Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    How to Write Erotica
    How to Write Erotica
    How to Write Erotica
    Ebook134 pages1 hour

    How to Write Erotica

    By Calista Foxton

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Do you have a talent for writing and a steamy imagination that you’re ready to explore?

    Romance and erotica writers are carving out a whole new career based on self-publishing, taking their slice of an industry worth billions of dollars.

    Have you ever thought you might join them?

    Whether you want to write for pocket money or more, How to Write Erotica is a great guide to getting started.

    Calista Foxton is a new erotic fiction writer. This book is a record of all the things she wishes she’d known at the beginning. From how to select your market to promoting your story, Calista walks you through every step of the way with her personal insight and plenty of practical tips that any budding author can learn from.

    How to Write Erotica includes choosing your kinks, avoiding procrastination, structuring your story, creating a cover, publishing your first e-book and a whole lot more.

    There are readers waiting for the story you’re about to write. If you need a little gentle encouragement and lots of hints on starting out on the road to being the next E L James, this book is for you. 

    Why not read and get started right away? 

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCalista Foxton
    Release dateOct 10, 2016
    ISBN9781536574326
    How to Write Erotica

    Related to How to Write Erotica

    Related ebooks

    Reference For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      A Diverse Perspective

      Feb 14, 2022

      Writing is empowering. Publishing is exhausting. That is how most of my conversations start with diverse author friends since the beginning of the pandemic. Not only are we experiencing a social justice crisis, but we are also seeing more and more cr

      4 min read

    • Article

      Beat Sheet Or Cheat Sheet?

      May 5, 2022

      If you’ve not yet encountered the Save the Cat! books you will, because the original book Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need (2005) proved so successful it led to a franchise which now includes at least seven volumes, inclu

      8 min read

    • Article

      Funny You Shouldask

      Jan 30, 2019

      Dear FYSA, What are your favorite productivity hacks from high-volume clients? Sincerely, Seeking Shortcuts Dear Shorty, Ah yes, the age-old question: How do I get the most by doing the verrrrry least? It’s basically my zen kōan. Oh how I wi

      3 min read

    • Article

      Gigi Will Know

      Apr 30, 2022

      Gigi Will Know
      2 min read

    • Article

      The Road Less Traveled

      Aug 16, 2017

      WARNING: I do not have an MFA, teach creative writing, or live in New York City. For these reasons alone, you should probably ignore any career advice I offer. Best turn the page to another story, quickly. Still here? Then I should also note that I’m

      12 min read

    • Article

      The Road Less Traveled

      Aug 16, 2017

      By Thomas Mullen WARNING: I do not have an MFA, teach creative writing, or live in New York City. For these reasons alone, you should probably ignore any career advice I offer. Best turn the page to another story, quickly. Still here? Then I should a

      12 min read

    • Article

      7 Inside-the-Box Publishing Rules That Writers Can Break (Or, at the Very Least, Bend)

      Dec 12, 2022

      Publishing is a funny business. In many ways, it has very specific rules that writers must follow if they want to find success … that is, except for the times when they don’t follow those rules and still find success. As such, I want to share a few v

      4 min read

    • Article

      Write What You Love

      Jul 6, 2023

      Write What You Love
      5 min read

    • Article

      Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

      Aug 16, 2023

      Should I Stay Or Should I Go?
      14 min read

    • Article

      Gigi Will Know

      Sep 12, 2020

      Gigi Will Know
      2 min read

    • Article

      The Mistakes Not To Make

      Apr 6, 2023

      With more than 4 million sales in her DCI Tom Douglas series, Rachel Abbott is one of the world’s most successful self-published writers. Here, so you can learn from her experience, she outlines what she got wrong when she started her self-publishing

      6 min read

    • Article

      Make The Scene

      Mar 2, 2023

      Make The Scene
      6 min read

    • Article

      Healthy Helping

      Oct 18, 2021

      Healthy Helping
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Big Issues

      Dec 2, 2021

      The Big Issues
      4 min read

    • Article

      Knowledge Is Power

      Mar 3, 2022

      Knowledge Is Power
      5 min read

    • Article

      Social Setting

      Oct 1, 2020

      Social Setting
      4 min read

    • Article

      Got A Shiny New Idea?

      Nov 14, 2020

      Got A Shiny New Idea?
      5 min read

    • Article

      THE relaxed WRITER

      Dec 7, 2023

      THE relaxed WRITER
      6 min read

    • Article

      Going viral SUBSCRIBE

      Aug 15, 2020

      Self-publishing can sometimes feel like shouting over a crowd, desperately trying to have your voice break through the noise. When shuffling around the public’s periphery, dancing among the bustle of other indie authors, traditional published ones, a

      7 min read

    • Article

      A Good Fit

      Dec 3, 2020

      A Good Fit
      3 min read

    • Article

      Reader Friendly

      Jan 30, 2019

      If you want to see writers clam up, say the word “platform.” Whether established or pre-published, we all get a little tense when those two syllables are dropped. For established writers, it’s a business aspect of our creative careers that requires d

      7 min read

    • Article

      How To Get Discovered

      Dec 1, 2022

      How To Get Discovered
      6 min read

    • Article

      NOT by the BOOK

      Aug 19, 2022

      NOT by the BOOK
      5 min read

    • Article

      Talk To The Practitioner: Charlie Gilkey

      Mar 25, 2023

      Charlie Gilkey is a veteran of the United States Army and the founder of Productive Flourishing, Inc., a website, community, and app that helps “creators, business owners, and leaders figure out how to finish their most important projects.” The compa

      7 min read

    • Article

      Page Master

      Jan 30, 2019

      Page Master
      8 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for How to Write Erotica

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      How to Write Erotica - Calista Foxton

      A Beginner’s Guide to Writing and Publishing Short Erotica

      Calista Foxton

      ––––––––

      Text copyright © 2015 Calista Foxton

      All Rights Reserved

      Cover is for illustration only and any person depicted is a model.

      Kinklined.com

      Twitter - @kinklined

      Contents

      How to Write Erotica

      A Beginner’s Guide to Writing and Publishing Short Erotica

      Calista Foxton

      Introduction

      About Me

      Why Write Short Erotica?

      Why Self Publish?

      Writing for Free

      Learning By Doing

      Stories Kept Secret Don’t Make Money

      Tools

      Scrivener

      Evernote

      An Online Calendar

      Dropbox

      An Online Forum

      Choosing a Pen Name

      Author Bio and Image

      How Many Pen Names?

      Website

      Mailing List

      Finances

      Budget

      Income

      Keeping Financial Records

      Writing to Market

      The Power of a Great Story

      Selecting Kinks

      Seller Limitations

      The Market

      Finding (and Keeping) Ideas

      Structuring Your Stories

      Writing Methods

      Tense and Voice

      Characters

      Language and Word Choices

      Writing A Series

      Get Writing

      A Place to Write

      Covers

      Blurb

      Keywords

      Book Template

      Front Matter

      The Story

      End Matter

      Formatting

      Proofing and Editing

      Pricing

      Uploading to Amazon

      KDP Select

      Uploading Series Books

      Description

      Book Contributors

      Categories

      Keywords, Cover and Text

      Pricing

      Waiting

      Publishing Elsewhere

      Correcting Errors Later

      Promotion

      Social Media

      Twitter

      Facebook

      Other Social Media

      Email List

      Freebie Days

      Promotion Listing Sites

      Social Media

      What to Expect

      Bundles

      Bundles of Your Own Stories

      Bundles with Other Authors

      Paperbacks

      The Dirty Thirty

      Beyond the Dirty Thirty

      You’re A Writer

      Monitoring Your Progress

      Aspirations Board

      Reviews

      Facing Difficulties

      Don’t Give Up the Day Job

      Final Notes

      Using Facebook Groups for Promotion

      Facebook Groups – Any Price / Genre

      Facebook Groups – Erotic Romance

      Facebook Groups – Romance

      Facebook Groups – Freebie Promotions

      Facebook Groups – 99 cents books

      Facebook Groups – Kindle Unlimited Books

      Facebook Groups - Shifters

      Facebook Groups - Others

      Introduction

      I started writing erotica around four months ago, and I’ve made over $3,500 in that time. I know of a few people who made a lot more. And I know of many people who are still procrastinating, still wondering whether they’re brave enough to put themselves out there.

      If that’s where you’re at right now, this book is for you. It’s very much a beginner’s guide, and in simple terms it’s a whole lot of the information I wish I’d known right at the start. There’s a lot to navigate, and the learning curve’s greater than I expected it to be. But all of it’s perfectly possible and within your grasp.

      I need you to be able to write. You don’t need to be a literary genius, but you need to be able to put a story down on paper. Being able to tell a good story is essential. I’ll cover the structure that I use later in the book.

      I also need you to have an appetite for some hard work and some serious learning.

      I’ll be walking you through the steps I’ve learned in getting short erotica out there and in front of the right eyes. Starting with how to research the market and then write the stories that people want to read.

      You should know that I write hetro erotica (usually one man and one woman), and where I refer to characters and standard structures in this book, I use those conventions. If you write other character combinations, you’ll be able to adapt those to suit pretty simply.

      You should also know that around half of my books are exclusive to Amazon. There are advantages and disadvantages to this, some of which I’ll hint at. But most of the information in this guide is just as applicable if you plan to publish wider.

      Read everything here and experiment. Take some of the methods I’ve learned to use and start your own writing career. Take everything here as ideas and thoughts rather than business advice. Your track may develop in a whole different way to mine.

      Nothing here is set in stone, and you should pick out the bits that work for you. I’m just a few steps ahead of you, and I’m still learning, but you can do this. All you need is a bit of imagination and the courage to get started.

      About Me

      OK, so you need to know a little about me.

      I’m in my late 40s, writing as a way to make a little extra money on the side.

      I have a supportive partner and a sister who’s been running her own business for years. Both of those people have been important to me; if I can give you one piece of advice right at the start, it’s that you’re going to need one or two people who’ll cheer you on when things are going well and challenge you when you’re falling behind. Choose those people carefully; not everyone is comfortable with erotica, and you might need to keep your specific content private. But find people who’ll give you the validation and encouragement you need without judging you too much.

      I work full time and for now, writing’s a side-gig. I write about three evenings a week and usually manage to find extra time at the weekends.

      Before I started writing stories to sell, I wrote a little on literotica and a couple of other sites. My stories there were much shorter and much less structured. In fact, I knew very little about story structure when I started. But we all learn by our mistakes, right?!

      I now have almost 40 short stories published, on Amazon and elsewhere, across three erotica pen names.

      I guess I’m a bit set in my ways on most things. I can’t remember the last time I learned something new. I hope you take something from that; if I can do it, you can too.

      Why Write Short Erotica?

      Short erotica was a natural start for me. I have a strong imagination, and I had a lot of stories I wanted to work through. I’d published a little previously on free sites, particularly literotica, and I knew that this was something I could go further with.

      I guess that all of us are keenly aware of the success of the 50 Shades series. That came out at a time when people were just getting into the e-reader thing; if you’re reading a book on the train nowadays, using an e-reader means that no-one need know exactly what it is that you’re reading. We can read what

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1