Forum: Author Hangout

I honestly don't know where to put this and if this is 'legal'

jhncanson 🚫
Updated:

I've always wanted to read stories online but what i love most are stories that are classified as books.

I don't even know why i'm reading stories in an erotica website but there's an 'adult' component in the stories here and they don't hide the ugly truth.

I rarely read the stroke stories, i've searched online and found alot of people masturbate whilst reading them, i can't seem to get my head around that but then again, it took me years to finally try masturbating to hentai.

Enough about that, my question is, is this the only site that authors who write long series stories submit?

I've tried asstr but i can't honestly get around the tricky ways of navigating there and searching through countless short stories to find the hidden gems of long ones.

EDIT: What i meant about if this is legal or right, is that i'm basically asking authors where they submit long stories other than the obvious one - storiesonline

Replies: awnlee jawking Switch Blayde ustourist REP madnige

awnlee jawking 🚫

@jhncanson

If you Google something like 'story site reviews', you'll find there are hundreds, if not thousands, of sites where authors are encouraged to post their stories. Many claim to host the whole gamut from flash to novels and longer. I suggest you tailor the search for the genres of stories you want to read and try a few.

What you're very unlikely to find are other sites as well run and well organised as SOL, although some might beg to disagree.

AJ

Switch Blayde 🚫

@jhncanson

If you search on novel-pocketbook in the Category Search on SOL you'll find a lot of traditionally published porn novels from the past.

ustourist 🚫

@jhncanson

If you do use story sites you don't know then watch out for malware or similar. I came across one recently that listed a lot of SOL stories as available. None of the links led anywhere but there was malware on the site.
(Lazeez was informed and investigated the report, but others doubtless exist).

REP 🚫

@jhncanson

I personally do not feel there is anything ugly about normal, consensual sex. You will find sex scenes in many of the well known works of literary art that have been written in the past. Erotic literature provides more detail than the sex scenes contained in literature approved by the puritanical members of our society.

As to why you are visiting erotic websites to find literature that appeals to you, I think you are finding that sex in literature is not the disgusting demon that the puritanical segment of our society claims it to be. Others have already provided recommendations as to where to find long stories, so I will pass on that part of your post.

REP

Replies: Vincent Berg

Vincent Berg 🚫

@REP

I've seen reports that a full 98% of ALL published books are now considered "Romance" (i.e. they contain elements of romance in them). In that case, most books have the elements of sex in them (desire, lust, infatuation, meeting, consummation (or not)), so yes, it's natural to include these elements in any story, however you qualify them. Maybe a hint of such is sufficient, while other times you'll want to include the full nine yards of whips, chains and butt plugs.

Replies: Ernest Bywater Dicrostonyx

Ernest Bywater 🚫

@Vincent Berg

whips, chains and butt plugs.

I don't think I'd want to associate with someone who regards those items as part of a romantic encounter.

Replies: Vincent Berg

Vincent Berg 🚫

@Ernest Bywater

I don't think I'd want to associate with someone who regards those items as part of a romantic encounter.

As they say: whatever floats (or sinks) you boat?

Dicrostonyx 🚫
Updated:

@Vincent Berg

I've seen reports that a full 98% of ALL published books are now considered "Romance" (i.e. they contain elements of romance in them).

I can guarantee you that that figure is incorrect. You might be able to get to a high percentage by seriously limiting the definition, such as something like "percentage of first novels by female authors in the US". It's worth noting three things, though.

First, any list of "published books" includes non-fiction, including textbooks and other speciality content. I saw one estimate in about 2006 that there were over 250,000 books published the previous year in the English language.

Second, the US is not the only publisher of books in the English language, let alone in other languages, and content preferences tend to vary by culture.

Third, in publishing the definition of a romance novel is a story that puts the primary focus on the romantic relationship between two main characters with an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending", not simply any book that has some romantic content. There is a difference, for example, between a romance book in a fantasy setting and a fantasy book which includes elements of romance or sexuality.

...

Here's some actual data from a report by the Romance Writers of America:

Estimated annual total sales value of romance in 2013: $1.08 billion (source: BookStats)

Romance unit share of adult fiction: 13% (source: Nielsen Books & Consumer Tracker, BISAC Romance)

In what format are romance books being purchased? (source: Nielsen US Romance Landscape Q1 2014)
- E-books: 39%
- Mass-market paperback: 32%
- Trade paperback: 18%
- Hardcover: 9%
- Audio: 1%
- Other: 1%

Who is the romance book buyer? (source: Nielsen Books & Consumer Tracker)
- Female: 84%
- Male: 16%

Age of the romance book buyer: 30-54 years old (41%; source: Nielsen Romance Buyer Survey for RWA)

Replies: Switch Blayde

Switch Blayde 🚫

@Dicrostonyx

- Mass-market paperback: 32%
- Trade paperback: 18%

What's the difference between these two?

Replies: Ernest Bywater Dicrostonyx Vincent Berg

Ernest Bywater 🚫

@Switch Blayde

What's the difference between these two?

Different book sizes: US Trade is 6 x 9 inches and a bit bigger than the International Paperback book

Dicrostonyx 🚫

@Switch Blayde

As Ernest said it's mostly size, but trades also generally have slightly better quality paper and bindings, which allows them to also have larger print without the length putting too much strain on the spine. They also have a higher profit ratio, though not as good as hard-cover, making them more attractive to publishers.

If you do a Google image search of "mass market vs trade paperback" you can see lots of example photos.

In Canada I've noticed that a lot of British books get Hard-cover and Trade releases, but only the really big names get a mass market (aka pocketbook) release. I'm not sure if this has to do with importing or just that the distributors need the higher mark-up due to a smaller market.

Vincent Berg 🚫

@Switch Blayde

What's the difference between these two?

A "Trade paperback" is typically a higher quality 6" x 9" book, whereas the "mass-market" is what you find in most airport book stores (I think they're 5" x 7").

Trade paperbacks typically get printed in smaller volumes, and allow the publishers to charge more. Mass-market paperbacks are typically published in high volume, cutting a single page into 16 printed pages allowing for lower printing costs. For print on-demand, you pay the same amount regardless of the page size, so it's most post-efficient to print larger sizes.

@Dicrostonyx

I can guarantee you that that figure is incorrect. You might be able to get to a high percentage by seriously limiting the definition, such as something like "percentage of first novels by female authors in the US". It's worth noting three things, though.

The source was questionable (it was referenced by a smashwords.com mass-mailing to it's authors), but it shows the thinking by many in the industry (toss romance in to attract female readers). It's more a 'trend' comment than anything else. In this case, they considered anything a "Romance" novel as long as it had a romantic element to an existing book (an overly broad category).

Replies: Switch Blayde Ernest Bywater

Switch Blayde 🚫

@Vincent Berg

A "Trade paperback" is typically a higher quality 6" x 9" book, whereas the "mass-market" is what you find in most airport book stores (I think they're 5" x 7").

As suggested, I googled it. What I took from what I read is that a trade paperback is really a hard cover with a soft cover and lower quality paper, whereas a mass market is what I think of as a paperback (print too small for me to read which is why I read hard cover).

Replies: Dominions Son Dicrostonyx

Dominions Son 🚫

@Switch Blayde

what I think of as a paperback (print too small for me to read which is why I read hard cover)

Have you considered glasses or contacts?

Replies: Switch Blayde

Switch Blayde 🚫

@Dominions Son

Have you considered glasses or contacts?

Actually, I had Lazek surgery in 1999 and got monovision so I don't need glasses for distance or reading. The young girl who gave me my last eye test said I was able to read smaller print than her. And this is with about 1/2 my left eye (the eye used for reading) being basically blind from glaucoma.

To be honest, I haven't tried reading a paperback since the surgery. But hard covers are much more enjoyable.

Dicrostonyx 🚫

@Switch Blayde

(print too small for me to read which is why I read hard cover).

For most people, the problem is actually the paper colour -- which is a result of its poor quality -- rather than the size itself. While many people like the pale beige colour of cheap books, that's mostly just a matter of being used to it. The high contrast of good-quality white paper is a lot easier to read against.

And yes, "mass-market" is just the industry term for what most people call a "pocketbook" or a "paperback". The problem with the latter word is that "paperback" is often used in the industry to refer to trade paperbacks, so it's best to just avoid the term entirely to avoid confusion.

Replies: Vincent Berg

Vincent Berg 🚫

@Dicrostonyx

And yes, "mass-market" is just the industry term for what most people call a "pocketbook" or a "paperback". The problem with the latter word is that "paperback" is often used in the industry to refer to trade paperbacks, so it's best to just avoid the term entirely to avoid confusion.

The distinction is really between normal Trade "paperbacks" and the more common "mass-market paperbacks". Referring to any book as "paperback" is largely meaningless as both the trade and mass-market varieties qualify for that term.

The problem is the only "trade paperbacks" they're likely to encounter on a frequent basis are photo collections, now that the hard-bound coffee table books are no longer economically reasonable to remain popular.

Ernest Bywater 🚫

@Vincent Berg

A "Trade paperback" is typically a higher quality 6" x 9" book, whereas the "mass-market" is what you find in most airport book stores (I think they're 5" x 7").

One point to keep in mind is the amount of area you get to print on per page. In theory, the pocketbook paperback or mass market paperback should need only 10% more pages than the US Trade paperback, but it's been my experience it usually needs 15 to 20% more pages due to the way it forces the re-pagination of the text with the narrow lines of text. Every extra page added to the book adds a lot more costs due to the extra work and paper.

madnige 🚫

@jhncanson

is this the only site that authors who write long series stories submit

Try http://webfictionguide.com/complete-novels/ for some suggestions.

Possibly also the (associated?) voting site http://topwebfiction.com/ which is pretty much a list in popularity order, of mostly in-progress stuff - the votes expire so top of the list are the active serials, but the info links take you to the webfictionguide enties.

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Forum: Author Hangout

I honestly don't know where to put this and if this is 'legal'

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