Porn Past and Word Count

I wouldn't mention it, not because it's a Hustler article, but because the subject has nothing to do with what you're querying. Now, if you'd published a racy fiction piece with Hustler and you were seeking representation for paranormal erotica, I'd say shout it from the rooftops.

As for the wordcount, my agent was adamant about me hitting 80k to shop my ms as a single title. She sold it in a three book deal, and my contract stipulates each romance must be at least 80k in length.

Elisa,

Why don't you just use your word count in your word processing program? It's good enough.

If you are at 74,000 words that would round up to 75,000. Five thousand more to go to 80,000 seems like quite a bit, but I could be off about that.

I think if you had published short stories in reputable magazines it would be worth mentioning. However, an article with no related subject matter in any magazine (Hustler might be porn, but it's a well-known magazine) might not be worth mentioning, unless its subject matter was the same as your paranormal romance.

Good luck!

elisadasilva said:

It's the only publishing cred I have.

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Some authors have no publishing credits prior to their first novel. Your book will stand on it's own.

Totally clicked on this thread because of "porn past." Alas, not as salacious as I'd hoped!

It may be perceived as vulgar, but it's not. That said, listen to these people.If it's not relevant to the book, don't mention it. I never mentioned the script I wrote that won a AVN award for sexiest screenplay.

maybe I should have since the book was about me

elisadasilva said:

It's the only publishing cred I have.

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I didn't have a single publishing cred to my name when my agent signed me. The only thing that matters is the strength and marketability of your manuscript.

Agreed. It's absolutely not going to be held against you, but most authors querying don;t have any publishing credits. If your book is good, it won't matter!

Best of luck. If you're a skilled enough writer to get an article in Hustler (which IS a reputable mag) then you're probably a step ahead. Don't worry about looking good–let the writing look good for you.

Ha! I'm totally with you lauralam

Including irrelevant credits actually looks less professional than having no credits.

Hustler has published some great non-fiction writing, but since the topic of your article with them is unconnected to your novel, there's no point including it.

I'm really quite surprised so many here are suggesting that you shouldn't include non-fiction credits in a fiction query. Phooey. Agents want to see evidence that you can write well, beyond the short query, and if that's what you've got, include it. I write both fiction and non-fiction, and I always include both credits, no matter what I'm submitting. Hustler has some fairly negative vibes with plenty of people, but others (like those who clicked on here because of "porn past") will find it intriguing. Include the credit for that reason, too.

If you only have the one article, no matter who published it, it's probably not worth mentioning. It may look too lonely there by itself in a query.

Instead, concentrate on making your story/pitch sound irresistible - best of luck.

JanetO said:

(like those who clicked on here because of "porn past")

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Like any of us would EVER -- I mean, how dare you accuse us of -- um. I'll just wander off now. *shifty eyes*

JanetO said:

Agents want to see evidence that you can write well, beyond the short query

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Um...wouldn't that evidence be apparent in the manuscript?

bearilou said:

Um...wouldn't that evidence be apparent in the manuscript?

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Last I checked, queries do not include manuscripts.

No, Hustler doesn't draw top writers. Playboy does. But Playboy doesn't take erotica.

James D. Macdonald said:

No, Hustler doesn't draw top writers. Playboy does. But Playboy doesn't take erotica.

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Oh, okay, lol. Do you think she should not mention it?

JanetO said:

Last I checked, queries do not include manuscripts.

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Neither would they include any articles you've written.

I guess what I'm getting at is if your query is attractive enough to the agent that they'd request your manuscript, that's where the rubber meets the road and you prove you can write. A published article proves you've written an article, not the same as a novel. A published short story proves you've written a short story, not the same as a novel.

But if your query is shiny enough to have the agent request more, then you've at least shown the agent you can write a query shiny enough to get them to request more. Once the ms is in their hands, that's where they make the determination if you have written something they can work with.

All that publishing credits say is "Someone else thinks I write well enough to pay me money."

Newbie writers sweat credits too much.

Your current manuscript is 100% of the credit you need.

JanetO said:

Last I checked, queries do not include manuscripts.

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No, but they usually do include 3-5 pages of the mss.

Stacia Kane said:

No, but they usually do include 3-5 pages of the mss.

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This times ten. Unless someone says not to send anything but the query, I would personally always include the first few pages of the actual manuscript. And make sure they sing, of course.

Also, I agree that people often sweat the credits way too much. As many of us around AW can attest, a lot of us got our agents and/or publishing deals with NO prior publishing credits and not having "known" anyone in the industry.

I think that in this particular case that OP should just do whatever you feel most comfortable with. I don't particularly thing that it will help or hurt you majorly either way. Just make sure the actual query and opening are as strong and intriguing as you can make them.

For what it's worth, I had a porn story published in a UK magazine about ten years ago. I don't mention it in my subs now because a piece I bashed out (double entendre fully intended) in twenty minutes purely to get the £50 it paid has no bearing on my work now.

JanetO said:

I'm really quite surprised so many here are suggesting that you shouldn't include non-fiction credits in a fiction query. Phooey. Agents want to see evidence that you can write well, beyond the short query, and if that's what you've got, include it. I write both fiction and non-fiction, and I always include both credits, no matter what I'm submitting. Hustler has some fairly negative vibes with plenty of people, but others (like those who clicked on here because of "porn past") will find it intriguing. Include the credit for that reason, too.

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Hey, if you think Hustler is an appropriate credit to list when you're shopping your children's picture book Bunny Foo-Foo's First Easter, go for it.