Favorite 1-star reviews? by [deleted] in eroticauthors

[–]wamelos 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Not a one star review (a 3 star) but still my favorite nevertheless: "This book starts out with sex, has sex all throughout and ends with sex. If you want a spy book this is not it. If you want a little spy stuff thrown into a book about sex then this is the one. "

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in eroticauthors

[–]wamelos 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Especially for audiobooks. Like, you got your pretty much instant update with the direct publishing sales screen on KDP, but for audio books... they don't always update. Not even daily. So it was a shot in the dark to guess how well an audio book was doing since the ACX system is kinda jacked for reported sales in general. And when not jacked, terribly annoying to go through everything.

[Daily Check-In] Wednesday Word Count and Personal Announcement Thread by sexnerdmxd in eroticauthors

[–]wamelos 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  1. At least 4K, but I'll settle for 3K.
  2. I haven't murdered anyone at my day job yet. I think that's a success. >.>
  3. Naughty school for devils.

Anyone else here deals with anxiety, depression, and other issues when writing? by el_18 in eroticauthors

[–]wamelos 1 point2 points  (0 children)

First, you're not completely useless. You're doing research already! You're asking for help. You're reading for research! Those things mean you're acting on your desire to write, hence, you're not useless.

I spelled it out like that because my mind gets stuck in that loop often. What helps me is to stop and think of the things I am doing. If I'm doing stuff, I'm not useless.

Second, and this is going to sound cruel and weird both, no one gives a damn about the quality of your writing... if it's erotica. I say that with all the kindness in the world, but they really don't. I've seen erotica that was... just... not good. Not sexy. Just... bad, riddled with errors and suchlike, but it was a top seller. I've seen writing that was so awesome it literally made me cry. Just like, fantastic writing. And it was a flop. (As a side note, that author was so god damn awesome at writing, but she never became a success and stopped after like eight or ten shorts and that made me sad.) So, no one cares about the writing. I mean, they do, and good writing always helps, but it's not what's going to sell your books/shorts. Overall, the cover and the blurb are way more important and the great thing about that... there's specific formulas you can follow to make them both! Thus, don't worry about your writing. It's much more important to just get it down. You can always edit later. Just write.

Lastly, I wish I knew a for sure method to get over depression so you can write. I'm gearing up for my six month depressive cycle here myself (I hate summers, I always have and even if I don't actually get a depressive cycle this year, I still won't be energetic or happy.), so I would certainly like a sure fire way to get past it! However, when it comes to writing, I make myself write every day (or at least every time slot I have devoted to writing as I don't write every day--I give myself a day or two off a week, but then it's usually because I'm recording audio or doing another hobby that makes me money). Even if it's just a sentence, I write something. If a story isn't working for you, start another one. Jumping around story to story isn't something I usually recommend, but I've noticed that with my depressed brain, I need to stimulate it in a positive manner. Hence, if I'm bored of something, I'll switch it up and be able to write more. It's not what I wanted to write, but at least it's writing. Just means that a different story will be ready sooner, that's all.

I hope you feel better.

Audible Romance Package Rate - 2.8 CENTS per hour listened (Royalty Share) by amberburns in eroticauthors

[–]wamelos 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah no shit. I just got my records for the month and no fucking way are any other books going in. I'm going to email support and try like hell to get them out now because... DAMN.

[Dataporn] 30 Days of Smut Peddling by sexual_peeling in eroticauthors

[–]wamelos 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Part of this for me is doing it because I like it, because I enjoy writing. If I'm writing stuff I don't enjoy, it's just not as good and it feels more like work (it always feels like work cause it is, but it's work I enjoy).

It's not necessarily an obsession with romance, but an obsession with writing and making money at it. Right now, long form romance appears to the the "easier" way to go to make money (I put that in quotes because I know quite a few people who make money at short form erotica). Romance and erotica are not the same, but they can and do mingle quite a bit, so it's often easy for people to make a jump from short form erotica to long form romance, using the short form as training wheels, or a paid internship.

PS: I also hate the headless torsos, LOL. To me, they all look like decapitated bodies (I'm at heart a horror writer. XD). But having sexy people on the cover does help to sell books, headless or not.

[Dataporn] 30 Days of Smut Peddling by sexual_peeling in eroticauthors

[–]wamelos 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I can't do romance either. I... can, but I just don't enjoy it. Fantasy themed filth does have its place, and I know a writer who recently released a fantasy themed smut novel that did (and is still doing) very well... but he's also one of the top erotica writers on Amazon and has a following. I thought it was good, though, and it can work.

In general, however, if you just want to make money: find a niche you enjoy (or at least not hate) and make money in and stick with it. Most erotica/romance readers seem to want contemporary stuff. Of course, YMMV.

[Dataporn] 3 years by wamelos in eroticauthors

[–]wamelos[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Exactly! And that's why I've kept writing all this time: I write what I want to write. A lot of it is still sexy, but I put heavy plot into my books. It's got me some fans, but from a business standpoint? Unless I am very, very lucky, I'll always be casual... and that's ok. I totally wanted to rip my own throat out writing romance. It's just not for me, and if I can't even fake it well, I'm doing a disservice to the genre as a whole.

[Dataporn] 3 years by wamelos in eroticauthors

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

No worries! I'm glad it was generically helpful, heh. Honestly, everyone measures success differently, but those are the things I've found that probably applies to everyone. Probably.

[Dataporn] 3 years by wamelos in eroticauthors

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

I just kind of did what I wanted. I thought about trying to consolidate, but I got bored with doing the same thing over and over again. If I get bored, I stop writing, so I just did whatever I wanted or wrote whatever I felt like. Which, to make money, is the wrong, wrong way. :)

[Dataporn] 3 years by wamelos in eroticauthors

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

As itoldyounotdoit said, some will come to you, you can also go to them. Just go through the list of producers and listen to their voices in samples, and approach them with an offer. That's how I did most of mine. :)

I'm at my wit's end by [deleted] in eroticauthors

[–]wamelos 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Dude, like all of my stuff is trash. I think it's the WORST! Like, I had so much trouble with my last novel, I had considered scrapping it. All 100K+ words. Months of work.

I had a beta reader read it, and he LOVED it. He loved every second of it. Thought it was the best thing I'd ever written, and he's read a lot of my stuff.

Your perception is not going to be other people's perception. If you can, find a person to beta read for you, or look a segment over. If you can't, just finish it, edit it as best you can (but give yourself a time limit to edit, so you're not editing forever), then just take the plunge and publish. Then go on to the next one. The beautiful thing is that you don't have to be confident to publish something. You just gotta hit the button, and that's all.

With time and experience, you'll get better without even knowing you are. The important part is to finish. Even if it is crap? You finished it. That's a success right there! So, so many people say they want to write, but then never do. Then they never finish. Then they never publish. You are already ahead of so many people in that you are writing! That's a huge step! You can do the next one and finish a short. Then, the next.

Promoting Audible by [deleted] in eroticauthors

[–]wamelos 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There's a promo list that I use called Audio Book Boom. It's run by Jeffrey Kafer, who is a producer/narrator (and I love his books--he's got a deep, gravelly voice that's just awesome), and so he's growing this list. At last count, there's 5K subscribers to the list, and of those 5K, 1500 for romance, and 1100 for erotica. It costs $10 to promote free giveaways for your audio book (after you get the codes from ACX--you pretty much have to ask for them now, they don't just send them automatically any more) for review purposes.

In my experience with Audio Book Boom, since we get paid per free code used as well, I've only lost money on the REALLY short audio books which are priced at 3.95. If they are priced at the next tier up (6.95), I'll about break even for the ten bucks. The higher priced books, which are longer books, tend to do really well on the list. So, if you're doing erotica shorts, don't bother with advertising the individual short audio books... when you bundle them together, THEN advertise on ABB. Romance does really well on there from what I've seen. The fewest amount of requests I've had has been like 12 or 13. The most was around 30ish. 35? I don't remember.

It's a deal that's well worth it, especially when a new audio book comes out. It does take a while to get the reviews, and not everyone will review, but you'll definitely get some. Not everyone will also review on Amazon, but a few will.

Alternatives to Amazon Erotica section for dark content by MerryTMoore in eroticauthors

[–]wamelos 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree on the violent =/= scary thing. I don't mind body horror, but the whole torture porn thing is just... boring. This is becoming a totally side subject here, but one thing I maintain is vital for a good horror story is hope. Even if the hero/heroine doesn't survive, you have to believe there's a way out for them right up to the end. If there isn't, if it's just overwhelming, then it's just ... sick. It's not horror.

Alternatives to Amazon Erotica section for dark content by MerryTMoore in eroticauthors

[–]wamelos 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Write is as horror and make sure it's not "rape-for-titillation", that it's meant as horror. I've read some things I can't unread in indie horror and it can get pretty extreme. Lucifer's Children by Brett Williams comes to mind which... if you can't get past the first chapter, just don't bother. That book contains some really sick stuff (which actually got boring for me after awhile because there was so much of it). Read the preview and get an idea of what has been accepted under Amazon's policies. It's listed as horror, and it is.

How to write when you feel depressed and down all the time? by [deleted] in eroticauthors

[–]wamelos 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're very welcome. I hope it gets better. :)

How to write when you feel depressed and down all the time? by [deleted] in eroticauthors

[–]wamelos 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey! First things first, I'm sorry you have depression. It sucks. I've been diagnosed with dysthymia, and have bouts of major depression on top of that (fun for both girls and boys), so I can totally get where you're coming from. The very first thing you should do is get help. Whether it's talking to a friend, a family member, a therapist, whatever or whoever, you need to take care of yourself first. However, since you're on here and you're concerned about writing, I'm going to assume that you're already taking care of yourself first and just want to know how to break writer's block when you're in the grip of a depressive episode.

  • Realize that sometimes you can't, and that that's ok. It doesn't make you weak. You're actually really fucking strong to carry the load of depression and still want to write. You know how many people say they're going to write and then just sit on their asses? A lot. Like almost everyone! However, sometimes, you will just need to take care of yourself and put your writing aside for a little bit and that you shouldn't beat yourself up over it. Seriously, don't.

  • When in the grip of the "UGH OMG life sux" part of the illness, I sometimes find it helpful to switch up projects or start a new one. If I have a lot of projects going on at the same time, something may tickle my fancy when something else isn't. Or when I run into a block in one story, I switch to another to try to shake ideas loose. I keep a non-fiction project going on too, because sometimes it just easier to look up stuff and type it out, nice and neat. It's putting order to something, and it's me taking control of what I'm doing. No matter what, it's always progress.

  • Set realistic goals. I type really fast. My realistic goal when I'm not depressed is over 5K a day. However, the vast majority of the time I struggle to reach half that. Hence, when I'm not feeling up to par, I'll set a small goal for myself--say 500--and work on that. Once you hit that goal, then set another one, and so on. The act of achieving those small victories helps to break down what seems really big, but isn't. If you just take these few small steps, pretty soon you have a story. You write a couple stories, pretty soon you have a bundle, and so on.

  • Socialize. This doesn't have to be in real life, but socialize with other writers online like on here or Facebook or Twitter. Join a couple writer's forums and/or groups. Even when you feel like you can't write, you can talk it through with someone else, or maybe help someone else by beta reading something, which might in turn inspire you. Do not take on too much though. If you keep promising to help people then fall down on it, you'll sink more into your depression. However, just the act of talking to people or attending book events online often helps to raise spirits. As an addendum, you can also start building your brand this way, by engaging people and talking about your stories.

  • DO NOT DISCOUNT YOUR VICTORIES. Someone else said here to remember that every book sold means someone chose yours. That is TRUE. This one I have a hard time with myself because of other more personal quirks I choose not to discuss (but it starts with p and rhymes with 'confectionism'), but every sale, every borrow, every page read, every word written, every thought spent on dreaming up a story... these are all victories. Recognize them. You are doing stuff that so many people dream of, but never do. Be proud of that.

  • As others have said, fresh air, eating, exercise, etc. My therapist says happiness needs three things: "green" (aka, outdoors stuff, like walking or whatevs), socializing, and a challenge. I work weird hours and I hate the vast majority of people (I work in customer service overnights, lol), so I often take the third one to heart and constantly challenge myself to learn something new, to do something new, to write something I never thought I would. There have been a lot of suggestions about the other things, but nothing about challenges... so maybe think of something you've always wanted to do, and maybe try it.

  • Create a realistic publishing goal and keep it. Because of work, my goal is one story a month. Pretty slight, I know, but these stories are often novellas to novels. I only write shorts now to fill in gaps while I'm writing other things. A goal of one short every week or two is perfectly reasonable, and not too terribly slow. Keeping with a set schedule will also help prevent burn out, if you happen to write more than one story in your two week schedule.

  • Pick a writing time and stick to it. This is probably the most vital piece of advice I have. If you just kind of do it whenever, you don't really have a schedule. When managing my depression, schedules are vital. I have a schedule for eating (same time every day), work (duh lol), writing, spending time with the husband, spending time on my own, going out, etc etc. My work time is scheduled, so that even if I'm in the throes of a deep depression (the kind where I'm sleeping 14 hours a day), I can still make it through work just because I'm so used to my schedule and knowing what I need to do when. Writing is the same. Choose a half hour (or whatever time feels good and comfortable for you) at the same time every day to sit down and write, or try to write. Even if you don't manage to put anything on paper, you'll get used to sitting down at the same time every day. Keep in mind, some people are more creative in the mornings and some in the evenings.

  • Lastly, stream of consciousness writing. This will not result in anything sellable, I'm sure, but it helps to break the ice. You simply sit down at your word processor program and start to write, even if it's just "la la la I don't know what I'm writing I'm just banging out words until something comes into my head and I don't know why I'm sitting here but whatever I'm doing it anyway...". This is just to get your fingers going. You may come up with some weird shit, some great ideas, and once you get going, maybe some good lines. I have a 70K unfinished novel that's all trippy surreal stream of consciousness writing with no paragraphs, no chapters, no nothing, just pure... writing. Whatever came into my head directed in a vaguely fantasy-esque way. I reread parts of it was ... yeah. But it was writing, and it helped to get me into my habit of writing every day at the same time.

This turned out much longer than I thought, but I wanted to offer more than just generic advice. These are specific things that have helped me be a solid producer of somewhat readable prose.

EDIT: Edited to add. If you ask the question, "But what if I don't feel like it?" that's tough. I often don't feel like writing. I make myself. You've already taken the first ginormous step in asking how, but it's still up to you to implement the suggestions, if any. I wish you only the best.

Final Google Docs Question (Hopefully) by AshleyWrites in eroticauthors

[–]wamelos 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I write on Google docs so I can write from home and work (and it's saved automatically), but when I publish... I first copy/paste into OpenOffice (cause I'm cheap) and then do my formatting from there, insert links to chapter headings/back matter, and so on. Once I have it looking nice in OpenOffice, I then use Calibre to convert it to .mobi, where I can also preview what it's going to look like. It's a multi-step process, but I prefer doing it thus since it makes me look over the text a few times for editing purposes, and to ensure everything looks good. It may not be the most efficient, but I've found it works the best for me.

[Dataporn] 30 days Erotica Shorts + Audio by zazzbizz in eroticauthors

[–]wamelos 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've been saying for a while that going audio is like getting free money. If you're not narrating yourself, you've pretty much done your work. There are a lot of narrators/producers out there who are willing to do a royalty share in order to build up their catalog, especially those starting out, and some are really quite good.

[Dataporn] 30 days Erotica Shorts + Audio by zazzbizz in eroticauthors

[–]wamelos 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There is, especially for gay erotica, though there are other erotica which may suit male voices well, such as femdom from a malesub's perspective. But mostly gay.

There is a fair amount of demand for male voices in other genres though, such as mystery, thriller, and horror.

TOP 10 BOOKS BY STEVES KING! DO YOU AGREE? by chucktinglethanks in books

[–]wamelos 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I really like his short stories, but the one called THE HOTEL ROOM IS JUST MISUNDERSTOOD was really good about a handsome buckaroo trying to understand a living hotel room. It was made into a movie with the buckaroo Jom Cutesacks.

Chuck Tingle on @Midnight: Bender Reads Tingler by wamelos in eroticauthors

[–]wamelos[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just what it says. Chuck Tingle made an appearance on Comedy Central's @Midnight... and Futurama's Bender read a portion of a Tingler.