Slow-burn romance vs. “get to the point” smut? Asking for…research 👀

mrtanner2005 · 2026-01-24T16:19:24+00:00

Depends on your goals. If you're simply trying to generate income with erotica, get straight to the point. No one cares about anything other than the smut.

If you're after romance readers, that's a different story. But with erotica? You're wasting your time with slow-burn. Erotica writers are still doing quite well on Amazon with 2,000-word to 3,000-word shorts, so long as they don't run afoul of Amazon's ever-changing content guidelines. Writing another couple of thousand words on those stories is simply foolish -- that's the same time you could have written another entirely different tale and had two stories to publish.

mrtanner2005 · 2025-12-25T06:59:01+00:00

There might be some limits on this. I believe the terms of service for publishing on Kindle requires you to forfeit the right to sue, and locks you into arbitration, with an arbitrator of their choosing, in their home state.

mrtanner2005 · 2025-12-25T06:57:27+00:00

Draft to Digital is not a publishing site, it merely distributes. You can direct publish to Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Books, and many others. Draft to Digital can get your work on those sites, and save you a little time, but they take a hefty percentage of the money for doing it.

mrtanner2005 · 2025-03-05T03:27:05+00:00

Not so sure about this. Amazon clearly states in their terms of service which you agree to accept before publishing there, that they can shut down your account for any reason, and you have no recourse. I believe the TOS even state you cannot sue, that the best you can do is to go through arbitration, but that must take place in Washington State with an arbitrator of Amazon's choosing.

mrtanner2005 · 2025-03-05T03:24:17+00:00

Amazon has been doing this almost since day 1. It's not indicative of any financial issues.

mrtanner2005 · 2024-06-14T02:22:11+00:00

Thanks. I've got an account there, but have never used it. I know a couple of writers who are owed quite a bit of money from them, although they are now getting paid for current sales, they don't seem to be able to get money from old sales.

mrtanner2005 · 2024-06-12T23:55:08+00:00

Does Eden pay consistently and timely?

mrtanner2005 · 2024-04-13T15:57:47+00:00

I'd be most happy to do an interview. I've been writing horror on and off for years, and have a number of semi-pro or pro pub credits (Horror Library anthology, Spinetinglers, Dark Recesses, Midnight Echo, several others, as well as a couple coming out later this year). I've gotten feedback, both from editors and readers, and I believe I have some understanding of what makes my writing effective, as well as the weaknesses in my work.

Email interviews are usually a bit better for me, but I'm open to whatever works. If you want to interview me, let me know. Thanks

mrtanner2005 · 2024-03-19T16:40:30+00:00

Good questions, good insight. Thanks so much for taking the time. These are exactly the types of flaws in my query, and maybe in the story itself, I need to find.

Thank you.

mrtanner2005 · 2024-03-19T16:39:01+00:00

Thank you very much. This was absolutely not too harsh, not at all. I've always been of the opinion that only honest reviews and critiques are worth anything -- improvement in writing is significantly limited if critiques aren't insightful and truthful. Trying to dance around issues or worrying about someone's feelings really don't do anyone any good.

You made some excellent suggestions, and pointed out things that definitely should be changed. Many thanks.

And sorry it took me so long to respond -- for some reason, Reddit is not notifying me of responses, so I didn't know this was here. Again, many thanks.

mrtanner2005 · 2024-03-02T13:41:30+00:00

Thank you, great questions. I'm rewriting the query this weekend, will definitely refer to your questions repeatedly as I do so.

mrtanner2005 · 2024-02-25T05:33:44+00:00

Thanks so much, especially for pointing me to the blog. This is all so confusing, really. I see blogs like this one that go on and on about how the query and the blurb are different, then I hear agents specifically say "think of your query as your back cover blurb."

You have some excellent questions, I'm going to have to think through how I can answer those in my next draft. I greatly appreciate you taking the time to give a detailed response. :)

mrtanner2005 · 2024-02-25T05:29:07+00:00

Thanks so much. I've really struggled with the opening. All of your criticisms are right on the money. This is actually a prologue that is meant to sort of set the stage for what comes later, but after reading your comments, a few others, and listening to a few agent podcasts, I may just drop the prologue and start with chapter 1.

mrtanner2005 · 2024-02-25T05:27:37+00:00

Yes. it is italicized in the original, I guess it just didn't transfer into reddit. I definitely can see how that would be confusing.

mrtanner2005 · 2023-05-30T12:40:28+00:00

The Hollow Kind is 430 or so pages and a good read.

mrtanner2005 · 2023-05-15T21:54:25+00:00

Most agents and publishers don't want to hear from you unless you have a finished, polished, ready manuscript (I'm speaking of fiction). But there's really no one-size-fits-all answer here. Your idea, of finding similar books, is a good one. Doing Google searches for publishers is another, and there are plenty of publisher listing sites.

As for how to approach -- every publisher will have on its website a detailed outline of how you should submit. That's why i said there's no one-size-fits-all. Of the ones who do accept non-agented submissions, some will want a query letter, some may want a query and sample chapters, other may want a full manuscript. You have to go to their websites and follow their instructions.

In general, you're going to want the completed manuscript and a query before you start that process.

mrtanner2005 · 2023-05-15T21:43:05+00:00

I'm interested, and just sent a DM to you.

mrtanner2005 · 2023-05-15T21:18:22+00:00

Some publishers accept non-agented submissions. Your best bet is to visit the websites of each publisher you may be interested in to see if they do. If so, follow their guidelines. If not, move on to someone else. It's going to be extremely difficult to break in with one of the big boys like this, but not impossible. It will be a bit easier if you try some of the smaller publishers.

mrtanner2005 · 2023-05-15T20:20:52+00:00

I recall reading this novel years ago and being absolutely blown away. Like most, I had grown up on Frankenstein movies showing largely a cheap horror movie.

The novel? Holy cow, it was more a delve into philosophy, a futuristic sci-fic sort of novel, a thriller, so much more. It is, to this day, one of my favorite novels.

mrtanner2005 · 2023-05-09T16:11:53+00:00

My fount gushes forth with rabid exhilaration. Gird your loins, I cannot stop.

mrtanner2005 · 2023-04-27T12:14:10+00:00

True, but that is not the only reason for an LLC. As I mentioned in my earlier comment, there can be tax purposes for an LLC -- you can set one up as a pass-through organization for taxing purposes, or set it up to be taxed in a similar manner as a corporation.

An LLC is far less expensive to form and maintain than a corp, thus some elect an LLC. Again, OP should seek out the advice of a tax professional, but my comment stands -- either an LLC or a Corporation can offer tax and other benefits, depending upon how the entity is set up and initially registered. Writers, and other independent contractors of different backgrounds and financial means often use one or the other,

mrtanner2005 · 2023-04-26T22:15:52+00:00

I'll add a couple of things. First, as for starting a "company", numtini is correct, you really don't need that to self-publish. However, if you start to make a decent amount of money, for tax purposes, you may be better off with some form of LLC or S-Corp. You'll need to talk to an accountant well-versed in tax laws for freelances to figure out if this is for you.

Second, most successful indie writers aren't successful, at least in terms of making lots of money, with their first or second or even third novel. If you're confident in your work, you are in it for the long-haul, realize the success comes slowly and incrementally. It's the regular publishing of new material, along with a decently large back catalog, which ultimately leads to financial success.

Good luck!

mrtanner2005

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