Comments on: Fed up

By: Lydia

Lydia — Fri, 29 Apr 2005 19:43:34 +0000

“Erotica” is a hot TERM right now, but to be honest, publishers are discovering that most people just don’t really want erotica–or even romantica. Most readers want “erotica” just to mean “hottish romance, maybe with an unconventional element or two.” My two finished books are considerably hotter than quite a few authors who call themselves “erotic,” and I would describe them at most as “sensual.” I’m not being a snob–I know what erotica is, and what I write ain’t it.

Basically, it comes down to marketing-ese and what people REALLY want. What they want is different than what labels they’re looking for in their books. Romance is what their mothers read–THEY like “erotica.”

This isn’t about censorship. It’s about sales–what the book business has always been about. A certain type of book has co-opted a “racy” word just because of the buzz, but that doesn’t mean that the content will follow when there’s no demand for it.

One big problem with the current use of the word “erotica” is that you REALLY have no idea if you’ve getting borderline R or XXX stuff just from the name!

By: Blah Blog of Alison Kent | Contemporary Author

Blah Blog of Alison Kent | Contemporary Author — Fri, 29 Apr 2005 16:14:47 +0000

[...] ow, there’s been conversation across the blogosphere the last few days about readers speaking out to publishers and making known their thoughts on certain elements in f [...]

By: Teresa

Teresa — Thu, 28 Apr 2005 13:50:45 +0000

Such a tizzy. Where do people get off dictating to others what they should or shouldn’t read/like/enjoy etc? I don’t get it. Personally, erotica isn’t my thing. And EC’s covers don’t always thrill me (some even make me giggle). Does that mean I want erotica writers to stop using the “f” and “c” words? Does that mean I demand EC or any of the other erotica publishers change their covers? Hell no!!! I don’t give a damn. If anyone thinks the romance genre will gain more respectability by doing so, they’re wrong. Let’s face it - there will always be detractors. And censoring ourselves is not the answer.:roll:

By: Caro

Caro — Thu, 28 Apr 2005 04:38:31 +0000

I remember about seven or eight years ago a letter in the RWR where someone begged her fellow writers to stop writing steamy love scenes because “they hurt Our Lord.” The letters you quoted have the same tone — stop what you’re doing because I don’t approve of it. What’s more, these people are not going to shut up because there will always be things they disapprove of.

“Lowering our standards?” That’s a load of crap — the covers for Ellora’s Cave are no worse than some of the covers with Fabio dry humping the middle of the heroine’s back and while we decry them, no one talks about romance writers lowering their standards because of it.

But it is true that we need to write to the publishers, let them know that the lines have fans and people who love them –it’s difficult for a small operation like EC, who doesn’t have the resources of an Avon or Warner, but the big publishers need to know that its not just the people who are looking to be offended who are out there and willing to put pen to paper.

By: Wendy

Wendy — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 23:16:09 +0000

Wh..wh..what?! Please tell me you made up that Black Lace submission blurb I like my Black Lace the way it is dagnabit. I like the rougher language! I like the heroines who actually enjoy sex! Heck, I like the gay characters who are drawn as “real people” and not two-dimensional child-molesting villains!

Ugh. I’m so ticked I could spit nails

By: Sylvia

Sylvia — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 23:14:10 +0000

Yes, I agree with that, Alison. I made that point to my sister who had some Air Force trouble. I told her to write to our Senator. She said, “What for? I’m nobody.” But she wrote anyway and has received several letters written by the Senator who is looking into the matter.

A letter is a powerful thing.

By: Alison

Alison — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 23:07:33 +0000

No. It’s not completely pointless - except a letter in hand written DIRECTLY to a publisher or editor and addressed to them BY NAME has a whopping lot more impact that conversational posts online. Those letters are passed around in house. Discussions online are not consumer complaints or consumer praise RECEIVED IN HOUSE that get logged. Businesses have specific departments that handle such things. They’re required to handle them by policy. (I can give you a concrete example where this happened with ONE letter writer and Blaze - where the letter got a response STRAIGHT FROM THE TOP! *g* Got it? ONE LETTER! *g*) That’s where the strength lies. Those letters where the consumer/reader has taken the time and the effort to take his/her feelings to the top.