"Adult" publishing...

"Can we talk?"



Believe it or not, that's what the old gal looked like before the knife.

Now that I have your attention, the subject is "adult" publishing. The publications may be steamy, but I'm hoping we can keep the topic at a certain level.

During my banishment (LOL, jk) I was playing at one of my other forums that caters to... a different kind of writing. I was tipped off to a British e-publisher that is publishing works very much in my style (fantasy & sf), except with... how shall I put this... some...

(yeah, you know how to say it.)

So, went to the e-publisher's site, looked at some of the titles they currently have to offer and they seem pretty legit. I found many of their titles being sold at fictionwise.com. They seem pretty above board. I purchased and downloaded two different titles to my iPod to get an idea of the quality of writing that they have to offer.

I know (I don't believe, I don't think, I know) that I can put out much better work than what they already have being sold at fictionwise.com. So, here's the question:

It's not like I haven't tried my hand at steamy writing in the past. I have. But, were I to get published by these folks, it would constitute the first time I had ever been published, and that first ever publication with my name on it would be in a genre that is...well... adult.

Would you do it?

Wreybies wrote: I know (I don't believe, I don't think, I know) that I can put out much better work than what they already have being sold at fictionwise.com. So, here's the question:

Guilt by association? I don't care about the "adult" nature of the genre, but I'm not sure I want my name associated with a publisher/website that is known for its mediocrity. If you noticed the poor writing, you can bet many others do too. If you do choose to write for that site, I would suggest you use a pen name and keep your real identity secret until you've had a chance to see the potential impact on your professional reputation. By the way, I have a friend who makes a decent supplemental income writing steamy e-novels for a similar adult site, and she is extremely secretive for the reason mentioned above. Ironically, you know her too . . . she's been a regular on WF.org in the past but she's never mentioned her "success" on that website because she's embarrassed.

The somewhat mediocre nature of the work had me concerned as well. One of the novels I d/led was sufficiently well structured, and was technically well crafted, but there were some repetitive portions that just reeked of this bit right here is just a connecter to link me up with the next juicy part.

The other novel was a short first person POV fiasco with a vampire theme. God awful. Maybe you could tell your "friend" of my intentions and ask her if she would be comfortable speaking with me on the subject??

Wreybies wrote: Maybe you could tell your "friend" of my intentions and ask her if she would be comfortable speaking with me on the subject??

Will do, but she's very defensive about her writing. She feels that the very "negative and judgmental crowd" at WF.org would ridicule her for selling out for a buck. Unfortunately, her husband is on permanant dialysis, having rejected two kidney transplants, and her writing is their only source of income other than his disability insurance. He's been in and out of the hospital several times in the past year from secondary infections and pneumonia. With three small kids that he can't take care of by himself, she's making money any way she can. In fact, she doesn't really enjoy writing those XXX-romance novels but it keeps the wolf away from her door.

Just checked WF.org...last time she was on was 12-24. I'll send her a private email. Sure hope nothing bad happened to her husband.

Just sent her an email.

Thanks Saulty. I can completely understand her guarded nature as to the writing. But hey, published is published and money coming in is all green.

That's how I feel, too. But there was a discussion on WF last year about "formulaic" writing and several people ridiculed it (romance genre, in particular) as not professional and akin to self-publishing in lack of respect. She grew very closed about her writing after that discussion and began to minimize her posts. Now, she has apparently quit the site altogether.