Can You Help This Niche Writer?
Reader Jessie wants to know how to cultivate her niche- sex writing! Fun, steamy, but totally out of my element. Do you have any suggestions for Jessie?
I want to become a full-time freelance writer for the sex niche. All the advice that I can find is for fiction writing, but I would like to work on web content (page contents and articles) and web copywriting. I know that this isn't your primary niche (or if it is, you just don't talk about it at About!) but as a professional freelancer that knowledgeable assists other writers, I think that you could help me out BIG time! Any advice you have would be fantastic. Any information you need from me will be promptly provided. So far, I have some fairly general ideas on my mind myself: Create a professional website to describe my services, rates and expertise, create a blog that creates portfolio pieces, join communities (forums, content sites, etc.) that will help me establish my authority within the sex niche, consult the help of other professionals, query and cold email prospective markets and clients, gain clips from a no pay, low pay or nonprofit organization related client, make contacts via social networking. Also, because I can find so little on this topic, I am thinking about starting a blog for sex writers.
I love Jessie's attitude--outlining all those great starting ideas! I can tell by that kind of proactive planning that Jessie will be good at whatever she does. But, do you have any suggestions or info to pass on to this writer? It sure would be appreciated! Leave a comment.
Hey, there’s a lead on Deb Ng’s blog today for an “adult writer.” It seemed legitimate enough for Deb to post it, so…worth a shot?
Thanks for the job lead. I appreciate the knowledge that job boards do in fact add adult writing jobs to their boards as well. I found two great opportunities that I will hope to use as “breaking in” niches.
Does anyone have any advice for navigating the “netherworld” this niche seems to be? After all, you can throw out your Adsense, article marketing and standard content website advice and have to start anew to succeed in this niche because all the rules are different. Right now, I am just trying to find out what these rules are and how to build a platform, and how to build a career.
You have so many amazing ideas. I think it would be great to try to get in touch with other sex writers and bloggers and ask them for advice.
Hello Kylie,
Thank you so much for your compliment. I have been able to do just that. Courtney Bee gave me a step by step account of how she began, and countless others freely offered their advice.
Thanks again Allena for posting this on your blog.
Have a great day all,
- Jessie
My suggestion would be for her to seek certain websites and try for the safer ones, by just going this way, erotica.org erotica.com and/or free erotica sites listings, otherwise writer.com, the Writer’s Digest free email newlsletters and the writer magazines free emails and they can put out good advice and also to start up a safe but sound writer’s group with like minded folks who may be more in the know. And also address the legalities of those porn/erotica sites cause as a creative writer, you want to be legal and up-front as you can be. Your reputation as you may know is on the line.
But before anything, write down some of works of fiction whether you are getting sexed up or not. Set the mood by if not having sex and then writing about it the next day or night, then watch porn movies or go online and then begin to create a fictionalized but vastly original piece of your own and then keep reading on sex and writing. Can you put a lot of graphic sex in it but more plot, subplot, storyline, characterzation, because that is a lot different than some other writers would do. There can’t be just nothing but sex and still keep the reader’s interest unless you incorporate different elements, such as them having sex on the beach or in the park in the afternoon during the fall season, or the woman takes intiaitive and at the dinner table before dessert throws herself on her lover, boyfriend, husband, you get the picture. And listen to what other wirters of pron have to say. But basically the first element is the short fiction written to see how it is and share it with you friends, colleguage, family, writer’s group memebers, and really value their thoughts and ideas and keep improving your erotical writing expereince by making yourself into a “porn star”, cause that way you can truly feel it and the readers will want to feel it, as well and want to read much more
Hi Jessie:
Just this afternoon, I saw an ad on Craigslist for an exotic writer. Actually, I see those types of ads for adult websites semi-frequently on both Craigslist and Kijiji. Don’t know if you already look there or not.
Best of luck!
Shirley
Hi, Jessie!
Go to my blog (http://www.sexyprime.typepad.com) and email me from there. I have been writing about sex for over two decades, including 16 books. The Sex Bible is an international best-seller!
I am happy to share ideas, leads and resources with you.
Best,
Susan Crain Bakos
Check out cozyfrog.com. It is a great community for people in the adult entertainment biz. There is a guy named sunfunbill who is doing some sex writing.
avoid GFY.com!!
Susan sounds like a great contact as well as a few others. I just wanted to say that I think your plans are great thus far and with the help you’re getting here I think you’ll succeed. I wish you much luck.
What about trying a stab at some print outlets, too, to lend more credibility to your offerings. Have you tried submitting anything in the vein you want to be writing to any women’s or men’s magazines, for example? I would try querying there to get some hard copy clips that will lend even more credibility as you are looking for prospective work elsewhere. Just a thought–
I get an email newsletter from this site and they have lots of listings that seem to be good.
http://www.erotica-readers.com
It’s for readers and writers and they have a great set of links. I’ve never tried to sell anything thru them, so I can’t speak to how much use they’ll be on that end, but the newsletter covers a lot of niches within the larger niche.
My book — Karma Sutra-Essays from the Margin — may interest those keen on knowing more about HIV/AIDS, Hijras, alternate sexuality, prostitution, Devadasis, trafficking, alcohol and drug addiction, and loneliness and destitution on the Indian street. It is a first person account based on over twenty years research. The Book is available on Amazon.
Thank you to all the helpful responses and the wishes for success. I hope that I can make it happen.
Hi Susan,
This sounds like a great niche, and it will be a niche where you will get many loyal followers, to your blog, website and or social site. Why do I say this?…well, because, I am interested in this very same niche..among others that is. I tried a little marketing research on a regular social site. I have sensual music as my background song and I write a small paragraph about sexual fantasies…I get so many hits that I now know that this is a very lucrative niche. Just set the scene if you do it yourself..I really can’t comment on working for sites related to this…However, My plan is to expound on my list from this social site where I write about sexual fantasies and link to a site, blog or social site of my own related to sexual topics ..And write my own e-books and sell them…or affiliate with companies and or authors who have products or books and services about this niche that will go along with my articles. They say that …sex sells……good luck Susan…Barbie Ann
To Jessie Fitzgerald, ( I apologize for using the wrong name)
This sounds like a great niche, and it will be a niche where you will get many loyal followers, to your blog, website and or social site. Why do I say this?…well, because, I am interested in this very same niche..among others that is. I tried a little marketing research on a regular social site. I have sensual music as my background song and I write a small paragraph about sexual fantasies…I get so many hits that I now know that this is a very lucrative niche. Just set the scene if you do it yourself..I really can’t comment on working for sites related to this…However, My plan is to expound on my list from this social site where I write about sexual fantasies and link to a site, blog or social site of my own related to sexual topics ..And write my own e-books and sell them…or affiliate with companies and or authors who have products or books and services about this niche that will go along with my articles. They say that …sex sells……good luck Susan…Barbie Ann