Forum: Author Hangout

Authors advice: Should I E-publish?

Max Geyser 🚫

Looking for opinions/advice from those of you who have offered up your work for sale through E-publishing sites. Please don't let this devolve into arguments, and just stick to offering your advice from your experience and perspective.

I'm finishing up my first book, An All-American Teenage Sex Life.

I've seen different opinions on what certain publishers will allow in the form of underage sex. It's a fiction piece. My protagonist is 14-15 through book 1. Sex is with six females, all older than him, with the oldest being around 19. Otherwise, as you can see from the tags, it is pretty mild stuff.

If you have published underage sex successfully, please let me know where. I'm ready to re-edit the full book and get it up for sale. Some comments made here have me wondering if any publisher will allow it at all.

Why am I looking to E-publish? I started out writing the story for fun. I have enjoyed it. The feedback has been fantastic and it has scored well above anything I could have hoped for. The story is generally in the top 10 most-downloaded and top 10 most-popular here. But it has taken hundreds of hours to get to this point, and I would like those hours to count as if it were a part-time job for me. I'm not looking to get rich. I'm looking for some side cash. A little something for the effort.

But if it's not possible, I'll simply continue books 2-4 and start publishing when my protagonist goes off to college.

Thanks in advance for any advice you have.
-Max

Replies: Switch Blayde

Ernest Bywater 🚫

Max,

While I've not published anything with ages that low I do know some sites will take anything as long as the low age isn't referenced in the story blurb, but when they get a complaint they'll pull the story and keep all monies owing to you.

The best advice I can give you is to:

(a) revise the ages up to start at 16 which is legal age in most places now and accepted by some sites, or

(b) get some help to establish your own site and sale process the way Greg Younger has as that allows you to set your own limits, or

(c) Talk to Lazeez about seeing how soon he'll have his Bookapy site on-line to make sales through.

I'd go with (c) then (b) if I were you.

NB: I have several books with 16 y/o and up having sex which I sell via www.lulu.com

Switch Blayde 🚫

@Max Geyser

I believe any character put in a sexual position must be 18 or older on sites like Amazon, Apple, Kobo, etc. As Ernest said, they don't read the novels so you can slip by until someone reports it.

The thing about self-publishing is marketing. Even if it's the greatest novel ever written, if no one knows your book is there, you won't sell any.

Finally, you better have the rights to any image and font on your cover. If you don't and you get caught, you could be sued.

Replies: Vincent Berg

Vincent Berg 🚫

@Switch Blayde

Having published on each site, I can attest that Switch is right. They ALL prohibit any underage sex (or incest, beastuality or several other things). However … that's not the end of the story. These sites generally don't monitor what they produce for sale, so you can get away with a lot.

However, that said, if anyone files a complaint, for ANY reason, there is NO appeal, investigation or questions, they'll just flat out delete your entire account, erasing ANY stories posted, and will then KEEP any money's they then collect from your sales!!!

Most fly-by-night operators get around this by simply creating new accounts, each time they get 'caught', so they're only in it for the 'quick sales' (and typically only offer extremely short books (10,000 to 20,000 words) that they can crank out in a hurry.

A better approach, for those of us trying to make a go of it, is provide warning of what's likely to happen early, but then just let it develop slowly.

For example: I have a penchant for pseudo-incest stories, mainly because it's the ultimate taboo. But I've never been called on it, as the characters simply don't act on their impulses until chapters 7 or 12, which which time the scolds have mostly given the story up a long time ago, anticipating where it's heading. Of course, that approach only works if you like writing stories which develop slowly. :(

The other approach is to try patreon, where you post chapter at a time, and readers pay/invest in your story for each chapter/book/album/movie you produce. I tried it in it's early years, and didn't find it feasible, but other people have tried it since then, and report making a decent amount, so figure what you're trying for.

But ... if you're mainly going to LOTS of hot teen sex, I'd watch your step, as you'll likely introduce it early and often, and many people will probably react negatively. :(

But if you want to discuss specifics, DM me (Direct Message) and we can discuss the pros and cons.

Max Geyser 🚫

Thank you for your thoughtful responses. I have some thinking to do.

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Forum: Author Hangout

Authors advice: Should I E-publish?

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