While writing erotic on its own can be exciting, let’s not kid ourselves, you want to make money. I know, for me, becoming a published author on Amazon was a huge accomplishment. I’ve spent countless hours writing, publishing, and marketing over the last three years.
However, achievement is not my only goal as an author. I would also like to have an impact on people and to be able to make a living with my writing. Both goals take persistence and dedication to achieve.
The exciting thing about erotica is that if you produce a lot of quality content, then you can speed up the timeline to being known and making money. I should know. With my first three months as a published erotic short story author, I’ve ten times my Amazon profits versus my three years as a non-fiction author. What does that say? People are seeking escape and pleasure.
If you’ve decided to try your hand at writing erotica, there are several additional things that you can do to expand your reach.
Email Lists
As they say, the money is in the list. To ensure that your fans known when your next book is coming out, you need a way to contact them. True, you could depend on your fans to follow you on Amazon and let them do the work, but you have no control over Amazon. If your fans are on your list, you can make sure they receive timely notices of new books and promotions.
Website
Another way to enhance your reach is through a website. With a website, people have a centralized location where they can find you. On your website, you can display your books, write a blog, set up swag promotions, display book excerpts, etc. Furthermore, you can use your website to set up Pinterest pins, Facebook posts, and other marketing ideas. One word of warning – setting up multiple accounts is a pain in the ass.
About Page
On your website, it is essential to have an about page. This page is where you can tell your story and connect with your readers. Make it fun.
Contact Page
Again having ways for your fans to connect with you is invaluable. Get them on your list.
Freebie
One way to get people on your email list is to have freebies. These freebies can be on your website, in Facebook posts, via Pinterest, or inside your books. The more avenues you have available for readers to get onto your list, the better off you are. What freebies should you use? A few examples of freebies that fans might like to receive include chapters of future books, epilogues, and free books.
Promotion
Another way to reach new readers is through advertisements. If you are in KDP Select, you can promote your book for five days out of each quarter. These promotions can be free days or Kindle Countdown Deals. Furthermore, you can choose to have all five days done together or spread out over time. During these promotions you will want to contact diffident book promotions sites to run ads for you. Some are free, and some are paid.
Social Media
Social media is a great way to expand your reach. It is important to have a Facebook page to post upcoming books, cover photos, book quotes, or information about your writing process.
Pinterest is another format that you can use. If you have a website, you can make blog posts for each of your books and post them on your Pinterest board. Another option to further your reach with Pinterest is to get on group boards for books and/or erotica.
Twitter has been said to be the best format for erotic writers to connect with their fanbase. I’m excited to try this one in the future.
Instagram is another option for furthering your reach. I’ve not investigated this one yet, but I can see the benefit of sharing your book covers via Instagram as that platform is heavy on images.
Book Reviewers
Another way to increase your reach is to have your book reviewed by well-known book reviewers. These individuals run blogs that focus on book reviews and love to share good, new books for their reviewers to check out. There are several of them out there.
However, I would be weary of those who contact you as they will want money for their service. Not to say that the product, for some of these bloggers, isn’t high-quality, but there are questions regarding how much traction you will get based upon these reviews. I would recommend keeping your expense down as much as possible.
Booksprout
I love Booksprout. It is a great way to get reviews of your book. I’ve tried getting reviews for non-fiction but have not had any luck. Most of the readers on this site are fiction fans. Anyway, you can use this site to showcase your books and get honest reviews to be posted on any site that your books are published through.
Packages
If you write short stories, you can package those stories into bundles and publish them as a book package. This is a great tool to discount your books for readers, but to get you higher profits for each item sold.
Audiobooks
People are busy. As a result, they like to listen to books during their commutes, when cleaning the house, and while working out. Erotica is no different. The next time you see someone sitting on the bus with earbuds in, you might take a second to imagine what she’s listening to. Her next audiobook could be yours.
Granted, there is a lot of expense if you hire someone to read and produce an audiobook for you, but there are options available for an ambition person to do their own voice work. You will need a space with good acoustics, a microphone, an ACX account, and lots of patience.
Anthology and Collaborations
Another option to speed up your rise to the top of the Amazon charts is to team up with other authors in your genre. You can do this by politely contacting other authors and offer your support., collaboration opportunities, or just a friendly introduction. You never know what opportunities are available out there until you try.
Be sure to contact only those authors whose work you feel is polished and fits your publications. If you just write about BDSM and the person you are trying to get to share your work with their readers or to join in a collaboration effort writes about shapeshifters, your audience is going to be vastly different.
Other Sites
If you aren’t interested in being exclusive with Amazon, there are other sites available for you to publish your works. However, if your material is available somewhere else, you won’t be able to participate in Amazon’s promotional programs. Other sites include Apple, Sony, Kobo, and Nook.
There are numerous publishing formats available these days. However, Amazon is still king, and it is easy to publish on Amazon. In the past, you needed a mobi file to upload a manuscript to Amazon, but now just about any type of document will work.
Don’t forget – Grab the companion workbook for your step-by-step guide!
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Alexia Chase
https://alexiachaseromance.com
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