Category: Podcast

Jumping off the Cliff into Erotica

Dean Chills H. K. Kiting Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 18:32 — 25.7MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Episode 13: Jumping off the Cliff

Michelle wrote in way back in October and asked:

I am a freelance writer and aside from blog posts I have ghost written, my true passion has never had exposure. I am often asked by female friends and family members to write erotica and romance stories for them.  This has turned into a Christmas and birthday tradition.  I have to limit them to one story request per month.  

I want to take the plunge into my career as a publish author of romance and erotica but I find myself at the edge of the cliff looking out. There are so many others out there like the vastness of the sea.  I want to jump, but I need some one to come up behind me and push.

What would you recommend as far as a sounding board?  I used to practice on fanfic sites but I was not as happy with the quality of the critique.  More often it was the way I handled a character and not the composition of the scene itself. 

I want to hone the craft but in all honesty, I am ashamed to admit I am not totally sure how to do that.  When I taught myself to crochet, I spent hours on getting the stitching right, but as I write my stories, I can’t seem to find the same cohesion.

Maybe I am my own worst enemy, with a devil on each shoulder so to speak.    

I love your podcast; I listen to podcasts while I am working around the house or siting down at my computer working on articles. Please continue your podcast.  

I will write every week with my trials and tribulation if it will give you material to continue- the starting author from their perspective.

 Thank you for the wonderful and informative podcast.  

 

OK then. We’d love to hear you trials and tribulations as a beginning erotica author, Michelle, and that applies to yours and anyone else who would like to share with us.

 

Discussion Points:

  • So how to get started?
  • How did you get started? (Dean, Henry)
  • What are your thoughts? Blog comments.

We really want to hear from you. If you have a comment, complaint, or topic suggestion, mail us at sexyfic@gmail.com or stop by SexyFic.com and leave a voicemail on the tab that allows you to record a message. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, and leave a review for the show if you like it.

Sales and Making Money

Dean Chills H. K. Kiting Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 23:42 — 32.8MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

From this episode of the podcast:

 

Episode 12: Sales and Money

Henry: Let’s check the mailbag.

Michael wrote in way back in July and asked:

Hey guys,

Just found the podcast last week and I have listened to all the episodes already.  I’m impatiently waiting for the next episode.

Just a question for the show, as an unpublished author who is considering writing erotica, I’m interested in what the likely hood of making a living from erotica is.  I understand that you’ve mentioned the price of $2.99 selling more copies than cheaper listings, but how many sales do you average per book per month?  Did writing 20+ books increase the number of sales of your older books?  I am interested in how well erotica writing will allow a person to spend the time to work on their other lines of fiction.  I understand you can not guarantee what any other author’s writing will or won’t sell for, but if you can just give ball-park numbers of what you’ve experienced would be really great.

Thank you for your time.

 

Discussion Points:

  • Are you making a full-time income from Erotica?
  • Do you ever expect to?
  • Is there something you could be doing to make more money?
  • What are your thoughts? Blog comments below!

We really want to hear from you. If you have a comment, complaint, or topic suggestion, mail us at sexyfic@gmail.com or stop by SexyFic.com and leave a voicemail on the tab that allows you to record a message. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, and leave a review for the show if you like it.

 

Check out SexyFic.com

Titles mentioned:

Poseidon’s Plaything, by H. K. Kiting
My Second Date with Santa by Dean Chills

Audio (Amazon, Audible, Apple):

Scuba Lessons #1: Pool Time by Dean Chills
Scuba Lessons #2: The Quarry by Dean Chills
Scuba Lessons #3: Going Deeper by Dean Chills

My Turn in the Barrel by H. K. Kiting (Paperback only on Amazon)

Bound for Happiness by Dean Chills
The Biker and the Rose by Dean Chills

Free Books

Dean Chills Free Fiction H. K. Kiting Non-Series Podcast

SexyFicPodcastEpisode 11: Free Books

Dean: Let’s check the mailbag first this time. Why? Because this time we have another email from a reader!

Clive wrote in and asked:

A few episodes ago, you guys mentioned you had an unusual opinion about free books. What are your thoughts on free and promotional books? Thanks for your show, I’ve listened since the beginning.

— Clive from U.K.

Henry: I don’t know if it’s really that unusual, but it might be kind of atypical. Generally, free books are a bad idea in my opinion. But there are nearly as many opinions about free and promo books as there are self-published authors out there.

What do you think of free books?

  • People write ONE book and give it away? Why? How does this benefit the author? (Some people just want to be read. Bad reviews are easy. People collect and never read free books)
  • Series books with the first book free. Might work better to sell them all at first, then go back and offer first one free once they are all out there.
  • All books free after a certain amount of time. Why would anyone buy a book if they know that’s coming?
  • One book free at a time, but cycling through all of them eventually. Why would anyone buy a book?
  • Free books as a reward for something. Reviews or for signing up for a mailing list. For example, if you review one of our books online somewhere (like Amazon) and drop us a note telling us which review was you, we’ll send you a coupon code for a $2.99 book of your choice for free. If you sign up for our mailing list on SexyFic.com, email us, and we’ll do the same. That’s an easy way to get TWO free books from us. Neither of those offers is automatic, so you’ll need to email us your details, but we’re glad to do it.
  • What are your thoughts? Blog comments below!

We really want to hear from you. If you have a comment, complaint, or topic suggestion, mail us at sexyfic@gmail.com or stop by SexyFic.com and leave a voicemail on the tab that allows you to record a message. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes,and leave a review for the show if you like it.

Theme song is “Everything Is One Thing, Reprise” by Al Phlipp and The Woo Team

 

Writing Tools

Dean Chills H. K. Kiting Podcast

Episode 10: Writing Tools

Welcome back to Episode Ten of the Writing and Publishing Erotica Podcast. I am H. K. Kiting and I am Dean Chills and we’re your hosts for the show. This is the podcast where we talk about writing and publishing in general, and include the occasional tidbit about erotica specifically.

If you haven’t visited our blog, go to SexyFic.com and take a look. All our books are listed there, as well as past episodes of the show. There’s also a notification list sign-up form that lets us drop you an email whenever we have a new book or podcast episode.

If you find enjoy this podcast or find it helpful then review us on iTunes.  Also, check out our books at SexyFic.com

And I’d like to point out that the Writing and Publishing Erotica broadcast is brought to you in part by BlueHost hosting. If you’re looking for a great web hosting provider starting as low as $4.95 a month, check them out. Use our like at http://sexyfic.com/host and get a big discount.

And now… This week’s episode!

Episode 10: Writing Tools

What do you use?

Machine/Equipment

Software

If you could have anything, what would you get?

Dead-ends, mistakes, and things to stay away from?

Let’s check the mailbag!

We really want to hear from you. If you have a comment, complaint, or topic suggestion, mail us at sexyfic@gmail.com or stop by SexyFic.com and leave a voicemail on the tab that allows you to record a message. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes,andleave a review for the show if you like it.

 

Theme song is “Everything Is One Thing, Reprise” by Al Phlipp and The Woo Team

Creating Interesting Characters

Dean Chills H. K. Kiting Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 13:06 — 7.7MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Episode 9: Creating Characters

Welcome back to Episode Nine of the Writing and Publishing Erotica Podcast. I am H. K. Kiting and I am Dean Chills and we’re your hosts for the show. This is the podcast where we talk about writing and publishing in general, and include the occasional tidbit about erotica specifically.

If you haven’t visited our blog, go to SexyFic.com and take a look. All our books are listed there, as well as past episodes of the show. There’s also a notification list sign-up form that lets us drop you an email whenever we have a new book or podcast episode.

If you find enjoy this podcast or find it helpful then review us on iTunes. Also, check out our books at SexyFic.com

Did you release anything new this week?

And I’d like to point out that the Writing and Publishing Erotica broadcast is brought to you in part by BlueHost hosting. If you’re looking for a great web hosting provider starting as low as $4.95 a month, check them out. Use our like at http://sexyfic.com/host and get a big discount.

And now… This week’s episode!

Episode 9: Creating Characters

How important are good characters?

Do they have to be relatable or likeable? (POV vs others)

Erotic and Romance usually focus on two in a relationship…

  • Should they be similar or different?
  • How different?
  • How much detail is too much? How much is a waste of time?
  • How much are your characters based on yourself?
  • Can you write characters that are nothing at all like you are?

Let’s check the mailbag!

We really want to hear from you. If you have a comment, complaint, or topic suggestion, mail us at sexyfic@gmail.com or stop by SexyFic.com and leave a voicemail on the tab that allows you to record a message. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes,andleave a review for the show if you like it.

Theme song is “Everything Is One Thing, Reprise” by Al Phlipp and The Woo Team

 

Romance vs. Porn vs. Erotica vs. Erotic Romance

Dean Chills H. K. Kiting Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 12:21 — 14.4MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Episode 8: Romance vs. Porn vs. Erotica vs. Erotic Romance  

What is the definition? These are straight from Wikipedia, but we’ll discuss our thoughts as we go along.

 

  1. Erotica is any artistic work that deals substantively with eroticallystimulating or sexually arousing subject matter.
  2. Porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purpose of sexual arousal.
  3. Romance novels place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an “emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending
  4. Erotic romance novels are stories written about the development of a romantic relationship through sexual interaction. The sex is an inherent part of the story, character growth, and relationship development, and couldn’t be removed without damaging the storyline.

There are three main things all these definitions revolve around:

  • Sex: In porn, the focus is on the actual sex act itself, while in romance novels, the focus is on the set-up and emotions the characters are experiencing before, during, and after the sex.
  • Story: One major difference is conflict: A romance has some kind of conflict, while a porn doesn’t. Is conflict = plot?
  • Purpose: Porn is usually intended to excite the reader, i.e. “Get off,” while romance is like a regular story.

 

  • Difficulties separating the categories?
  • Necessary overlap
  • Can you have romance and porn without sex?
  • Let’s Check the mailbag!

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or stop by SexyFic.com to get on our notification list for new releases.

If you have a topic you’d like to hear more about, please let us know. Email either of us at sexyfic@gmail.com

Theme: Everything Is One Thing, Reprise by Al Phlipp and The Woo Team