erotic romance genres?

veinglory

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I can tell paranormal is very hot now, and m/m is doing quite well.

But what do you think might be an under-exploited sub-genre?

I donlt see much in the way of historical other than western? What about erotic chick lit?
 

blisswriter

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Oh yeah! Erotic chick lit could definitely be a hot genre. I think my writing falls into that category but so far I've only done short stories.
 

AprilBoo

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I've noticed, with the recent appearance of erotic novels prominently displayed in my local bookstores, that there's quite a bit of domination stuff on the shelves. Does that count as a sub-genre? I think the medium and size of the publisher matters - I can see erotic chick-lit doing very well for some of the new print lines (Aphrodisia, etc.), but not the fantasy/paranormal stuff that is so popular with e-book publishers right now.
 

veinglory

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Yes, the light domination of bondages stuff does seem to almost all submissive woman stuff. That's just one step too far outside my comfort zone.
 

veinglory

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Romance (love story with a happy ending) where the hero and heroine (or hero & hero or whatever) have sex basically--see publishers like Ellora's Cave or Loose Id for full guidelines.
 

veinglory

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My favourite sf romance are called 'The Laiden series' and are by Sharon Lee and Steve Millar--these are truly excellent book and all but the last one centres on a romance story.
 

Crisscross

Here's a puzzler. Is there a niche, market for the bisexual male? I am 19 chapters into a novel with a main male who makes love with bi-males and bi-females and straight females. Such a life style is rife with psychological quirks. And it is suspenseful, as he is closeted. And all is highly romantic, and certainly explicit.

I have never read or heard of anything like this. Just your ordinary off the street bi-male who wants to have fun (both ways) too. Are publishers aware such a creature exists?
 

Cathy C

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Well, you're asking two different questions here. "Is there a niche market?" means two things. To you, as an author--the question refers to whether there's a publisher who wants to publish it. But then the second part comes into play. Is there a "niche market" to BUY it? If there is, how many are there? This is what the publisher will want to know. A mainstream publisher would probably be thrilled to buy the manuscript if they honestly believed there was more than 25,000 readers willing to buy it. But I don't know that there are, and that's pretty much the break-even point for a mass market title.

But what you might do is wander over to the Lambda Literary LAMMY Award or Gaylactic Spectrum Awards. These are for "excellence in gay fiction" in various genres. Even if your book isn't in a particular genre, you can see what publishers are offering up similar M/M/F titles. Just a thought.
 

Crisscross

Thanks for your reply Cathy.

Yes, I was asking those two questions, and a half dozen more, probably. I went to the links, and the headings were similar to most - Interest and Advocacy of Writing on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Themes. The down scroll of categories were the same as all the other links I've been to - Gay/Lesbian stories, novels with contemporary, fantasy, mystery, horror, alien etc. backgrouonds. If "transgender" or "bisexual" appear in any of those categories, the books are non-fiction, and they are sparse. That is why I posed my question.
 

AprilBoo

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Crisscross said:
Here's a puzzler. Is there a niche, market for the bisexual male? I am 19 chapters into a novel with a main male who makes love with bi-males and bi-females and straight females. Such a life style is rife with psychological quirks. And it is suspenseful, as he is closeted. And all is highly romantic, and certainly explicit.

I have never read or heard of anything like this. Just your ordinary off the street bi-male who wants to have fun (both ways) too. Are publishers aware such a creature exists?

Are you really hung up on having your title categorized as bi-male fiction? The way you are explaining your main character's relationships, it sounds like stuff I've read in mainstream erotica, though I will admit I don't remember ever being specifically told that a character is bi. I just reviewed a book with a main character that was straight female, got into a relationship with a woman, and ended up in a relationship with a m/f couple so that she could go both ways, although the author never specifcially said "X discovered she was bisexual." My point (now that I've finally arrived at it) is that I think you could probably sell this in the mainstream market. Don't shut off possibilities because you are looking for a "niche." Mainstream erotica is opening itself up beyond the standard m/f monogamous relationship that is demanded by mainstream romance.
 

veinglory

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I agree that bisexuality isn't usually used as a category, but books fitting that general description are out there marketed as general erotica or in the general 'alt' category along with threesomes etc...
 

Cathy C

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You'll probably notice that our first book, Hunter's Moon, was nominated for BOTH a LAMMY and a Spectrum award. This is because the leading secondary character is ( :eek: ) BISEXUAL. She's happy with both her hubby and female lover, and they're a threesome for the whole book as well as the sequel. While we don't go into detail of their love affair, the publisher had no problem with putting it out. I can't see where a bisexual male would be any different.


My best advice is not to lock yourself into the niche until you have no other alternative. Stick with the main genre (whether erotica or mainstream or romance) and go from there. You can always move around if it's not a good fit for any existing lines. :)
 

Crisscross

Good points all. Next question is what exactly is mainstream? I can't imagine sending this over the transom to Random House. I think what I need is an agent, from a list of agents who look for and specialize in erotica. Is such a list in the public domain?
 

veinglory

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I am under the impression that even novel length erotica is rarely agented--certainly the main publishers do not require it. The best list of erotica publisher is found at ERWA (link in the sticky at the top of this forum).
 

James Buchanan

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And many of the big lines won't do alt sexualies PERIOD. Not because thier editors don't like it, but because you can't put it on the shelves at WalMart. The main editor at TOR is allegedly a big M/M fan but they don't take it for thier line. Plus erotica tends to do better in the online formatt.

I mean, seriously, would you want to be caught in THAT section of Barns & Noble. The main readership for erotica & erotic romance is women and they're still not "allowed" to own their sexuality.

Places like Phaze & Loose Id will start as online... if you develop a following and sell more than X number of copies then they'll consider taking it into print. It's nice for a begining erotic author since they can afford to take more chances.

And, the checks don't bounce. So, yeah, you don't have hard copies to hold in your hand, but otherwise they treat you pretty good. Most have a pretty standard contract, that takes very few rights (1-2 year e-print), since there's not much overhead you don't have to worry about gross v. net distinctions.
 

Crisscross

Caroll and Graf take submissions only from agents - the best I could figure out from their site. If there is mainstream (hard and paper bound print copy) erotica publisher other than Caroll and Graf, I don't know who they are. I mean they have a seperate division devoted to fiction and non-fiction on sexual themes. Gay marriage is a biggie. Then of course GAY and LESBIAN fiction. Fixed, distinct categories. Or should I say genres.

I might not clearly understand what genre means. Is erotica a genre? as opposed to any story/novel containing sex scenes. Is any novel containing explicit sex scenes an erotic novel? These are not idle questions and I am not being smart alecky. Is BD/SM a genre or a sub-genre? Would it matter if a woman is tied to a post and given a spanking in outer space or by a vampire?

One other thing I respectfully call to the attention of you veterans - slang can leave newcomers, like me, mystified. What is chick-lit???? When I first came on here it took a lot of reading to figure out that "slash" meant homoerotic writing by women. Thank God that revolting term has disappeared.

I am bumbling my way along in this new frontier, so please be patient.
 

veinglory

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>Caroll and Graf take submissions only from agents - the best I could figure out from their site. If there is mainstream (hard and paper bound print copy) erotica publisher other than Caroll and Graf, I don't know who they are.

I suggest you check out the ERWA link. In gay erotic there are plently even if you only like for major print publishers--and a lot of alt erotica now goes out electronic or print-on-demand ordered via the internet. I, personally, rarely go the the erotica section of the bookstore anymore as there is little there but Black Lace and anthologies.

>I might not clearly understand what genre means.

It's flexible, authors and publisher postion themselves in the genre they think will sell the most of that book, erotica, gay, fetish, romance--anything goes.

>One other thing I respectfully call to the attention of you veterans - slang can leave newcomers, like me, mystified. What is chick-lit???? When I first came on here it took a lot of reading to figure out that "slash" meant homoerotic writing by women. Thank God that revolting term has disappeared.

I don't think the term 'slash' hasn't really disappeared--although it is mainly used to describe fan rather than original fiction, and it isn't really revolting as it refers to the punctuation mark called the back-slash or oblique --> /

Chick lit is like 'Bridget Jones's Diary'. Funny stories about urban women, their lives and loves.

You might want to start a new thread as I think you raised some good points for discussion and they might get more input in a fresh thread with a new title? Many people wonder these things but few ask about them.
 

Crisscross

Now I get it. I think. Maybe I don't. Since it refers to fan instead of original fiction. Fan fan fan... what the hell does fan mean?:rant:

Okay. I will start a new thread.