It's early Friday afternoon and you've finally finished the housework. The kids are still at school for a couple of hours and your husband isn't home until late in the evening. What better way to unwind than with a cheeky glass of wine and a read through some of the latest and hottest erotic stories released in the Kindle Store.

You lose yourself completely in your reading as you become immersed into the sex lives of your chosen protagonists. Whether it's a first time love story, a romantic tale of passion or even a teenager taking a stranger in her ass - erotic stories (when written well!) allow us to create a sexual scenario that can be so vivid it's almost dreamlike.

However great the dreams you are immersing yourself in via erotica may be, unless you wrote it yourself, they are still someone else's dream. If you want the perfect story that contains every detail of your hot and steamy fantasies - why not write it yourself? Even if your fantasies are of extreme depravity and unspeakable acts - chances are that there are people who get off to the same kinks as you do and are looking for your stories.

Just make sure you write it well...

Five Tips for Authors New to Erotic Stories

1. Don't Write Erotica if Your Heart Is Not in It!

Erotic stories are supposed to make the reader horny. Like really horny. Getting the perfect imagery is key, and readers need to really feel like your protagonists are seriously into whatever acts they may be performing. To write with emotion you need to be writing for the story and not for the sales. Allow the story to play out in your head and enjoy yourself whilst you write - it's supposed to be fun!

I read a lot of erotic literature to help myself become a better writer. I read everything, from first time lesbian erotic romances to girls taking on the entire football team at the same time - and then still begging for more. The one thing I come across time and time again are stories with no soul. Someone has read a few erotic stories, basically mixed their favourite bits together, written their own and published. The lack of involvement from the author is clear from the beginning and the sex scenes always leave something to be desired. Write your own fantasies out and you will leave reader's begging for more.

Remember, these are tips for newcomers to writing erotica. Once you have found exactly what works for you and start getting good reviews and sales, then things might be different. I know a woman who released a successful series about girls who only had sex with half-rabbit-half-men. It doesn't excite her at all, but her experience as an erotic author has made it easier for her to know what people are looking for.

2. Don't Be Disappointed When Your Books Don't Sell Instantly!

So you finally have perfected and published your first erotic story, congratulations! After a few days you've had zero sales and feel a bit down. You continue on and publish the second. This one is a definite improvement you can feel it. Yet again, no sales...

Breaking into any market takes time. The more saturated the market, the harder it is to break in. Erotica is about as over-saturated as it gets. Don't let the fact that your first two, three or even ten stories don't sell bring you down. If you are persistent and passionate enough then you will eventually find what works for you and sales will start to come in.

Once you have a feel of what your target audience want, you can tailor your writing style and sales will continue to increase naturally - just remember short stories don't have a long shelf life. You WILL see sales drop on each one after they peak. Continue to publish new material and you will be well on your way to success.

3. Don't Expect to Get Rich from Writing Erotica!

Following on from the previous point. Imagine you have found a niche that works well for you, your reviews are mainly positive and sales are steady with each release. You go to check your royalties and are shocked to see it's only a couple of hundred dollars. You begin to wonder why you wasted all your free time for over two months for so little return.

Firstly, with the number of authors pumping out erotic stories faster than most people can toast bread; you are up against a lot of competition. Secondly, if you really have found a niche that is reliable and your income remains steady then you still need to remember that with so much competition, readers are able to pick a similar series by another author if it has something that appeals to them more. Your stories might be perfect except the reader prefers brunets, not blonds like your protagonist - so they will buy the other series with the brunet over yours. There are so many erotic stories and writers out there that it is hard to catch a niche that isn't being catered for already.

However, you can always get lucky - and it is mainly down to that now - luck. Of course it helps to be a good writer too. Perhaps after two years of writing erotic stories you're still making almost no returns. You decide to take a break. You come back feeling determined and positive and you write something completely different, the total opposite of what you were putting out before. You are laughing as you proof and edit the text at how ridiculous your concept is of 'guys paying to be transported into their favourite cartoons so they could try and get the animated woman of their dreams to sleep with them.' I mean what the fuck right?

You hit publish anyway as you figured it can't hurt and in the morning you realise you've sold quite a few copies already. Act Quick. Get more stories to people and get them out yesterday, before other writers see the boom and start writing in your new found niche goldmine. Link your entire back catalog at the end of each best-seller and you will suddenly see sales from long forgotten 'failures' as they rise from the dead. As great as this all sounds, and I know how great it sounds, please don't be disappointed when this never happens - just be ecstatic if it does!

4. Grammar, Spelling, Punctuation and Paragraphing Matter!

I think I may have mentioned already that I read a lot of erotic stories, and that I have been doing so for a long time now. I often pick new authors or intriguing titles just to see if anything stands out. I read a bit of everything, but when I read to simply enjoy erotica then I tend to want things to be rough, dirty and hot. I quite like anal in stories and I really enjoy MMF or MMMF stories if they are well written.

What do I mean by well written? I don't expect a five-thousand word story about a girl taking three cocks at the same time to be written to the same standard of English I would find in a novel by Orwell or Kafka. Not at all. In fact that would probably end up sounding completely ridiculous. However, that does not mean you should publish stories that read like this...

"She was layin on the bed on her side and she dint kno if she was dreaming or if if was real as she felt her ass being fuked by someone who had snuck in the room"

The same story contained this one too, my all time favourite line.

"Her was stretch and did she cum as he stench her ass with his big dick"

Is this some kind of code that the reader is supposed to decrypt? Is it some sort of joke that I have simply misunderstood? Did she cum or is the author asking me because he's not sure? How would I know what she did?! All I can tell you is that he is stenching her ass, whatever that may be...

Alright, so you're probably laughing at how ridiculous those two excerpts are. They are the most extreme examples of what I am talking about, but I come across less extreme issues all too often. Author's who didn't capitalise words at the beginning of sentences for example, or author's that decided that 'txt tlk wz a gd wy 2 rite' erotica. It's not by the way. I can't think of anything less sexy than having to try and work out what each word was while I'm trying to enjoy myself. Spelling mistakes are, in my opinion, somewhat forgivable. Don't have one on each page though. I acknowledge that maybe English is the author's second language and I can happily read on so long as the content is good.



The last thing that I come across a lot is run on sentences. The story starts perfect, the writing is great and it has been building up to what was quickly escalating into a deliciously naughty, hot, sweaty and sexy moment. All of a sudden I find myself out of breath and my eyes are getting confused - No. I didn't just manage to orgasm whilst reading your story. Managing to miss the fact you wrote an entire paragraph without a single period and just one comma is almost impressive. It's a massive turn off though. This can also be extremely frustrating if the rest of the book had been written perfectly. You remember when I said I didn't manage to orgasm whilst reading your story? Well I was pretty damn close before you fucked it up!

I would imagine that most of us get the same way when we get deep into writing a hot sex scene. Suddenly we are writing twice the amount of words in a hour compared to the four-thousand words before. Our thoughts are racing as we play the scene out in various ways, perfecting it in our imagination before typing it. It's not a bad thing at all - remember why we write these stories? Because we enjoy it! However, please ensure you proofread before you publish. That extra hour on a short story can make all the difference, and you'd easily notice and fix the mistakes made in the heat of the moment. It's also a much nicer experience for the reader, if you've managed to get me so hot and worked up then please let me finish - it's only common courtesy right?

5. Marketing Makes More Money!

A lot of people who are new to the erotic story scene seem to have the idea that stories simply sell when they are published. On occasions, that is exactly how it happens - but those occasions are few and far between. You need to get your titles out to the public and give them a reason to buy your stories. One complaint that I read over and over again on forums from new authors is that they feel they can't justify paying to promote their books when they haven't had a sale yet. I completely understand that logic. This doesn't mean that you don't do any marketing though.

Social Media accounts, particularly Instagram and Twitter are great ways to spread the word. Do you have a few books out and no sales? Why not put one of them on a free promotion and then post the link to your free book on one of the many Facebook groups dedicated to free Kindle content? (Please check the group rules on adult material first!) If you do run a free promotion with one of your books - make sure that you leave readers wanting more. Pick a sexy paragraph from the next in the series or another stand alone and let readers see what you have to offer.

There are two mistakes that I have seen people make when using a free promotion of Amazon. The first is that when the story ends the book ends too. Add that cheeky paragraph I just mentioned, but also make sure you list all of your other books too! If the reader liked your story then chances are they will read another one, or two, or your entire collection! So make sure you show them what you have.

The second mistake happens when people let pride get in the way of logic. Imagine you have written ten short erotica pieces and two erotic novellas all in a new niche and under a new pen name. Which one are you going to put up on the free promotion?

Some people seem to think that the correct answer to this simple: Your least favourite since it's not worth as much as the others and therefore it feels you are giving less away.

If there is one short in your collection you don't like as much as the others, then chances there is a reason - it probably isn't that good. By making it free because you don't think it's worth as much as your other short stories you are only damaging sales. Readers will finish the book and remember not to buy any more erotic stories from you - and just like that you've reduced your potential sales and your new pen name is now known for writing poor erotica. You want to show your market what you are capable of - pick one of your personal favourites for the promotion if you want results!

Note:

Please do not ask me for the name of the book or the author from which I have taken the excepts. The book was priced at £1.49 and had an good sales rank when I bought it. The price has since been reduced, but it's not free and it's still available on Amazon.

I have been in contact with the author and they have given permission for me to quote their story in my blog. They have also given permission to use the text in a comprehensive guide I am currently working on for people who want to start writing erotic stories. The guide is currently untitled and will be published under another pen name. The author explicitly requested that I did not mention their name nor the title and I intend to respect their wish.