?Site Makeover and Looking for MM Taboo Writers?
Hey babes!
It has been an intense last few weeks. I feel like I’ve been staring at code for a lifetime and just lifted my head up to realize it’s winter. @_@ Did the zombie apocalypse happen? Did I miss fluffy pirate shirts coming back in style and then going back out? What year is it?
Thankfully, the website is finally—FINALLY!!!!—done, and I did it in a way that I will never have to take this long again to update it. (Well, unless I scrap it and start from scratch.) Emails have all been sent out, so check your spam folders for your new passwords and such. Everyone got a free month because of just how freaking long the transfer took. I’ll be writing start Monday and getting back to new content.
The design is a little bit goth punk, a little bit midlife crisis… XD
I went with a very funky kind of style that cheers me up every time I see it. I’ll be honest, babes, being sick for so long has taken a lot of joy out of me. I thought getting healthy would automatically bring that sparkling, joyful person back, but the years have beaten me down a bit. I feel like some days I am literally scraping to find those silver linings in life and get a smile to grow. Part of this website makeover has been about reminding me of who I am, the things I like, the part of me that finds writing a fun, crazy party. I need my fun back, and I’m hoping when people are on the website, they’ll be feeling fun too.
There are some new pricing options with the new website too. $5 Exclusive Reads and $5 Exclusive WIPs. I wanted to offer an economical choice to readers who like to pop in from time to time verse every day. Maybe you’re someone who doesn’t want to read anything new until it’s 100% finished, or maybe you don’t want to spend $10 just to read that one favorite WIP. This will hopefully address those kinds of problems.
Looking for MM Taboo Authors
I’ve had about a dozen authors hit me up at one point or another asking how to get around the unfair censorship and banning that’s been happening on Amazon and other major book retail platforms when it comes to taboo writing. The thing is, unless you’re starting with a website that Google says is trustworthy because it’s been around forever, or you have mad money to outbid Amazon or Goodreads for ads, it is very hard to compete outside of Amazon. It’s damn near impossible to make a living if you can’t be found, not to mention just the plain demoralizing feeling that comes with realizing the fantasies you write are not only being judged by faceless corporations, but aren’t protected from discrimination the way any other subject is. This is the kind of shit that kills the joy of writing.
It’s the corporate mindset that it’s okay to discriminate because there are plenty of places out there for people to find ‘that kind of stuff.’ Well, while Amazon might think erotic books are part of the porn industry or adult market, few writers want to brand themselves alongside a wall full of flesh and sex just because some prudish outsiders think that’s what this writing is all about. It’s not how many erotic writers want to present themselves as a brand, or their writing in general. And to be clear, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the adult industry—they have to deal with enough bullshit discrimination as it is, and I’m not saying this to separate myself or my writing from their industry like I’m superior or some shit. No, I just don’t believe erotica comes from the same mindset. I feel like the adult industry has become industrialized in a lot of ways to the point that story and character development is mostly stripped away, and as a writer of books, that just doesn’t fit for me.
I write erotica for emotionally receptive individuals. It’s not just a fuck fic; it’s a story that gets you into a mindset to enjoy a fuck fic. A miniature psychological escape from the repression and bullshit of a world that doesn’t blink twice at censoring books to the point that I had an adult store owner say she wouldn’t want to carry any of my books that contained taboo content. This kind of discriminatory messaging doesn’t just stay on a platform, it spreads like a sick disease. It spreads the way shame does, hurting people, making them feel bad, and forcing judgments on the books they write and the creators themselves.
Amazon and other narrow minded platforms have made it so taboo and dark erotic stories don’t have a place. Where we’re not allowed to compete on equal footing in a market that is very much ravenous for this type of writing. Where others won’t promote our books in their newsletters while we promote theirs—this isn’t all authors, btw. I’ve had plenty of great authors who are more than happy to promote my books. But I’ve also had authors tell me my books just aren’t appropriate for their audience of adults. I’ve watched this get worse and worse over the last five years as a writer with little I felt I could do besides share with other authors what I’ve done personally to make it this far.
A Tentative Plan
I’m not rich, babes. Being ill this entire time has basically put all my money into meds and treatments and finding answers that took way too long to find. Writing books that can’t be placed on major platforms has limited my income greatly—I’m talking a loss of thousands per book. But even so, my books helped pay my bills when there are so many authors who never earn a buck for what they do. And if they want to write crazy fun, sexy, dark erotica? Many give up the moment their first book is banned because it makes them feel like shit. It’s not just knowing the world is broken, but also knowing there is someone out there who thinks you’re fucked up for writing what you write. It is a shitty, self-destructive feeling no one should have to face alone.
I’m not sure exactly how I’m going to set this up, but I want a guest author area. What I’m envisioning is a page for each author where you can read one of their short stories, click a link, and be taken to either their webpage if they have one, or a direct link to where you can buy their book(s). If you’ve been on my site, you know it’s basically impossible to download the stories from there—I’m sure to the frustration of many XD—so a guest author wouldn’t have to fear their stories being stolen and passed around.
And I want to pay each author for putting their short story on my website.
A predatory market
Let’s be real. There are plenty of writing publications, magazines, etc, who don’t pay for submissions. There are some so fucking disgusting, they charge a submission fee for the privilege of possibly being published with them. You know, the fee they charge for them to do a job that brings them money in. I don’t remotely come close to having the type of money an organization like that has, but I know I can still do better and actually pay writers for what they do.
You shouldn’t have to be poor to be a writer. You shouldn’t assume if you go into writing, you’re never going to make any money unless you’re writing nonfiction. Content is king in this digital age, but we’re still dealing with a bunch of assholes who profit off the backs of others while never giving back to the creators who made them popular in the first place. I refuse to be another writer who contributes to a broken system instead of demanding better. So, yeah… plans.
This is going to happen, I’m just not 100% sure how, just yet. If you’re a writer of MM taboo fiction and interested in having a spot in the guest authors’ area, email me and we’ll get an idea of what can work. I’m considering $100 per approved submission, no bullshit about exclusivity or rights—they’re your stories, not mine, and the entire point is to help sales, not lock your story on my website. Oh, and things in the membership part of my site aren’t read by Amazon bots, so you don’t have to worry about any KU bullshit either.
Someone has to make the world better
I’m hardly a perfect person, but just how long do we have to stare at a blatant, disgusting problem like discriminatory censorship before we try to do something about it? This is the kind of thing you have to learn to be loud about, and for me it’s difficult after a lifetime of shame messaging.
I am not ‘immune’ babes; I’m just bullheaded. I didn’t really get a grasp of how negative messaging about sex had destroyed generations of people until I found myself in a business class among entrepreneurial adults who kept calling me ‘brave.’ Not brave for starting a business–we were all there to do just that. No, brave for daring to sell dark erotic fantasies side by side with every other legit business out there. I was the BRAVE one because even among brilliant, resilient people, there was a level of discomfort around sex.
The world deserves better. It takes enough of a psychological toll to write a book and self publish in general. Why do we have to have fucked up cultural shame placed on top of that too? I refuse to accept it. The world can be better, and eventually I will never have to be called brave for doing what every other self published author does.
Peace, babes. Hope you enjoy the new website, and I look forward to getting back to writing.
~Sins