Erotic writing; short or long preferred.

[cwalsh]

Hi everyone,

Before anyone guffaws at my subject line, allow me to explain. Subject doesn't fully allow what I mean. The subject box allowed only a small amount of letters. Talk about trying to put a lot in a small place.

I'm writing my first ebook and it will contain some erotic material. Not as poorly written as 50 shades - how did that bloated & bilious book ever become a best seller?

My questions are:
Which are more popular for readers, 1) short erotic ebooks - more than 30,000 words but less than 50,000 words, or 2) 100,000 plus erotic ebooks.
Should chapters be kept to a certain word length and if so, what range of words per chapter is recommended?

Thanks,
Cleo

[Ted]

Hi Cleo, and welcome to our forums.

I don't write erotic works so I'm not the one to turn to for advice, perhaps other members will offer better advice than I'm about to give you.

Write whatever length you want. If your work is good and captures the reader then it will succeed. Continually review/revise your book as you progress through your work, give it to friends and an editor to provide another set of eyes, and listen to their suggestions.

[jenniferrp]

Okay. Talked to an expert on the industry. He says it makes essentially no difference if you're self publishing. Write it the length it 'wants' to be.

[Deleted]

I think 30,000-50,000 is very reasonable, but I wouldn't extend or shorten a story just to meet a certain word count. The same goes for chapters.

The only good reasons you'd want to extend or shorten anything would be to adjust the pacing or improve the flow, so I'd say that's something to consider after you've finished your draft, not before.

I don't think it really makes a difference whether your story has erotic scenes or not, but of course the more encounters you have, the more words you'd need.

[anita]

There are different levels of erotica. I tend to write the kind that are sold as individual chapters. I find that I am able to make more money from them in that way. I often give away the first installment and sell the subsequent chapters. I wouldn't worry so much about the length. There is something out there for everyone. There ar some people that only want a few chapters that are loosely tied together with some semblance of a plot. Others want a decent plot with some sexy, explicit scenes thrown in. People are willing to buy either kind.

[cwalsh]

Thanks, everyone. I'll see how long it ends up, keeping the pace up of course.

I written two chapters, revised them numerous times - for reasons of pace and too much 'fluff' in the details.

I'm used to preparing investment reports, directors reports and other dry material, so freeing my imagination is quite liberating.