giles English

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Whereas I see a novel as a conversation between author and reader... we're all different. WTF? Diversity on the erotica board? ;)

Anyway, the original poster has done what you've done. Now they're at the stage you described:

Michelle Hoppe said:
Once the project is completed it is easier to decide which is the best avenue for publication because the answer will have revealed itself in the finished product.
Click to expand...
 

Another

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Market/Agent for "from the heart," literary erotica - continued

Michelle makes the point one may write erotica without much thought about exact reader market or publisher or agent/no agent and still find, as she says, " a lot of publishing possibilities in today’s market." Since your path sounds akin to the one I’ve been on these past several years (see above ramble), I hope you might share answer here or by e to me:
  • If your work is "literary" in the sense I’ve described above -- "character, theme (preferably "human condition"), style ("lyrical") dominate, plot is secondary and sex scenes serve broader purposes" -- then what publishers do you consider reasonable targets? Or agents?
  • If you prefer to keep that card close to your chest, can you at least name any published work and publisher so I can get a sense for whether your "from the heart" style is in the same realm as mine (somewhere between early Rice and Proulx or Ondaatje) and draw my murky conclusions from there?
On a more general note, there is discussion under the Water Cooler "literary genre" bemoaning the demise or clouding of "literary," perhaps trapping all of us with such a bent into limbo when we try to marry literary and erotica. Puma writes in one post there: "literary meant that it was exemplary, the haute cuisine of the writing world. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be that way anymore …" Hmm.
 
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