Erotica Self-Publishing

Avoid starting with anything that includes, or has keywords similar too, underage, incest or bestiality. e.g. schoolgirl, teen, virgin etc. These are not permitted due to Amazon very cautious reading of US obscenity laws. My best guess would be that work in defined fetishes is less well served and so might do better, e.g. lactation. But it is hard to tell.

I generally stick to Amazon but that has more to do with not having a lot of time to update multiple sites. I am really not sure what works better KDP Select or going wide.

I use a number of sites for self-publishing.

Alice LaVey said:

I understand that Barnes & Noble, nook, are competitors, but that Amazon is #1

Click to expand...

Those aren't competitors. They're simply distribution channels. If you have competition, it's from all the free erotica and porn that's available all over the web. That and videos.

iBooks won't let you publish unless you have a Mac.

Alice LaVey said:

As you can see from my website - rvdvshardy.wixsite.com/mysite - I have Shifter, BDSM, Lactation, Teen, Virgin, Interracial, Cuckold, Dubcon, and Big Boobs stories. Which topics do well where?

Thanks!

Click to expand...

Some fetishes are underserved. Although the market for any one of them is smaller, its potential readership seems more desperate to find stuff that fits their particular kinks, so sales tend to be brisk for the first few years after publication.

My own specialty is ‘soft femdom’, ie, female domination in a loving relationship without the stereotyped extremes: chains, whips, crossdressing, cuckolding, Nazi hats, etc. It turns out that there’s an active population of men out there who want to read about female-dominated or chastity relationships. Research on fetlife.com and she-makes-the-rules.com supported my unsupported presumption conclusion.

Noizchild said:

iBooks won't let you publish unless you have a Mac.

Click to expand...

That's not really true. The person uploading needs to have a Mac.

You can publish to iBooks via Smashwords, for instance.

AW Admin said:

That's not really true. The person uploading needs to have a Mac.

You can publish to iBooks via Smashwords, for instance.

Click to expand...

And Draft2Digital.

Alice LaVey said:

Thanks Emily. I appreciate the response. If you were me, would you publish all the stories on Amazon, or spread them out (if so, where).

Click to expand...

If you put your books on Smashwords, eventually they will filter through to sites you know of, and some you haven't heard of. Three months ago, I received a substantial check from Smashwords (big enough to report on my taxes!) with no explanation or detail.

DB

dangerousbill said:

If you put your books on Smashwords, eventually they will filter through to sites you know of, and some you haven't heard of. Three months ago, I received a substantial check from Smashwords (big enough to report on my taxes!) with no explanation or detail.

DB

Click to expand...

The report section on Smashwords's dashboard does give a breakdown of where the books sell, and they can trickle in from everywhere--my erotic short fiction has sold on iBooks and Kobo Adult as well as Smashwords itself. They recently updated their system to pay royalties monthly, which is also nice. The checks (well, PayPal transfers) are smaller but more frequent.

Incidentally, Dangerousbill, one of those Smashwords sales might have been from me discovering Lessons for a Dominant Woman through Scribd, where Smashwords delivers. I owe you a 5-star review sometime. "Soft femdom" is exactly my thing, to read and write both.

My suggestion to writers starting out is to use both Amazon and Smashwords to cast a wide net, at least at first. They're both relatively simple to upload books to. When you're uploading the files, adding keywords and subcategories can help you target your audience better.
I also use Sellfy.com for direct sales but haven't seen a lot of action through there. I link to all the distributors from my website (using affiliate links when possible).

Yeah, for your situation I'd highly recommend Smashwords and Amazon because you can reach the most platforms, and thus the most people. It's important in niche writing to reach everyone in the niche. I'd also drop a little self promotion of any fetish forum you like if they allow it.

You option if you're concerned about competing with free porn is Kindle unlimited. The con, you can 't post porn anywhere until your KDP select term ends. The pro, You get paid based of how much KU users read your books. I don't think short stories make very much money though, but I could be wrong? The wording on KDP's site is a little unclear to me and I haven't used it.

KDP select pays per page read, about 1/3 to 1/2 of a cent per page depending on a monthly calculation. Pay rates have been consistently dropping over time.

"Taboo" seems to be the go-to word for describing underage/incest/other subjects in descriptions

Amazon is the best market around, and the easiest to post to. Smashwords is pretty good and spreads your work around. It's also more tolerant. Amazon uses annoying key-word searches on self published erotica, and will block your book without explanation based on those keywords. I do BDSM myself, and I've learned to avoid any occurrence of the word 'rape' anywhere in my novels. It doesn't matter if the 'rape' is play and consensual, or merely an imaginary thing. In terms of titles and descriptions, avoid any words suggestive of incest or even pseudo incest, even if there is no incest. Again, it's a keyword thing. 'My husband's father' or "My boyfriend's dad' for example, are likely to be caught by the computer. They don't seem to like the words 'slave' or 'slavery' either, and again, it doesn't matter if it's consensual. Humans don't read your books. It's all computers. I used to be able to get away with showing pictures of a girl in a thong, but you have to beware now of the adult tag. If Amazon thinks your cover or title is risque they will slap a 'adult' tag on it without telling you. You can't see this tag anywhere, but if it's there your book will not show up in regular displays or searches, even of erotica, and you will get very, very few sales. The only way I know to find it is by going here and checking. When your book shows up, look for a little "adult' in red over to one side. If it's there, you need to pull your book, change the name and cover, and resubmit it. Or, you could try appealing to human assistance at Amazon. I have known it to work occasionally.

Thanks for the site. It seems I am safe so far. Of course you need readers to get attention from Amazon too

Vbeacher said:

Amazon is the best market around, and the easiest to post to. Smashwords is pretty good and spreads your work around. It's also more tolerant.

Click to expand...

Very helpful post! Thanks!