Publishers vs. Readers

[Shwenn]

Okay, my history is such that I've been writing my whole life as a hobby. I used elective credits to study writing at university and I've been writing and submitting with my free time ever since. I've been doing it in a literary genre and really only got to the point where I would get hand-written, personalized rejection letters.

I recently decided to try my hand at porn, mostly because the dirty thirties are hitting me hard.

Anyhoo, I took a look at the submission guidelines for the major publishers of bdsm literature. They have very specific requirements. At the same time, every successful writer who has spoken on what you should write says the same thing. You should only write what you want to read.

What I want to read is the opposite of what publishers require. I want a lot of sex right away, I want constant, gratuitous sex. The plot is sort of important but it really only needs to be solid enough to support the action. Like the plot of a kung-fu movie.

It's different in every way, what they want and what I want.

So I'm writing two stories.

"Like Dew" is me practicing writing for publishers. This is the literary porn equivalent of Playboy. It at least tries to seem respectable.

"Beneath" is me practicing writing for myself. This is like the literary porn equivalent of Hustler. It doesn't try to be much beyond a way for you to get off.

It's early to say but "Beneath" is pulling out ahead of "Like Dew" and people are taking specific issue with the aspects of "Like Dew" that meet the publishers' requirements.

So, I was wondering what you guys think this is. Is it this site? Do you think the people who read the stuff here are representative of the audience at large or do you think they read the stuff here specifically because it is so different from what publishers offer?

[Clevernick]

Maybe you're just talking to the wrong publishers!

[Polecat]

Look for an ebook publisher. Try http://bdsmbooks.com/ or a1adultebooks.com
Seems like they'll love your stuff.