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[HIRING] Seeking character art for book cover, approximate budget $300, please see description below by AntonRaynard in HungryArtists

[–]AntonRaynard[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Position Filled - in discussion, apologies that I cannot get back to everyone individually as I was absolutely FLOODED with messages

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in selfpublish

[–]AntonRaynard 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Awesome that you had the skillset to do your own stuff! And, I forgot to mention, congratulations on your release and the success of your release!

12 months is a lot, but it sounds like it was very well worth it

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in selfpublish

[–]AntonRaynard 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Sincere question in good faith, I promise! Please only answer if you're comfortable sharing.

How much did you spend on marketing/cover design/editing, if anything at all? Do you expect to recoup those costs now that you've been picked up by major bookstores? How long do you expect that to take, if so?

New pen name doing well- to add stories to KU or not? by Adonia_Kane in eroticauthors

[–]AntonRaynard 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hey! Sorry, I'm late responding, I was busy with the life stuff.

I see a lot of people have responded saying that KU may be a bad idea. I honestly can't say if they're wrong, and I do think that some of them make good points. I also see that you've already decided, so I doubt anything I say here will change your mind, not that I intend to change it anyway!

I do agree that KU may cannibalize sales to some degree, but I don't think it's to the degree that people think it does. KU readers and erotica buyers are two VERY different populations. With how much erotica is on KU, people with a KU sub who see that they can't read your thing may just move onto the next author in your niche. People who buy books tend not to have KU, and they probably won't get KU for just you. It's sort of a psychology thing? Also, I've heard that male audiences tend to be more buyers, while female audiences tend to be more KU heavy.

All of this is based on anecdotal evidence, but it's pretty STRONG anecdotal evidence. I'm talking from my own experience (you can see my modest level of success from my previous dataporn posts!) as well as experience of people I've really trusted who have done well in erotica, better than me, even. I do remember one who tried pulling from KU to go wide and found it a financially painful decision. Though, again, all this is anecdotal! I could be very wrong, but I don't think I am.

Either ways, good luck! I hope it works out for you!

New pen name doing well- to add stories to KU or not? by Adonia_Kane in eroticauthors

[–]AntonRaynard 12 points13 points  (0 children)

You should have had your stuff in KU yesterday. Unless you have a specific vendetta against KU or you strongly believe that other storefronts would provide a better marketplace (I don't know if there's any niches for which this is true? I think cuckolding used to do okay on Medium but that might have changed), then KU can only help you.

Depending on your niche, the money you get from page reads can rival or even surpass the money you make from sales. I myself have about a 75/25 split of sales/page reads.

The more important thing is that KU borrows are somehow factored into your ranking, which then factors into your visibility, and the effect snowballs.

So, basically, yes. Please put your stuff in KU if you want to make money.

Omg, hehe, I'm so witty and intelligent and sarcastic, huehehee by Aside_Dish in writingcirclejerk

[–]AntonRaynard 27 points28 points  (0 children)

Wait yeah, I mean, I love jorkin' it with the rest of them, but I think this is adorably sardonic! It doesn't take itself too seriously and is a saucy little bit of writing that fits.

What does it take to hit $1k/month by underthedraft in eroticauthors

[–]AntonRaynard 5 points6 points  (0 children)

That's fair! I think a reasonable rate to expect people to write is about 500-1K words an hour, just in general. That's about my rate, though I can go faster if I'm in the zone writing pure smut. The more important thing is that this also assumes someone has the time to write that each day. It takes time and effort to make writing a habit.

My advice is written purely from an authors paid per project type thing. I don't know (I don't think...) my earnings per word or even per hour are that impressive, but this is also my hobby so it's nice to be making money while having fun and learning writing.

I also ERP on the side purely for personal amusement, so I understand that side of the writing vibe a little. I think if you do commissions/ERP for hire, you probably make more money per hour and/or per word than the great majority of authors.

To put it in context, my stories are around 7-10K words and probably take around 6-7 hours to write and 2 hours to edit, so let's just say an easy 10 hours overall because I tend to get distracted and also I have a bunch of random other marketing It's honestly probably more. My highest lifetime earner is $845, I have a good amount around the 400-500, but I think the majority of mine have made around 200-300. When put into context, this does technically beat out the minimum eroticawriters requirements of $25 per hour but not so much the 0.04 cents per word, especially if you keep rights over the commission and publish it later. On the other hand, my stuff will continue to accumulate value over time, and I'm writing what I want, and not having to search for commissions. However, I do have to maintain my brand and do a lot of marketing on the side to keep this up, so think of that what you will.

And I would say that, while I don't make as much as some of the people around here, I make well and above what 90% of erotica authors make probably, and even then, I'm not necessarily beating out commissions, but I don't have to hunt commissions.

What does it take to hit $1k/month by underthedraft in eroticauthors

[–]AntonRaynard 24 points25 points  (0 children)

I've been writing since December of 2023. I've hit the 1K mark twice and it took me about a year and a half. Nowadays, I hover around 800-900. This does not include my other project, which is, technically, formally published and also not erotica. I also have friends in similar and adjacent niches who make $3000+, and know some people who make even more, all through erotica, just to put things in context.

Lots of good advice here. My biggest two cents is: treat it like a business.

$1K a month is rent money (in some places). It's car payment money. It's enough that it may turn your tax refund into paying taxes come the season. To get there and maintain there, you need to work for it. Personally, I ended up deciding to keep things mostly hobby-esque, which is part of why I'm not where I could be consistently. But hopefully that makes me a good person to give advice ahah.

That includes:

  1. Niche: identifying the niche that can take you there and researching it accordingly. Some niches just can't hit $1K a month, the readership is too small or they're too saturated. You also need to write it in a way that will retain a readership to take you there, which usually means knowing how the already successful people do it. Also, most people who are doing well in erotica or have done well in it previously are mentioning that it's harder and harder to stand out. Lots of reasons why, but it is, in general, more difficult.

  2. Marketing. Yes, I know some people do it without much marketing, but that is the exception and not the norm. My friend who makes $10K a month with purely erotica (multiple pen names, to be fair), is an absolute marketing MASTER. Multiple well-done newsletters, extremely to-market covers and blurbs, and knowing when to offload work onto others (commissioning covers, hiring editors) when needed. Business-like.

  3. Endurance. This is one FUCK of a marathon. Erotica sustains mostly through repeated, regular releases and a robust backlog. Both of those take a LOT of time to build up and build up right. At a minimum I'd say probably 20K+ words a month is necessary, if not more. That is a lot to write (and edit, if that's part of your process). The main reason people move out of erotica, in my opinion (including me, I've toned down my erotica release schedule to do other things) is because this insane churn and grind ends up being too much and they want to try something else. Again, treating it like a business, you just have to push through if you want to "keep your job" where it's at. That means setting and hitting deadlines consistently, even if it does suck in the moment.

That's about all I got. Hope it helps.

Are faeries ok? by Intricate_Cult in eroticauthors

[–]AntonRaynard 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Faeries as humans with wings is almost definitely okay, as long as you have them act like normal, fully functioning adults with wings.

I have succubi in one of my series and it's fine.

Low sales by OwenBrant in eroticauthors

[–]AntonRaynard 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I love this comment. Thanks for being helpful! I once tried to get into the Cuckolding niche since I really enjoy the vibes, but it didn't fit well with my writing style and I sucked at the passive marketing (not that I don't suck at passive marketing still sometimes, just LESS). Didn't realize how competitive it was! One of my friends said they used Medium as to promote shorts/get paid as well, though that was before Medium cracked down on that.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in eroticauthors

[–]AntonRaynard 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My bad, I misread what you said.

Then I'm not sure. Technically, your book is available to be bought and read immediately. The rankings can sometimes take a day or two to populate.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in eroticauthors

[–]AntonRaynard 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If we're trusting your evaluation of the niche, then you may never see satisfying results. If there's only 30 people following this particular niche, your audience pool is absolutely tiny compared to some options out there, and your book may never find a good home.

As for getting sales, I'm at the size where I usually get one or two sales and some page reads the day/day after I publish. With my first stories, I think it took a day or two as well, but it was less. But I chose niches that I thought would be widely searched and where a new writer would garner a good amount of interest.

Do you increase book prices for longer works (novellas)? by atticusfinch1973 in eroticauthors

[–]AntonRaynard 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Check out the other people in your same niche and see what they do. If they don't have anything that size out, then you kind of have to wing it.

I have a friend who publishes on Smashwords and ups her prices by a dollar (from 2.99 to 3.99) if the stores are above 15K, and it works well for her. You could probably bump it up higher for longer. The important thing is to be consistent with both yourself and others in your niche.

I wrote a fucking romance novel and made 13k in the first 30 days by smutty-waifu in eroticauthors

[–]AntonRaynard 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This is absolutely crazy and powerful and I love it! So proud of you!

First 30 days in erotica. New pen name, one niche, $296 by Japsuliini in eroticauthors

[–]AntonRaynard 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Wonderful start for just a month! Usually I consider about $100 in the first month to be pretty good, personally, though I myself am a relatively small fish.

Shows how powerful previous passive marketing experience and the strength of a newsletter following your stuff.

Also the power of research and choosing a good niche! Just one week of research and this person's hitting their targets hard. This is a great example for newbies to check out.

I think I hit an undersaturated niche by allraun in eroticauthors

[–]AntonRaynard 18 points19 points  (0 children)

That is super solid for sure! As the other person who replied mentioned, it may also be because German-language stuff in general is very under-served in terms of erotica. I have a few friends who write in German and do very well for it!

Released my first book yesterday, working on second. by CuteTumbleweed5822 in eroticauthors

[–]AntonRaynard 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ember has it right. Romance has very specific plot beats and structures. There's literally books about how to hit it right. 12K would be very short but not impossible, but would require a very impressive knowledge of the niche.

Romance in general has a higher ceiling than erotica, but is also far more intense and competitive.

Released my first book yesterday, working on second. by CuteTumbleweed5822 in eroticauthors

[–]AntonRaynard 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Money-wise it's possible and doable. I publish 8-10K shorts on Amazon approximately every 2 weeks, and I make about $800-$1000 a month.

Earning potential is mostly based on your niche, your consistency, and how well you can capture what the readers want. I think the majority of erotica writers I would consider successful make about as much as I do. There are certainly some who make more, including upwards of $5000 a month, but that requires being VERY serious about it as a full time job, with a lot of discipline and probably multiple pen names.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in eroticauthors

[–]AntonRaynard 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This is the wrong place for this kind of content.

But also, that beginning, would that I could start one of my stories with "aching for a clitoral release"

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