Stock photography for Erotica

Hot Damn Covers is about one of the only places that allows it.

When I make covers for erotic romance, I tend to keep the clothes on the models. Unfortunately, Amazon hates nude photos that show breasts or the butt (without some kind of underwear) so a lot of folks also avoid the more porn-like images on covers for that reason.

Amazon won't de-list your book, but they will make it unsearchable, which means readers may or may not find it.

I LOVE stock photos. It's a sickness. I collect them the way some women collect shoes. Here are some of the sites I use.

http://jennleblanc.photoshelter.com/index

https://www.hotdamnstock.com/

https://www.123rf.com/

http://us.fotolia.com/

http://depositphotos.com/

www.romancenovelcovers.com

www.shutterstock.com/

Ummm, erotica/erotic romance isn't pornography.

They don't mean erotica novels. This stock is used on erotic books all the time.

I think they are trying to cover visual manipulation etc that turn a sexy picture into a porn picture. But the track record is that there have been no objection to covers for erotic books.

I love fotolia; my favourite photographer is on there and... sighs. I love his work. Money well spent.

istockphotos.com searchable by keyword, not expensive

Hi Mandy,

We use Shutterstock a lot and have never had any problems, but like everyone has said erotica isn't porn. I've never heard of anyone having any trouble using one of their pics for erotica.

The only problem I could see is that you would be limiting your audience if you choose particularly risque ones and Amazon makes your book unsearchable.

Another new one to add since this post came back from the dead:

http://thereedfiles.photoshelter.com/index

Lots of good mixed race/IR stock photos in additional to the more romance land traditional Caucasian leads.

Erotica is NOT pornography.
Just so you know this isn't the self publishing section of the board.
But anyway as Emily said, they don't mean erotic romance or erotica.
From the website of author Sylvia Day http://www.sylviaday.com/ definitions----

• Porn: stories written for the express purpose of sexual gratification. Plot, character development, and romance are NOT primary to these stories. They are designed to incite the reader to orgasm and nothing else.
• Erotica: stories written about the sexual journey of the characters and how this impacts them as individuals. Emotion and character growth are important facets of a true erotic story. However, erotica is NOT designed to show the development of a romantic relationship, although it’s not prohibited if the author chooses to explore romance. Happily Ever Afters are NOT an intrinsic part of erotica, though they can be included. If they are included, they weren’t the focus. The focus remained on the individual characters’ journeys, not the progression of the romance.
• Erotic Romance: stories written about the development of a romantic relationship through sexual interaction. The sex is an inherent part of the story, character growth, and relationship development, and couldn’t be removed without damaging the storyline. Happily Ever After is a REQUIREMENT to be an erotic romance.
• Sexy Romance: stories written about the development of a romantic relationship that just happen to have more explicit sex. The sex is not an inherent part of the story, character growth, or relationship development, and could easily be removed or “toned down” without damaging the storyline. Happily Ever After is a REQUIREMENT as this is basically a standard romance with hotter sex.

Aside from all that the stock image people mean visual porn.

I'm so glad someone asked this. I had read that too so I looked at some stock photography specifically geared towards pornography. It was pretty... ick. so I'm glad I won't have to go down that road!

Thanks to everyone who helped answer this question.

E. S. Lark: Amazon won't de-list your book, but they will make it unsearchable, which means readers may or may not find it.

If they make it unsearchable, do they let you know that's the case? Is there a way to tell?

Yep, don't worry about it at all. I mean, the models aren't taking shots like this and expecting them to be used by charity organizations or anything. Unless that charity is called Free Erotica for All, I guess?

A little off-topic, but there should be a thread for linking to the funny/strange erotic stock images you've come across. I've seen so many baffling ones!

I can see how most sites are probably thinking of visual porn with their disclaimers.

However, I do see my erotic fiction as porn for the most part, even if there's emphasis on character develop and plot. So that is a concern for me.

But the bigger problem I have with finding stock photos for erotica is finding stuff that features men. It's easy to find seductive photos of women, but I write gay male stuff for the most part.

gingerwoman said:

Erotica is NOT pornography.
Just so you know this isn't the self publishing section of the board.
But anyway as Emily said, they don't mean erotic romance or erotica.
From the website of author Sylvia Day http://www.sylviaday.com/ definitions----

• Porn: stories written for the express purpose of sexual gratification. Plot, character development, and romance are NOT primary to these stories. They are designed to incite the reader to orgasm and nothing else.
• Erotica: stories written about the sexual journey of the characters and how this impacts them as individuals. Emotion and character growth are important facets of a true erotic story. However, erotica is NOT designed to show the development of a romantic relationship, although it’s not prohibited if the author chooses to explore romance. Happily Ever Afters are NOT an intrinsic part of erotica, though they can be included. If they are included, they weren’t the focus. The focus remained on the individual characters’ journeys, not the progression of the romance.
• Erotic Romance: stories written about the development of a romantic relationship through sexual interaction. The sex is an inherent part of the story, character growth, and relationship development, and couldn’t be removed without damaging the storyline. Happily Ever After is a REQUIREMENT to be an erotic romance.
• Sexy Romance: stories written about the development of a romantic relationship that just happen to have more explicit sex. The sex is not an inherent part of the story, character growth, or relationship development, and could easily be removed or “toned down” without damaging the storyline. Happily Ever After is a REQUIREMENT as this is basically a standard romance with hotter sex.

Aside from all that the stock image people mean visual porn.

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I agree. Erotica isn't MEANT to be porn - however there people who write porn and claim it is erotica when in fact - it is porn.

Dancing: Sensual Man Body - Shutter Stock

Shutterstock is pricey but good.

So amazon does tell you if you cross the line of too sexual?

DancingMaenid said:

But the bigger problem I have with finding stock photos for erotica is finding stuff that features men. It's easy to find seductive photos of women, but I write gay male stuff for the most part.

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I write the same stuff and my go-to keywords are, "sexy man."

gingerwoman said:

Erotica is NOT pornography.

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You know that, and I know that, but outside our writers' bubble, an enormous segment of the general public makes no distinction. If it's got sex in it, it's porn, and that's that.

On the other hand, I'm inclined to agree that the prohibition on most stock photo sites is for pre-emptive purposes. Frex, if they discover some really disgusting use of the photo that may affect their business, they can pull it from the buyer.

I've used three different stock photos for covers, and my publisher uses them all the time, often with modifications (usually cropping to obscure faces or emphasize a part of the photo).

cloquet said:

I write the same stuff and my go-to keywords are, "sexy man."

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Psmith said:

Dancing: Sensual Man Body - Shutter Stock

Shutterstock is pricey but good.

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Thanks for the suggestions! I love Shutterstock, but the prices can be a bit steep for my budget at the moment. I've been trying to find good public domain images, but very little luck there.