When I am unable to work on my novel, (work, school, professional certifications, etc.) I experiment with short stories completely outside my criminal wheelhouse. It allows me to write without any "what will I do with this?" pressure. It's writing as entertainment.
I noodle around in science fiction, fantasy, and even erotica. Those stories will never see the light of day. Mostly because when I write anything remotely suggestive, I turn beet-red and giggle like a boozy goose. That said, I did briefly consider posting on a site called Literotica, where my scribble sibling Sofie Le Coure posts her work.
Literotical is an erotic-fiction website that encompasses a cross-section of writers working across myriad subgenres.
As with Amazon Self-Publishing or Kindle Direct, skills on Literotica run from sophomoric, (we all started there) to master-level, (few of us will ever get there). Writers on Amazon and Literotica have something else in common—what all writers want to have in common—readers.
And, just like Amazon, there are WAY more readers on Literotica than writers.
That may seem unlikely with the number of books/stories on Amazon. But I encourage you to look at the reviews/comments. There are multitudes of readers, looking for something in their little neck of the genre woods. Same with Literotica.
That is both good and bad.
Just like on Amazon, there are a lot of peopleon LIterotica who write reviews but haven’t written their name since direct deposit became a thing. They have opinions with little/no idea of how difficult it is to tell a cohesive story. We won’t even get into the skills necessary to convey a cogent idea in an entertaining form.
Before you get the wrong idea, the comments/reviews on Literotica are actually more objective, even generous than much of what you see on Amazon. In truth, most are even-keeled, if brief.
“I liked it.”
“Good story.”
"I didn’t like it.”
“Too long to get to the point.”
Other reviews are more pointed.
“You started off good but you screwed it up by rushing the ending.”
That is gold, right there. If you doubt me, please consider, that I once read a BOOK review on Amazon that concerned the “reviewer’s” inability to buy the 36-count of Jimmy Dean SAUSAGE BISCUITS. I wish I was making that up. Seriously, I’m not that clever or I’d be stacking Stephen King money.
“What’s the good news?” You ask.
On Literotica, like Amazon, like KOBO, and probably dozens more outlets—THERE ARE READERS WHO WANT TO READ WHAT YOU WRITE.
Readers are hungry for your stories. Those folks on Literotica, or on Kindle and KOBO are looking for a good horror story, or a two-fisted actioneer, or space pirates. They are not (all) pedantic twits. They want the story more than they want to correct your grammar and spelling. In short, it is an opportunity for support and an opportunity for growth.
If not obvious, Literotica isn’t the only game in town.
There are countless fan-fiction sites where you can stretch your writer-legs, get some feedback, and engage a community of people with similar tastes. Before you down-nose fanfic, please remember that E.L. James' Fifty Shades books started life (purportedly) as Twilight fanfiction.
There is interest. There is support. There is a hunger for your work. Even the trolls want to read your work. So get to it.
The photo at the top, Fifty Shades of Grey movie poster is the property of Universal Pictures. It is used here for educational purposes as covered by the Fair Use Doctrine.
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