Short Stories, Novels, & Motivation

In today’s erotic eBook market, authors debate between writing short stories or going for longer novel length books. While both story lengths seem to appeal to various readers, authors want to know which style maximizes sales. In a rush to decide what sells better, I think authors have forgotten to take a step back. What we really need to be asking as authors is simple, what length is best for my personal writing style? Having made the transition myself, I thought I’d discuss what I found.

By: Gerry Maxwell

Write shorts to explore a genre or kink: When I first started writing, shorts were everything. Stories in the 3,000 – 5,000 word range were a perfect way to explore subject matter. Despite the decline in short story sales, shorts remain a viable option for authors. Considering a new kink? Try writing a short story first. Just starting out in your writing career? No problem, write plenty of shorts to get your name out there. Before defining yourself as an author, shorts are a great tool to make an impact while exploring various erotic subjects.

By: William Cooper

Novels point out writing flaws: One of the reasons I love writing novels now happens to be they point out my weaknesses. If you’re writing stories spanning only 3,000 words, odds are writing weaknesses won’t be apparent. Trust me, 40,000 words points out all the writing flaws an author has. If you’re looking to be a stronger writer, try a novel. Using words like that, just, and honestly, too much? By the end of a 40,000 word book, the habit will be obvious. Plus, you’ll get plenty of practice weeding these words out in the long run.

By: Betty Beckett

Price points make a difference: If you’re looking for the most sale potential, novels are the way to go. For every single you sell, you’ll make double your money. On the other hand, shorts are great for authors looking to expand their catalog. Whether you have novels or shorts, only having one title decreases odds book will sell. Taking the time to have a variety of books to offer has a direct impact on sales potential. In the long run, an author can better choose to write shorts or novels based on personal preference.

By: John E. Jay

Time constraints don’t matter: Want to write a novel, but are afraid of the time investment? Don’t be, in reality it’s the same amount of writing. On average, authors of shorts write between 8 – 10 books a month. If these books are 5,000 words or more, authors are actually writing 40,000 words a month already. The investment for authors in the case of a novel is more long term, instead of eight short titles. Authors shouldn’t worry about if they do it, odds are they already have!

By: Vinod Nair

Ultimately, writing shorts and novels depends on personal preferences. As an author, I now prefer to write novels. Because I started out writing shorts however, shorts remain my favorite. If I have an extra day at the end of the month, I’ll write a short story. After writing a couple novels, I discovered my shorts improved. Novels may create better writers, shorts might be more practical. In either case, we need to examine what motivation drives us to write. The answer might surprise all of us.

By: Lily Weidner

The Erotic eBook Market On Amazon

Notice the dramatic changes in erotic books over the last couple years. Market saturation has become the norm, leaving authors to fend for themselves at a loss to figure out the reasons for their rapidly declining sales. What happened?

Amazon has erotic issues! 

While self-published authors try hard to locate multiple distribution sites, they remain unaware of any good solution capable of competing with Amazon sales. Authors agree Amazon excels as the best place to publish erotic eBooks. But Amazon keeps censoring books resulting in banned author accounts, and confiscation of authors’ hard-earned royalty money.

Authors who grow increasingly tired of Amazon’s repeated issues are learning that other solutions, such as Lot’s Cave exist, and will publish their Amazon censored erotica. They disagree with the idea of Amazon being the only place to make money. Additionally, successful self-published authors find they can bypass Amazon’s exclusive publishing deals.

With controversial erotica being the bestselling subgenres of erotica in today’s market, many self-published authors find they can’t publish their books on Amazon. One of the best ways to get your book or account banned for life is by publishing incest or bestiality themed erotica. Because of this content censorship, many readers looking for taboo based erotica no longer search Amazon’s website as it yields either incorrect or poor content results. This leaves many authors questioning the effectiveness of Amazon’s market for the book’s target audience. With no readers to buy their books, what money do authors stand to make?

Looking at Amazon’s latest censorship trend while pooling together the combined experiences of erotica authors, let’s analyze Amazon’s publishing policy and the significant difficulties one must hurdle.

Guidelines Aren’t Clearly Stated or Consistently Applied: Many books on Amazon contain content that authors know aren’t within Amazon’s Content Guidelines. Popular books containing BDSM, bestiality, incest, and more can be readily found on Amazon’s website. Yet Amazon uses the popular, ‘unsuitable content’ blanket term to regulate author’s controversial content. In no other genre is this issue raised more than self-published erotica. This means authors never know if their content is within guidelines, even if they try to meet Amazon’s murky standards.

Amazon Doesn’t Publish Incest, Bestiality, Dubious Consent, or BDSM: While Amazon’s policy is to not publish BDSM, incest, bestiality, or dubious consent, readers can find the subject broadcasted across the Amazon bookstore. Self-publishes find their books banned, while books from notable publishing companies have no problem selling their books. Complicating issues is Amazon’s sexist policy for adult erotica. Covers depicting women in BDSM themed bondage is quickly banned, while a male in the same situation is quickly overlooked. This conflicting standard happens repeatedly across various erotic subgenres indicating a company bias if not outright sexist policy.

Complaints Against eBooks Are Indiscriminate With No Appeal: Amazon’s customer first policy only complicates an author’s ability to provide quality content. Controversial erotica will always raise complaints despite artistic value, political merit or moral point to be made. At times, Amazon users ban books they haven’t even read leaving them with wrong impressions. Complicating matters are religious standards against any adult material, even in an artistic light. This indiscriminate policy victimizes authors, leaving them with no way to appeal Amazon’s mistake.

Banned Accounts Result In Lost Royalties: Getting a book or account banned may seem like the worst thing Amazon can do, but it gets worse, much worse. A banned account can mean the entire account is frozen, with all funds confiscated and reverting directly to Amazon’s bank account. Because Amazon delays royalty payments, this confiscation can result in authors losing several months’ worth of sales. Amazon’s policy states ‘If we terminate this Agreement because you have breached your representations and warranties or our Content Guidelines, you forfeit all Royalties not yet paid to you.’ Making this issue worse, is a banned account means authors can never make a new account because, ‘If after we have terminated your account you open a new account without our express permission, we will not owe you any Royalties through the new account.’ This is true regardless of a mistake on Amazon’s part, or whether a valid ban took place.

Feel free to share your personal publishing frustrations!

King Solomon Married His Mother

The Biblical kings through the line of David were required to sleep with their mother’s in order to prove their ability to fertilize the land. The entire book, The Song of Solomon is a celebration of such incest. What evidence exists to back up such claims?

The Bible claims the maiden Abishag was chosen for her beauty, to engender “heat” in the aged King David (1 Kings 1:2). This “heat” was not mere warmth, but the sacred fire of sexual potency, without which no king could be allowed to rule. If an impotent king were kept in office, his land would become barren. Hence, when David failed to “know” Abishag, a more virile prince (Adonijah) immediately prepared to assume the throne, and “exalted himself saying, I will be king” (1 Kings 1:5). David’s death occurred with suggestive promptness after his failure of the virility test.

Abishag’s name might be related to the Hindu Abhiseka ceremony, the anointing of kings with the sacred fluid of the Goddess Sarasvati.[1] Front China to the Mediterranean, ancient kings derived their legitimation from a mating with the Goddess through her priestess surrogate.[2] Mesopotamian kings and their deified souls, the gods, were constantly described as “beloved” of the Goddess known as creatress of the earth and “maker of fate, she who decrees the fate of men and gods.”[3] Like the eastern Goddess, Abishag represented the land in the same was as Solomon’s bride, whose mating was chronicled in the requisite intimate detail by the Song of Solomon.

After David’s death, the queen mother chose between rival candidates Solomon and Adonijah. She crowned Solomon with her own hands (Song of Solomon 3:11), after the custom of royal women whose business it was to enthrone or depose kings, as in India, Egypt, and the lands of the Fertile Crescent.[4] However, Adonijah still had designs on the throne, as shown by his request for the hand of Abishag in marriage. To prevent this symbolically and politically significant marriage from taking place, Solomon had Adonijah murdered (1 Kings 2:17-25). The Bible fails to explain Solomon’s strangely violent reaction to Adonijah’s request; but it can only have meant that the crown was at stake. This in turn shows that the sexual union with his mother, Abishag, was a prerequisite for royal office.

The Bible shows instance after instance of incest. Yes, all incest except between father and daughter appears to be banned by Mosaic Law, but I cannot find one example anywhere out of over 600 places in the Bible where incest is discussed that God in any way punishes it. In fact, as often as not, he seems to bless any offspring resulting from the union. What’s up with this?

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[1] Gaster, 514.

[2] Boulding, 191.

[3] Pritchard, A.N.E. 1,65; 2, 17, 21, 135, 202.

[4] Boulding, 210.

The Challenge of Erotic Writing

“The stigma to writing Erotica may seem easy to avoid. Truthfully, some people can…but many cannot.”

There are challenges every writer will face, no matter what genre they write for. At times, these challenges can be rather obvious, other times, the challenges have to be experienced firsthand. Writing Erotica will always be one of those genres that have a few challenges. While these challenges will be different depending on the writer, we can all at least relate to a few. Before going into detail about the difficulties, it’s important to remember that difficulties are just challenges. If there weren’t these challenges, then many of us wouldn’t feel as accomplished as we do. These challenges should in no way hinder or turn away potential authors. The purpose of listing these difficulties is to make them more manageable, and hopefully spark a better experience in the long-term for Erotica authors.

One of the major challenges facing Erotica authors is the stigma attached. This single challenge is actually the cause of many other initial drawbacks. At first, the stigma to writing Erotica may seem easy to avoid. Truthfully, some people can avoid this negative stigma, but many cannot. Authors have a difficult time promoting their new book, discussing their writing with friends, and celebrating personal achievements. Nothing can be more difficult for an author, than facing the reality of being published yet able to tell no one. In general, if it wasn’t for this stigma, there’d be an innumerable amount of authors discussing their latest book. Most of these drawbacks are personal, but the social stigma can have a greater impact on an author than most would admit. At times, authors can feel as if their writing is somehow less valid as, “it only gets people off.”

Another major challenge authors face is a saturated market. Erotica is a very popular market suddenly, and while an abundance of books is good for readers, it may not be so good for authors. Keeping material fresh, relevant, and exciting, all while staying unique is a tough demand. Ensuring that a particular book is ‘good’ simply doesn’t make it in the market any longer. Books have to be well put together as a whole, which means a good story, description, excerpt, cover, and title. Readers look for a combination of all factors, rarely settling on one or two. Because of this, the authors that do become successful know the market they’re in, and what they’re writing. Readers get better material, and authors often find their skills increasing. This challenge really is reflected on the time it takes to be reassured of a book’s success.

Perhaps the single most important challenge is the lack of feedback. Erotica is not commonly shared or discussed among readers. Many people are hesitant to share their new favorite erotic book with friends, much less family. Because of this, authors can feel extremely disappointed. Many writers have friends that are also writers, often enough in different genres. This means that many Erotica writers see other authors gaining reviews and feedback from readers. As an author, we all like to hear this feedback, and we worry when we don’t get it. Wanting to improve our writing, to know our readers enjoy our stories, and what readers would like in the future, all requires reviews and feedback. To be a successful author, and still not receive reviews, is a tough concept to accept.

Writing Erotica has its difficulties, but authors enjoy these challenges. Many times, we can take a step back, and embrace the challenge as an inspirational piece of motivation. The common assumption is that writing Erotica isn’t for everyone, and there is some truth to that. However, I believe more authors, knowing these challenges, can be more likely to succeed. Some of the challenges, while not applying to everyone, are seen as part of the genre. These challenges make writers into successful authors. While Erotica has gained popularity, authors seen an increase, and books being in high demand, many writers are new to these challenges.

Lot’s Cave is proud of our authors for overcoming those challenges, and we’re always eager to see others doing the same. For our authors, writing about such sensitive and taboo topics, difficulties are not a strange occurrence. Despite the lack of reviews, feedback, reader recommendation, and censorship, our authors truly make a name for themselves. Overcoming these challenges, our authors have really excelled in their skills as a writer. As a whole, our authors have a better grasp of the difficulties, and are eager to help new and upcoming writers. Continuing to face these challenges, despite the unrelenting difficulties each new book faces, our authors really do make us proud. Here at Lot’s Cave, we couldn’t be happier!