I don't write erotica...yet everyone wants it!

Um I am puzzled. What are you looking at? There are lots of publishers and agents looking for all kinds of fiction. How are you going about looking?
(I am a published erotic romance writer. lol )

Christyp, I had trouble finding a NON-romance epub accepting shorter lengths for my 24k word YA contemp. If they weren't strictly HEA romance, then they specialized in LGBT stuff, which my story was not. I found scant few places to sub my MS to, and feel lucky to have found one that was a good fit.

I think if you have something non-standard (due to length, genre, content, etc.) you have to be a little more flexible. I chose to bend the "no publishers with less than 2 years of business under their belt" rule. We'll see if it pays off!

Either way, good luck

The point is you need to search in a way that filters out the 99% that is everything else, no matter what you write. It is never a quick process.

A lot of agents that make themselves known on social networking sites are into YA. A lot of digital only and digital first lines and independent publishers are looking for erotic romance and romance (and are lot are NOT looking for pure erotica actually), but there are plenty of publishers, or agents out there for every main genre. I think you are looking in the wrong places.
What do you write?

Is it dark?

Christyp said:

After querying for close to twelve hours today I've only been able to send out...ready?....fourteen! It seems the pull right now is for erotica and romance. Sure, my books have some romantic elements, but they aren't necessarily romance. Sure, my books have an erotic scene or two, but they are NOT erotica!

Is anyone else having issues getting their books in front of people because of the latest "Wants"?

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How about marketing your book with an angle that may just appeal to agents or an audience? You say your book is urban fantasy without the romance angle. Is it a suspense? Crime thriller? There will be people willing to buy and read your book, you just need to market it well. Try to entice an agent by focusing on what could appeal to urban fantasy readers. Agents would want to know how you see your book, and as the author, you should have a clear sense of its niche.

Don't dwell too much on what is popular or feel overwhelmed by it. It is daunting, I get it, but don't let it discourage you.

I should add that my book is urban fantasy/vampire that is the opposite of a HEA romance, so I have trouble with the marketing too. But I self-published so the responsibility was on me alone. I made mistakes with the marketing, because I knew how hard it will be trying to get readers' attention. But I'm learning as I go. But yes, there will be people willing to read and even like your book.

I have no idea where my next fantasy-with-romantic-elements will be going. Fortunately I haven't finished writing it yet so I still have some time.

I feel your frustration. But I do write YA sometimes and I still can't get anyone's attention. I have no hope for my next story either. I'm waiting to go numb...

I wish I wrote mystery. I saw an interview with an agent who reps mostly mystery a few months ago and she's like, "Oh, I get 40 queries a week! Sometimes 50!" Like, really. Most of the agents I'm stuck with get hundreds. Lucky me.

I know what you mean though, I know A LOT of published erotica & romance writers. They are so lucky. I hate them.

Pearl said:

Don't dwell too much on what is popular

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Urban fantasy is popular. lol

Maybe I'm just dumb, but this question confuses the hell out of me. I've been querying for two months, during the first week I sent out about a dozen queries and it took me more than a dozen (or two dozen) hours to pull everything together and choose agents who would be good fits, etc. So the 1 hour per query average you are talking about is below the time I spent, but I didn't think it was a problem.

And since you said you sent the queries out "today" are you complaining that they didn't get back to you moments after you queried?

And are they somehow getting back to you and asking for erotica, or are you assuming that is the reason they didn't get back to you?

Christyp said:

After querying for close to twelve hours today I've only been able to send out...ready?....fourteen! It seems the pull right now is for erotica and romance. Sure, my books have some romantic elements, but they aren't necessarily romance. Sure, my books have an erotic scene or two, but they are NOT erotica!

Is anyone else having issues getting their books in front of people because of the latest "Wants"?

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Are you querying only agents? I don't know of ANY agents who only do erotica and romance. Or are you submitting to publishers only. The OP doesn't explain.

Christyp said:

I always start here and make sure they're somewhat credible before going anywhere else.

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Here's a big part of your problem. AW isn't the starting point for doing research on who to submit to. Many excellent publishers and agents don't have much activity going on in their threads here, so their pages could be very far down the list.

AW can help you determine whether a particular publisher or agent is worth submitting to, but it's not designed to be your first source in creating your submission list.

The truth is that the vast majority of publishers and agents are actually not interested in erotica. If your search resulted in a list the majority of which are, then you've done your search wrong.

The last time I went on the query-go-round, it took me about four hours to compile a list of over 35 top agents to whom to submit. That book was MG, so not erotica, romance, or YA. I used agentquery.com to find out who was seeking the kind of manuscript I had on offer. Most of the agents are so big in the industry that I didn't need to check their threads in BR&BC at all, because I see their names everywhere, representing authors whose books I see on bookshop shelves.

Yes I was just going to say agent query lists ten pages of agents looking for fantasy. I really want to know what the OP was doing and who all these people are that are looking for erotica. Agent query lists only 3 pages of agents looking for erotica. lol

I know it can be frustrating hunting for places to sub, ChristyP. Hang in there! There are lots of agent who are interested in UF; as others have said, check AgentQuery for Fantasy.

Good luck!

When I began actively querying in 2009, it took me over two months of research to narrow down a list of 100+ agents who might be interested in fantasy, in all its subgenres. I am out of the agent game right now, but I update that list when I get more information.

I still haven't been published in SFF; I had to switch genres to LGBT erotica to get my debut space opera mms published. This was in late 2011 and early 2012, pre 50 Shades, and I only found 7 remotely reputable agents willing to look at M/M erotic romance. My previous agent, with whom I'd parted ways years ago, did not even want to deal with straight romance. I got my current agent based on a publisher offer, my own persistence, and a comedy of errors on my part. That she is willing to market both genres is luck I didn't deserve.

50 Shades opened the market considerably, but I am not sure many of the agents jumping on that bandwagon are qualified to make decent deals - even when the publishers are willing to work with them.

With respect to the OP, there are still far more agents looking for non-romance SFF. Finding them requires research.

... 14 in one day?
Shotgun submissions may be effective,
but I've never cared for them.
It's almost like a defeatist attitude.
Especially if you start off at that pace.

What do I know though?
Not much I suppose.
Fortunately you've got many other perspectives above.
Far more sensible ones at that.

Stacia Kane said:

I know it can be frustrating hunting for places to sub, ChristyP. Hang in there! There are lots of agent who are interested in UF; as others have said, check AgentQuery for Fantasy.

Good luck!

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There's also a very nice thread in the SFF subforum that deals with agents who take fantasy. Not all do UF, but it might be a good starting point.

Christyp said:

After querying for close to twelve hours today I've only been able to send out...ready?....fourteen! It seems the pull right now is for erotica and romance. Sure, my books have some romantic elements, but they aren't necessarily romance. Sure, my books have an erotic scene or two, but they are NOT erotica!

Is anyone else having issues getting their books in front of people because of the latest "Wants"?

Click to expand...

Fourteen is actually a lot. How many were you expecting to send? I do hope you're also sending to agents as well as publishers. Agents can open doors that you can't.

As for urban fantasy, I've been hearing that editors are getting a little tired of them. There are still rabid fans, of course, but not as many as there once were. The market keeps shifting. Even for currently published people. But the market also tends to shift back eventually, so write more books and keep subbing in as many genres as you can. You never know which one might be "the one".

gingerwoman said:

Urban fantasy is popular. lol

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LOL, well yes, but a lot of them have a romance angle to them. That's what I meant