I am Raminar Dixon, an author of dirty, naughty erotica who quit his job to write smut! AMA!

How do you deal with writer's co...i mean block

The best way I've found is to simply do some reading. Check out other books and let your mind wander for a while. Ideas will start to come naturally and then it's just a matter of motivating yourself, however you can, and putting those wild ideas into written form.

As far as the other thing...well, it's a valid concern. My wife usually helps me out with it, although sometimes waiting for her to get home can be a real pain. :)

You write anything else, or just smut?

I feel like when I write smut I can only do a 800 words or so before I get... uh... tired.

All kinds of other stuff - romance, thrillers & suspense, horror...you name it. I love it all and writing is very enjoyable to me. But yeah, after about 800 words of sex, there is a certain pressure...

Is it a coincidence that your pseudonym sounds like " Rammin' our dicks in" ?

It is not coincidence.

How do you come up with this stuff? You have a giant catalog, and, uh, it's pretty out there.

I started out by looking at what was already out there. When I first jumped on the erotica train, Amazon did not adult filter most of the things I've written about and those kinks sold VERY well. They still do. So, I write what sells. As far as inventing the plots and ideas for my stories - I really don't know. My brain is weird. Browsing through the stock images that I use for cover art sometimes prompt entire stories in my head, which I then turn into the smut you see.

Haha, yeah, makes sense. Wait, you mean all "adult" stuff is filtered on amazon? I can find a whole bunch of porny stuff on amazon...so only some stuff isn't allowed?

The adult filter just conceals the results to certain keyword searches. When you search for something on the main page and don't select a department for sorting (such as The Kindle Store), your results are filtered so as not to show naughty things. Of course, plenty of stuff slips through, but Amazon tries to make sure that doesn't happen pretty regularly.

Themes which deal in the "extreme" end of the spectrum are blocked by retailers - a different process than adult filtering - and this includes topics such as bestiality, incest between blood relatives, pedophilia, and rape. Those books never see the light of day, or at least they aren't supposed to.

You say such things never see the light of day but it looks like a lot of your catalog deals with incest - do the stories really have that or is it insinuated? Is there any kind of approval process that you're slipping past? That would seem like a lot of money to gamble if they decide to block your content because it's "extreme".

The titles may -appear- to be incestual, but the actual content is not. This is accomplished by making sure the characters engaging in sexual acts are "step" relatives and not blood-related. Authors call this content "pseudo incest". Readers probably just strip the "step" titles out mentally and insert whatever they need to for it to turn them on.

There is an approval process upon submission, and inappropriate titles are usually either blocked or adult filtered.

When did you last eat ice cream? When did you first eat ice cream? When do you plan to eat ice cream again?

Dude, I had ice cream yesterday! It was a tasty and delicious strawberry shortcake popsicle with all the little crumbs and stuff on it. Yum!

I don't remember the first time I ate ice cream. It was probably as a baby, being fed with a spoon by my mommie dearest.

I plan on having another fantastic, creamy ice cream dessert once I manage to get in my car and drive to the grocery store to procure more.

Certainly an interesting AMA, what was your job previously before doing this?.
Did you make up stories or incorporate any of your previous co-workers into your stories?

I worked as a skilled healthcare professional, in a clinical capacity. Not a doctor. Not a nurse. That's about as far as I'll say there.

Some of my coworkers (especially the ones that pissed me off) may have been a major influence behind some of the characters I've created - and they usually wound up being sodomized in some fashion. I call it "stress relief".

If you were a CNA, I feel you bro. That's what i'm currently doing and it's the pits.

Definitely understand where you're coming from wanting some coworkers to be sodomized in fiction.

Not a CNA, but those people get the dogcrap worked out of them and don't earn nearly enough money. At one of the places I worked, they paid the transporters (people who shuffle patients from place to place) about 2 dollars more an hour than CNAs. I'm not saying transporters don't deserve a fair wage, but that's bullshit.

Ooo so many questions! Do you get crazy/interesting fanmail? What about hatemail?

Also, what advice would you give a writer interesting in getting into this? I'm inspired. I used to write sexy fanfiction and I think I'd have a lot of fun doing this!

I do get some pretty interesting fan mail. Mostly, it is full of advice about what they'd like to see in future stories, or changes they think I should make. Sometimes it is purely complimentary.

One time, I got a slew of photographs taken by a naked woman who really, really liked one of my stories. That was kinda cool. I don't really get hatemail.

My advice to you if you'd like to get started is this:

1) Read stories that are within the top 100 of the genre you want to write. Learn what those authors are doing right and then try to make sure your stuff goes in that direction.

2) Write your story. It doesn't have to be Hamlet. Eventually, you'll learn what "Good enough" is if you haven't already.

3) Register at all the places you can possibly publish your books at. This step is easy and is about like filling out a job application online.

4) Make the best cover you possibly can. People buy because of the cover, more than anything. Make it hot.

5) Selfpublish your book to the places you registered at earlier. Make sure to price it competitively.

6) Continue writing as much as you possibly can and publishing often.

Thanks for the advice!

I have read a bunch of erotica, and my favorites are definitely the stories that are actually really well-written. Even if it's not Hamlet, I'd still like for my future stuff to be good. Some other advice I've seen just advocates writing shit because it still sells because herp derp erotica, and it rubbed me the wrong way.

You're mucho welcome.

I believe that, while you can make money writing shit, readers don't deserve to be tasked with combing through total rubbish to get at the good stuff. If you write good stories and build an audience, you'll make a hell of a lot more money that way.

In regard to #4 - Do you do your own cover art? Do you have an artist you commission cover art from? How does it work?

I use stock photos and turn them into cover art using Gimp. You can purchase cover artistry from professionals, but it can be $$$. For a long novel or something you've poured your heart into, going that route might not be a bad idea, though.

Short stories or novels?

How much do you make?

How much have you made so far?

Thanks!

1) Exclusively short stories, or a whole bunch of them crammed into giant bundles. My other pen names write both novels and shorts.

2) Every month I usually hit somewhere just barely south of mid-four figures. I know quite a few people who have earned MUCH more.

3) More than $70,000 - most of that in the last 10 months.

Thank you for answering.

Do you think this is a new age for short stories?

Do you think short story writers could make similar money outside of the erotica niche? Why?

Self-publishing and ebooks are about as big as the printing press being developed, if not bigger. Now is the time to start, if you haven't already. There has really never been a better time to be an author.

Short stories work. Sci-fi is a pretty good genre for short stories, but anything can work. While I don't think short stories have the same potential to earn ridiculous amounts of money as novels do, they can be very profitable in any genre. Do I think a person writing short detective stories (or whatever regular fiction) can make as much as an erotica writer?? Probably not very likely. People eat up erotica stories as fast as porn-watchers go through videos.

Thank you for your questions!

I'm impressed by how fertile you've been in terms of such a huge--number of titles. Out of the many, which one would you suggest I should start out with? I've gone ahead and downloaded the two you've been nice enough to give away to us.

Those two are a good primer for someone interested in writing (or reading) those sorts of kinks. I've just put out a huge bundle with two other writers , Francis Ashe and Cassandra Zara, which has 21 short erotica stories and is over 150,000 words in length.

Would you ever read The Valley of Penisis

Would I? Hell yeah I would. Now you've got me thinking about South Park, so I must now listen to that episode in the background tab and laugh.

I would also read Scrotie McBoogerballs.

I just read all of your books and I only have one question. Will you be my daddy?

Sure, why not? Now go clean your room! :)

What authors [of both mainstream fiction and erotica] are you inspired by?

Mainstream fiction - I love the authors of literary classics, first and foremost, like Orwell, Heller, Steinbeck, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, etc. That might seem strange from a guy that writes filthy erotica stories, but I love the older stuff so much.

More modern mainstream things? I absolutely love Stephen King. Suzanne Collins and Rowling are also fun to read. George R.R. Martin's series is highly entertaining. Patterson writes a LOT, but his Alex Cross stuff was always engaging to me.

As far as erotica is concerned, I like Delilah Fawkes, Sara Fawkes, Virginia Wade, E.L. James (the entire erotica authors' community thanks her for that one), my friends Cassandra Zara and Francis Ashe, and Sylvia Day is pretty good, too!

I've been writing strictly transgender themed stories (cross dressing, feminization, and sex change) and was wondering what the market is like for that thing. I don't plan on quitting my day job, just making money on the side.

I have a collection of short stories that I'm rewriting and putting together as an anthology which I would like to publish.

Do you have any advice for someone like me?

It's not the most popular or best-selling theme out there, but the people who are into it love a good, sexy, brain-twisting story. The best advice I could give is from Nike: Just Do It. Put it out there, with a great cover and blurb, price it right, and then put out some more. You can release each one of those single stories as standalones, too, and maybe even make one or two of them freebies to grab some attention.

Thanks for the advice. Is my best option to self publish on a site like Amazon? Or are there publishers for this niche genre?

You can pub just about everywhere. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, All Romance, Smashwords, iTunes...

Great! Thanks again for the advice!

No problem. Happy Cake Day!

Do you know who reads the gender swap/feminization stuff more. Men or women?

At first, I was convinced it would be almost exclusively male readers who were into m2f transformation - but I was surprised to discover many of the readers interested in gender transformation erotica are actually female! I'd say the population of readers for that niche is split somewhere near the middle.

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It was the easiest category of fiction to get into for writing quick, short stories and making the most money. Anyone that likes sex and can write ought to be pretty decent at it.

Do you think a lot of your own fantasies are lived or played out through your books?

Not really. I'm not exactly turned off by a hot sex scene I'm writing, no matter what the context is, but I don't fetishize it. About the only thing I write which is a genuine kink I'm into is "breeding" erotica, which is just what it sounds like, where the ultimate goal is impregnation. Something about that just turns me on!

Probably just, you know, all of human evolution.

Exactly!

Has there been a moment(s) where after you finished writing a lustful and passionate passage and you say to yourself, "damn that was hot"?

All the time. It's nice to have a natural, easy-to-read barometer that tells you if something you're writing is good or not.

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I almost always write from a first-person female perspective. Most of the readers are ladies, and they appreciate being able to insert themselves in the role of that person. I feel like I get away with it pretty well. I think it makes a powerful difference in how well stories sell once readers get to know your style.

Also, having a female pen name is helpful, but not required. I chose to use a punny name instead, because it makes for something easy to remember.

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I'm all man, baby.

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I just take the feelings that I -think- a woman would feel and put them down. Somehow, it works and my readers like it. Much of what I've learned has come from simply asking women straight up what they think or how things feel, but I do get some of it from things I've read.

I'm still not any closer to truly understanding them, though. :)

Has writing erotica from a female perspective improved your relationship with women/a woman at all?

Women that I meet seem to be very interested in what I do. I guess maybe they think that makes me more "in tune" with what they are thinking or feeling, but I'm not sure. They are definitely more likely to show me their "wild side" than they used to be - and I like it. Many of the ones I've known for a while have asked to be included in my stories in some way.

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You're very welcome. I love helping new writers and spreading the word about self-publishing because it's such a boon for authors, erotic or not.

I can't tell you how many people I've told about this in the past, but so few ever actually do anything. Writing is like any other creative pursuit; either you enjoy it enough to pound out 10,000 words and make a living or you don't.

Best of luck to you!

I have another question - you've got a huge catalog and you said you'd been doing this for about two years. What kind of day-to-day writing schedule do you try and keep to? I know Stephen King (who you said you like) pounds out 2000 words a day like clockwork. When you say "write a lot" what does that mean?

Usually I try to stick to 2,000 words a day. That winds up being 4-5k words in one day far too often, and done on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, while I lounge around or do other stuff the rest of the week. I like to being lazy or going out and doing things too much!

This is such a timely and informative AMA, thank you so much! Your answers are straightforward and awesome.

I'm just getting started self-publishing my erotica. What can you tell me about the "ramp-up" phase where you cultivated your fanbase? What strategies worked for you? Any specific forums or discussion boards where you were able to attract positive attention to your work?

The best thing to cultivate a fan base is to write what they want. Sales tell part of the story there, but you can also provide them with a way to communicate with you for enhanced perspective. I include a link in my stories for people to subscribe and follow me and they are pretty good about telling me what they want to read.

I used to contribute to the old SA thread which is now dead and buried, but I am a member of several private, tight-knit communities of erotica authors. Such places are great for bouncing ideas and they probably help with sales a bit, too.

Awesome AMA. Obviously you're a skilled writer, but how long does it take you to write your average 8-10k word book? And do you self-edit or do you have an editor? Thanks!

I self-edit. It takes me about 12 hours to do everything, including cover art, writing, editing, and publishing a 10k word short story.

How many books do you have out?

There's been a few erotica authors who have shown up in the past few weeks who have reported making this sort of money or much more. What do you think, other than luck, accounts for the variability in profit?

Have you heard of /r/heaving_breasts ? I'm sure they'd love another experienced author there.

I've got nearly 85 books out across all my pen names. This one has about 60 or so, not counting bundles or collections.

Honestly, I think some of those people might be lying to you, BUT there are plenty of highly successful erotica writers out there (and more moderately successful ones, like me).

I think the biggest factor is timing. If you write something that coincides with a popular shift in interests, your chances of hitting the self-published "lottery" is a lot higher. I'm convinced anyone with writing ability can reach the level I'm at, though.

And yes, I've heard of that subreddit. Props to them for creating a community. I sincerely hope things work out for them.

What's the dirtiest phrase you know? I want to cringe or possibly get the most uncontrollable erection of my life.

I shuddered as I felt his cock twitch and his release fill me; warm, slippery cream which flooded my channel and sent a delectable thrill up and into my belly.

How's that?

Have you read any of Fenoxo's Corruption of Champions? And what do you think about him crowdfunding thousands of dollars off Offbeatr to make another smut game in space?

I'm pretty sure I've heard of him, but I've never spent much time reading about it. I think the idea of a space smut video game is pretty cool, though. Crowdfunding seems like a good way to go for indie game developers. I base all of these assumptions off Minecraft.

Any author's field is heavily populated, especially yours. How did you get your books to stand out? Did you self-publish ebooks exclusively? What methods did you use to increase your sales?

I use an easy-to-remember pen name and I try to craft sexy, colorful covers that stand out among the rows of other thumbnails. I have used KDP Select a few times to varying success.

The best method of increasing sales is to write more, get lucky, or have fantastic timing.

As a reader, I am guilty of judging a book by its cover. Sometimes I'll preview the first few pages of a book with an ugly cover, but rarely.

Writing more makes sense. Is it safe to assume your first book or two (or three) didn't sell so well?

I think nowadays, judging an eBook by it's cover is often a good idea. The authors that don't put a lot of effort into their covers tell me they are either a) brand new at this or b) don't care enough about what's inside the book to make an effort on the cover.

For the other question; I was tremendously lucky and I did my homework before I got into this. My first book did fairly well and then I wrote Debbie Does Daddy, which did extremely well. I made a lot more money than I pictured making that first month!

describe the freakiest sex tale you ever put into one of your books.

The freakiest is probably the formulaic transformation and sex from all of the Gender Swap Lollipop stories.

Guy gets ahold of pharmaceutical lollipops from a company called "Sissco". He ingest the lollipop and gets high as hell and starts to have naughty dreams where he's a girl. Then he starts to actually change into a girl and become a cock-hungry bimbo. Once the transformation is complete, he gets fucked as a girl in his new sexy body.

You mentioned that you have other pen names - do you write other genres? Do you ever worry that your smut will pollute your reputation as a writer of other genres? Do you catch hell from friends and family for writing erotica? Thanks for doing this AMA!

I have written an published romance, erotica, science fiction, a thriller, and a craptacular marketing guide (<- when I first got into this thing). I don't care at all that smut will pollute my reputation. I can easily create a new pen name that no one will know and start writing new stuff at the drop of a hat. My Dad doesn't care, he's just glad I'm not some 30-something still living at home. My Mom sort of winces at the things I write, but she's gotten used to it. My wife is in total support. Anyone else who wants to give me hell --- I don't care. They don't have to pay my bills, I do.

Do you earn a lot of money from this?

More than the average American and steadily rising. By this time next year I hope to break into a reliable five figures a month.

Typically how long are your short stories? As in word count. Do you find that the length of the story is a factor in the success of a work?

Thanks for the AMA. Very enlightening.

My books started off at around 3-4 thousand words, but have since evolved into 8-10 thousand word short stories. I like writing the longer stuff even though it takes longer - I feel like I'm able to flesh out my characters a bit more and give more value and a better story.

Length seems to be tied somewhat into how profitable and successful a story can be, because readers want to get the most bang for their buck (or $2.99) and they want something with a little more depth. This isn't the only factor that determines a book's success, but it does seem to play an important role.

Thanks for you question!

So in a 10,000 word story, how often would a reader get to masturbate?

Probably one good, long fap (or shlick) session. There are generally at least 2 scenes which contain lots and lots of raunchy sex, and those scenes dominate the entire last 2/3rds of my short stories.

How crazy is your sex life?

Not as crazy as you might think. Slightly more crazy since I started writing erotica, though!

Is it hard to write from a mostly female perspective? Assuming you're a guy, I always thought that no man could understand the labyrinth that is a female conscience. And if you have discovered the secrets of the woman psych, would you mind sharing that information with the rest of us

It's not that hard, and my fans all tell me I'm pretty good at it. I imagine a woman's body in my mind and try to write what I think she's feeling while being pleasured - that wonderful stretch she must experience when being filled, the room-expanding sensation that comes at the moment of orgasm...those kinds of things. More mundane activities still boggle my mind, somehow.

Sadly, the secrets of the female psyche are out of my reach. Maybe one day I'll truly understand.

I've never read the genre, but I've heard a lot of success stories about it. What narrative mode are the stories usually in? I figure you write mostly in 1st person, but does any one do any 3rd person, maybe even some daring 2nd person?

Lots of people use 3rd person, but I'd say 1st is the most popular in this genre. Very, very, very few people do 2nd person and pretty much everything I've read or critiqued in that mode has been...not good.

How does this work in conversation when you meet people and talk about work?

"Oh, you're an author? Neat! What kind of stuff do you write?" "Stuff like 50 Shades of Grey." "Wow! That's really cool."

Thank you, E.L. James.

How do you get your covers made up? I've been interested in self-publishing for some time but I'm vehemently against the typical image of knowing a book is self published just by having a very poorly done cover with stock art, simplistic designs, etc. Plus I have absolutely zero design skills, so I wouldn't know where to begin anyway.

This may have been asked elsewhere too, but how did you get into it, especially when sites filter so much? Also, how do you get your name out there as a new author? I've been told I write very good erotica, so if this is a lucrative space, well...

I make all my covers, using stock photos of the best quality and content I can find. It's very easy once you've been at it for awhile and have had time to practice with your photo-editing software of choice.

Erotica is about as easy a market to saturate as ponographic video. In other words, it's never going to feasibly happen. The filter doesn't do much to hide the stories, and the customers who are after filtered content quickly learn how to find it. It's ridiculously lucrative vs. the time/effort investment.

How many dick adjectives and/or euphemisms do you know, e.g. turgid member?

I know a LOT. Some of them, like custard-spraying pink tubesnake, aren't really a first choice for an erotica book, though. I tend to stick with cock, prick, dick, member, manhood, hardness...that kind of thing.

Have you ever masturbated to one of your stories?

Of course! When you sit all day writing sex, something is inevitably going to pop up and need to be taken care of. Sometimes, there is no one else around, so you have to take matters into your own hands.

I assume Raminar Dixon is not your real name. Is it easy to get published under a pseudonym? Also, are there any rules for publishing under a different gender? Thanks!

Yeah, not my real name. That would be funny, though. All it takes is a few mouse clicks and keyboard presses to publish under whatever name you want. I guess if you're penning as a female, you should avoid talking about your penis or doing overtly masculine things, but that's kind of a given.

Aspiring author myself (Not erotica, but rather fiction in general). Which tools you use to write? Microsoft Word? Any background music, or complete silence? BTW, congrats on such a great career path!

Microsoft Word, in complete silence with zero distractions. My cats have been gently tossed off my desk more times than I can count.

Are the sex scenes you write about from personal experiences or dark desires?

Neither, in almost all cases. Some of the stuff, like the breeding stories or maybe the genderswap stuff, is something that genuinely turns me on enough to write about. All the pseudo-incest and gritty dubcon is for the readers entertainment and not something that interests me.

My personal sex life is about as exciting as most married, middle-aged men. The hottest real thing to ever happen to me was to fuck my old girlfriend on the floor, in the sauna, and in the guest room of a previously highly-ranked, but now quite disgraced political official.

Greetings, my first question is, what was it that made you take that first big leap and just say fuck this job, I'm going to just write smut from now on? I'm kind of in the same position, but mine isnt so much smut as it is just crazy adventures. I write a bunch of true, short stories about myself (most dealing with alcohol, women, and police) and email them to friends. I get nothing but compliments and suggestions to publish them. Second question, how did you start publishing e-books? Do you have a reference I could use to get started?

Once I had 10 months under my belt of earnings which exceeded how much I made at my "normal" job, I knew it was time. Plus, my previous workplace tried to screw me out of the sick hours I'd earned by not letting me use them to cover a recent surgery.

When you published your first piece, before you had a fan base, what did you do to promote it?

Pretty much nothing, believe it or not. The keywords I used when publishing it brought searchers and browsers and the cover and blurb did the rest. As things rise in visibility (like charting in the top 100) the momentum often propels it forward. Smut sells itself, and advertising does very little for unknown authors.

The biggest tip I can give is to write a whole lot of stuff and then make some of your better or more popular stories freebies with lots of links in the backmatter.

is there a difference between erotica and smut? Is it just a question of degree?

I think most of us erotica authors just call it smut sometimes for short. They both mean the same thing to us, but smut is a word that connotes something perverse and has a more profane edge to it.

Was choosing the fakest name in the history of pseudonyms part of your plan to stimulate sexual arousal in your readers

Nope. It was so they would remember me - which they do.

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Writing more is the biggest factor besides timing & luck. If you sit down and create as many short stories a month as possible and publish them, you will find the money.

If you're still around: What was your writing background prior to a couple years ago? Did you learn any creative writing at formal institutions, participate in seminars/groups, learn from any of the many how-to books? Had you always wanted to be a published writer before this? Have you or will you try your hand at literary fiction or other genres? Do you feel it would be satisfying to someday walk into a bookstore and see your work sitting there, or is this not important to you? Thanks for the AMA!

I mostly wrote apocalyptic survival stories and horror for fun. I have no formal training, but I did read a lot of comic books when I was a kid and had an extensive vocabulary. I will most definitely try my hand at more complex fiction, including wind-swept romances and cerebral, full-length thrillers. One of my other pen name's titles is already in paperback, but it would be cool as hell to see it sitting in a bookstore.

What happened to the SA thread? Where are you guys talking now?

It got closed due to unwanted negative attention. We've got a secret underground base now.

Outside of your own books and smut, what is your favorite book?

Probably either The Hobbit, Animal Farm, or the entire Dark Tower series. I like just about every category of fiction.

Have you ever heard the Raminar Dixon skit they did on the Bob and Tom radio show a few years ago?

I have recently been introduced to it. I laughed my ass off. Those guys are so fucking funny. :)

Do you see yourself ever having kids?

If not, could you possibly imagine how you might deal with explaining your... professional catalog to, let's say your budding teenage daughter?

(You know, for the sake of argument/hilarity?)

I'm always curious/fascinated how porn stars and other erotic professionals conflate their professional life with how they raise their kids..

I've got kids and they are remarkable, wonderful, and they mean everything to me. If they think what I do is weird, too bad. I'm sure they'll move past that once they get older.

Awesome! Thank you so much for answering and doing this cool AMA.

Also, gotta say that totally makes sense.. When I was a teenager I thought my parents were weird, and I probably would have thought the same no matter what they did/who they were/what they were like.

Also, I feel like this sort of thing is mostly an issue because so much of American cultural weirdness can be explained by our puritanical roots.

If for example, you were French the whole 'dirty, naughty erotica' part might be such much a non-issue you wouldn't have thought to include it in your AMA headline.

Are you translated into other languages/do you know of how your work is received in other countries/how that compares with how you are received in America?

Do you think that the nature of American social taboos being what they are does more for your sales, or do you think that if social taboos in America were more lenient would that open you up to a bigger audience?

I mean, are current cultural taboos more of a damper on your sales because your work would be more available if they were different or do you think that if taboos were more flexible that people would be less interested in your work because it's not as 'exciting,' 'naughty,' or 'dirty?'

Sorry for the wall of text, I'm having difficulty trying to organize/frame my thoughts. I do hope I was able to convey the gist of it..

No problem. I'd like to get a few things translated, but the cost to profit ratio isn't always there and it is a larger risk.

I think that taboo things interest a lot of people. Sort of like marijuana, which is good and enjoyable, but also probably has more people using it just because it is illegal. It's thrilling to drink alcohol when you're under 21, but after that it isn't quite as exciting, too. The social restriction of certain sexual fetishes heightens the enjoyment, or "naughty-factor", if you will.

Can Europeans self publish on Amazon or is it a US thing only?

Sure they can. I know lots of writers in the UK and Australia.

I haven't read your work, but I'm curious about writing erotica. Do you think a book would sell better if the looks of the main female character was not described, or if her appearance were described specifically (i.e. a curvy, petite blond with blue eyes)?

I think that makes it better for most readers, but I kind of doubt it would have much of an effect your profits. I see 1st person sex scenes in erotica just like the POV video pornos, and I think the readers like to feel like they are in on the action.

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I only wish it actually sold well. Same goes for "Moans", my sexual parody of the television show Bones. Parodies generally sell very badly.

What did you do to get noticed? Did you actively advertise, or do the naughty books sell themselfs?

The naughty sells itself, along with hot covers. Sort of like looking at thumbnails on porno videos and deciding which one you'd like to spank off to.

I've been considering writing erotica within a specific niche market but I've been worried about whether getting too niche will lead to minimal sales. Have you had any books that were for a very specific market? How did they fair? Is it worth doing that again? I realize your answers may not be accurate for all cases but I'm just feeling out your experience.

How often do you write? Can you take me through a quick example of how you write a short story (IE: it takes two weeks of writing for about an hour a day...)?

Edit: word choice

You CAN flood a niche. Erotica authors jumped on board the Tentacle Sex bandwagon and effectively brought in so many new stories that the micro-niche of readers couldn't read them all fast enough. Some niches are super insulated by this, either because of the sheer volume of readers or their voracity in reading everything you put out, but smaller ones just can't handle a large influx of new books.

Is that you in your Amazon profile picture, or is that another way to get the ladies to buy your smut? :D

That's some guy who signed a model release and probably lives in Russia or something. He most likely gets laid way more than me, comrade, and the ladies sure love him.

Thanks for doing this AMA. I hope to be in your shoes within the next year or so! My question is, how important do you think social media is in your success as an author? Do you feel like its absolutely crucial to have a strong Twitter or Facebook following in order to stay in touch with your fans? And before you had a built-in fan following, how did you attract new readers? Did you advertise or did they just come naturally?

It's not important at all, really. Writing more, good covers, and fortunate timing are the most important factors by far. Most of the "big name" bestselling authors have someone else managing their social media and don't have to spend much time on it. And believe me, I've tried, social media takes a lot of time away from writing.

Great. Thanks for the notes!

And sorry to double-ask a question, but I'd love to know how you attracted new readers in the beginning. I would assume that once you build up a loyal following, they follow your work and routinely purchase your new releases. But how do you BUILD that following to begin with?

I have a subscriber link in the backmatter of all my stories. People interested enough to subscribe get a free, exclusive story and a monthly newsletter with links to all the most recent releases and special deals, more free stories, and other discounts.

Here's the signup link for the really interested: http://eepurl.com/xYbVD

I never read any of your work. What is "pseudo-incest" in the context of your work? How do you feel about writing this as erotica?

Pseudo-incest is the usage of closely, but not blood-related persons as sexual characters in your stories. Like "step" brothers and step sisters fucking, or a Daddy and his stepdaughter humping in the back seat of the family station wagon. Readers mostly seem to ignore these identity tags and make the relationship whatever they want.

I'm totally fine with writing it. The money helps.

You clean up the scenarios by calling it "humping", but it seems you are writing about a step-father fucking his-step daughter. He is in the role of a father. I'm guessing the daughter is under 18?

The stepdaughter is explicitly stated as being under 18 years of age. She's just graduated or about to graduate from high school, or she's in college in most cases.

You mention limits by retailers. I'm curious what those limits are. Is there anything that you'd like to write about but can't/don't due to those limits?

According to the retailers (some of which have slightly differing policies), you can't publish stories with: truly non-consensual rape, sex acts with children, or bestiality.

I'm fine with that, and I have no interest in writing such things. Even if that kind of content was allowed, I wouldn't write it. I'm fine with pushing right up to the retailer's limits and going no farther.

Thanks for the thorough answer. I have more questions. You are using pen names. Why? Is this to protect your professional medical worker reputation or so that you can avoid awkward conversations with Aunt Edna at the holidays or what? I imagine there are people who deem your writing immoral. Have you confronted this and if so, how did you respond?

I did it because it's an easy way to separate the categories you write for and my real name is boring and forgettable. I don't care about what other people think about me personally, so I just ignore the people that don't like it. They don't have to read it or buy it.

Wait, wait. Can you publish snuff?

No.

How can you get your stories published non-traditionally?

Create a self-publishing account at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, and other retailers, and then follow the super-easy directions to upload your work.

You'll have to fill out several forms and give tax information. This means giving your social security info and other stuff, like your real name (which only the retailers have to know), address, etc. Once you've got it all set up, you can watch your sales each day and once you've earned enough money, the retailers will send it directly to your bank account or mail you a paper check.

Sweet thanks! Now the only question is which work of literary brilliance should I purchase from you...

Get the newest huge-ass bundle for the best deal and the most smut for your money.

http://www.amazon.com/Stories-Collection-Daughter-Brother-ebook/dp/B00DQ2LPSU

How did you choose your pen name? Did you intend for it to be sort of a subliminal message or sorts relating to what you write?

I wanted something which was easy to remember and revealed my desire to write stuff that wasn't just typical - I like to include a fair bit of humor in my stories as well.

I've been wanting to try writing erotic fiction for a while now. Do you have any tips for a burgeoning smut-slinger?

Read through some of my posts here. Read some top 100 paid and free erotica. Write. Publish. Write some more. Publish some more. Rinse, repeat.

This sounds like a very idiotic thing to say but do you get turned on by what you write or is there a divide?

There is most certainly a divide for me. The actual act of sex which I depict turns me on - but the context behind it usually doesn't. As I said earlier though, some fetishes do turn me on - like breeding/impregnation, some elements of mind control and dominance, and even gender transformation. I'd bet a lot of guys would like to be turned into a girl for a day and vice versa.

How do you sell it? I can write it,but I wouldn't know how to get money for it. Please explain.

Create a self-publisher account at any of the major retailers; Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, etc. Then follow the directions they give you for how to upload your stories/covers, write a blurb, set the price, that kind of thing. What you upload will be turned into a sales page by them and customers can purchase it to read on their Kindles/Nooks/Whatever. A percentage of the sale goes to you, which you can then spend on electricity bills, a mortgage payment, ice cream, lubricant for your genitals, more stock photos to use as covers, or whatever you've wanted most in your life.

It's way easier than you'd think.

What would you say is the average length of your short stories?

Usually between 8,000 and 10,000 words or so.

What price do you put on an 8,000 - 10,000 word story?

$2.99 all the time, every time. Every once in awhile I'll make something .99 cents as a promo.

How do I learn more about this? I have about 10 novellas in my writer's trunk, doing nothing.

I'd find a good forum site with lots of other writers who are already selfpublishing. The place I use is private, invite-only, and mostly for established, published erotica authors, but there are a ton of other places to look. Kindleboards has a sometimes tough community, but overall it's full of information. AbsoluteWrite...meh. Not horrible, it has the info you need.

Really, once you apply to kdp.amazon.com and get started following the directions and pubbing yourself, that's the best teacher. After a few times, it becomes child's play.

How long are the stories you write usually? (at work so i can't check yet) Even in non erotic stories, do you think there is the possibility of making money from similar sales methods even if they are shorter?

Most of them are 8-10 thousand words long. You can still make money on shorter ones, and that's how I got started.

Edited for more information: I think that non-erotica can still sell that short, but folks who read other genres tend to enjoy more character development or a plot that they can sink their teeth into. So, I have serious doubts that most people would find success writing ultra-short 2-5k word non-erotica stories.

I just found a story I started about three years ago and surprise surprise... I didn't cringe re-reading it! I actually think I might have some skills. How long did it take to realize you could make a living just writing? Also, I tried to write erotica but I got embarrassed (yeah, fuck me, right?) Apart from forced scenarios or beastiality, how do you "push the envelope" or go for the full gusto? PS-Black female erotica... is that a thing?

Once I had my first $100 day. After that, I knew I could make it happen.

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Not bad. Women who are into being dominated would probably like it.

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None - besides AP English in high school and reading a lot more than other kids when I was coming up.

How did you figure out what people are wanting to read?

If they buy it, I write more of it. There's a certain bit of science to creating something people want, like 1) Attractive cover 2) Reasonable price 3) Catchy title 4) Capturing blurb, etc. but sales in and of itself is what guides me to create more things within a niche.

was there a "ramp up" to this? as in, before your "name was known" or whatever did you earn less money? or do people just buy stories or something from anyone who puts them up?

what do you sell them for? does amazon get a cut? how much tax do you pay?

how many hours per week do you spend writing (including prewriting/outlining/etc), on average?

Definitely a "ramp up". I worked hard to build a fan base and expand my portfolio, which has led to more and more successful books. I sell most single shorts for $2.99. Bundles depend on length. Some things get a special price as a promo. Authors get 35% of the sale on titles priced under $2.99 and 70% on those priced higher. I spend about 12-24 hours a week either writing, researching, contributing to my fellow writers, or playing with numbers.

so, then, approximately 18 hours a week? at 70k/10 months that's 7k/month, which is 7k/96 hours which is ~$70/hour.

if you wanted to work more than 18 hours a week, would you see a linear increase in profits? is it possible to work more than 18 hours a week without burnout?

at what stage in your ramp-up period did you begin to see the profits come in that made the time investment worth it from a financial perspective?

The more I work, the more money I make. It is directly proportional. Once I figured out where I needed to be to earn $100 each day, I knew I was there. I'm not quite doing $7k each month, but I'm closing in on it. Some of that $70k was profits from before the 10 months.

Would you say there's a certain art form in writing erotica? If yes, could you explain a bit about what you mean?

Definitely. The purpose is to sexually arouse. The more you sexually arouse a person, the better you've done at crafting erotica.