Supreme Guide to Marketing & Selling Erotica Online 💦 2021

Can You Make Money Selling Erotica in 2021?

Many people wonder if it’s still possible to make decent money selling erotica and romance books. It’s true that the golden years of self-publishing dirty stories for easy profit is probably in the past. Now the market is more saturated. But this is not the whole story.

Here’s the oily rub. Erotica readers tend to stick with authors they trust.

That fact is a double-edged sword. It means making money selling erotica can be difficult until you reach a tipping point. Then money tends to flood like the Nile. Or like the space between your readers’ legs 😉

Of course, almost all side hustles require upfront work, so selling profitable erotica isn’t any different from other options.

To get to that tipping point, it’s important to separate yourself from the pack. That’s why we provided dozens and dozens of tips for marketing, writing, and selling erotica.

If you enjoy fantasizing, writing, and making that mooh-la-la, then selling erotica is a great side hustle choice. In that case, we absolutely recommend it as a money-making technique. But it’s essential to move forward strategically.

Essential Tips to Become a Trusted Author

Here are the absolute best techniques to generate an audience and make money selling erotica on Amazon.

• Enroll in KDP Select, which includes Kindle Unlimited
• Invest in striking and professional cover art
• Dominate an unsaturated niche
• Charge at least $2.99 per title
• Fully optimize Amazon metadata

We discuss all of these tips and hacks further, as well as many other techniques for turning your lusty daydreams into cold, hard cash.

Tips for New Authors

1. Choose the perfect penname.

Go female or unisex.

The vast majority of erotica readers are female, and many of them feel best reading erotica written (seemingly) by another female. So it’s best to choose a penname that is either female or unisex. Sasha Belov and E. L. James are two examples of unisex names.

For the most part, avoid cheesy, punny, or overly provocative pennames. Be a modern erotica writer, not a nineties stripper. Maximus Johnson won’t sell too many books.

Fortunately, readers expect erotica and romance writers to use a pseudonym. That means you can get experimental with your options.

Be original, memorable, and niche-specific.

It’s smart to choose a penname that is original and memorable. You don’t want anyone confusing your books for someone else’s, and you don’t want potential readers to buy from another author because they couldn’t remember your name.

Your penname should also match your niche. If you’re exclusively writing dinosaur porn, go for a primal name like Lorelei Mist. If you’re writing millionaire bad boy stories, then E. L. James has a suitable dignity.

Consider domain names.

Consider checking whether the respective domain name is available. If you want to write as Lorelei Mist, then ideally www(dot)loreleimist(dot)com should be available.

2. Choose the right story length.

The minimum for an erotic short story is 3500 words. We recommend writing 5000-7500 words for your first titles. Once you starting getting sales, consider moving on to 8000-10,000 word stories.

3. Write series over standalone titles.

Just as erotica readers like to stick to specific authors, they like to stick to specific series.

By writing 3+ stories that all belong to the same fictional world with the same characters, you leverage the binge-effect. It’s like Netflix for dirty stories.

Just as Netflix series often hook viewers with a show-stopping pilot episode, the first book in an erotica series should be extra good. This technique will certainly lead to making more money.

In fact, many highly successful indie authors recommend writing an anchor series. That means writing an entire series that never strays from the one fictional world you create. Same characters, same setting, but much bigger royalties.

By writing in series, you can also get more real estate on Amazon searches. If you write a 3-story series, you can then combine those stories into a “bundle.” That’s four books for the work of three.

4. Read best-selling authors.

It’s universally true that great writers are great readers. They borrow ideas from the best and make them their own.

In erotica, you don’t need to be a great writer, but you do want to be a successful writer. And successful erotica writers understand the expectations and desires of the market because they read other writers. Below is a list of some of the best names in the business.

• Sylvia Day
• Anna Lores
• Maya Banks
• Chris Lange
• Kresley Cole
• Shayla Black
• Lorelei James

Especially if you have a small niche, it’s essential to explore your direct competition. Take notes about what they do successfully and emulate them. Consider posting those notes, along with great passages, where you write. When you get stuck, review your notes and see if they can’t give you a jumpstart.

Ironically, it can also be helpful to read terrible writing. It teaches you which mistakes to avoid like the clap. If you choose to check out bad erotica stories, just be sure that you don’t pay for them.

Pro Tip: Check out Literotica or Sex Stories for free erotica and romance writing.

5. Consider using Scrivener.

Scrivener is a text editor like Microsoft Word. But it’s designed specifically for people writing books.

It’s a useful tool for serious eBook writers for two reasons.

First, it allows you to write in a much more organized way. You don’t need to scroll a mile and search for that exact sentence you want. It can be annoying to decide you want to change a detail in Chapter 2 while writing Chapter 5.

Either you kill your flow by spending ten minutes searching, or your risk leaving a plot inconsistency by telling yourself you’ll change it later.

Second, Scrivener makes converting to different eBook formats, including MOBI, as easy as pie.

6. Choose the perfect niche.

This is another major tip that cannot be overlooked. There are two keys to choose the perfect niche if you want to make money selling erotica.

The first is to choose a kink/fetish/theme that you enjoy writing. If you’ve read a lot of fantasy novels, leverage that to your advantage. If you have an interest in mythical creatures, use it. Or if you go to strip clubs regularly, turn those experiences into money-making magic.

The second key is to choose niches that are hot, but not flooded with writers. The best way to do this is to peruse Amazon extensively. Do a deep dive and come up with pearls.

Ultimate List of Erotica Niches

Enjoy this amazing list of erotica niches from Redditor EroticaWriter41