It’s no surprised that print publishers are now taking an occasional lead from e-books. What might be a surprise is that erotic fiction has, for the last or two, been the key example in this trend. While this Publishers Weekly article provides a good summary, a couple of key items jumped out at me. First, the late Neon imprint, of which my novel was contracted to be part of, was mentioned:

“This October, Trafalgar Square will bring to the U.S. a diverse collection from Neon, an imprint of the British publisher, Orion.”

Just so you know, Trafalgar Square is importing the dozen titles that managed to see print before Orion Publishing canceled the line. There’s no new development there.

Still, it begs the question: Had the publisher done its homework in the first place? Probably not or the PTB would’ve known about the erotic explosion among women readers. But then again,the rest of print publishing has been playing catch-up too, according to the PW article.

Another quote — one outrageous enough to raise eyebrows while seeing much reprinting — comes from Ellora’s Cave publisher, Ralene Gorlinsky:

“It’s been very obvious to us and our authors that as erotic romance has become popular, readers have gotten acclimated to it,” says Gorlinsky at Ellora’s Cave. “And they’ve become jaded. Things that were shocking five years ago—anal sex, ménage à trois—have now become vanilla.”

I’ll be the first to admit, it’s difficult to keep erotic writing fresh. But I think one of the problems I see in erotic romance is the constraints some editors put on their writers. Recently, literary agent Lori Perkins defined the difference between erotica and Romantica at her blog:

“I believe that Romantica** is a term coined by the Ellora’s Cave gals for their brand of erotic romance novels. They feature the happy monogamous endings and wish fulfillment of your average romance novel, but with many explicit sex scenes. The main character is always a woman, even though the story can be told from alternating points of view.

“Erotica is sexually charged fiction, but its payoff is not the traditional romance novel happy ending – anything goes with anyone.”

I don’t take issue with anything Ms. Perkins says here. But reading her comments with a day of seeing Gorlinsky quoted got me thinking about what I’ve learned during my years of creating short erotic fiction – and what erotic romance might want to do to remain fresh and entertaining.

1. Publishers and editors need to look more outside the box. (Yes, there are sexual practices you haven’t yet considered.) I can’t tell you the number of editors that refused to consider Inequities because the protagonist was a dominant woman. Even now, part of Inequities publicity is a public awareness campaign designed to tell you, the reader, that not all dominant women are cold-hearted bitches. Many are rather nice women who just happen to know what they like.

2. I can’t tell you the number of publishers I eliminated from considering because they wanted a tale that featured only two main characters. I’m sorry, but life’s more complicated than one woman meeting one man and then indulging in 70,000 words of emotional taffy-pulling between sex scenes. My protagonist re-enters the dating scene after a life-altering tragedy; meeting up with Mr. Perfect right out of the gate just wasn’t realistic.

3. I’d like to see both editors and readers move beyond seeking their own innate desires in the erotica they read. Explore erotica from different perspectives – women of color, dominant women, submissive men, dominant men, GLBT, polyamorists – and from any number of sexual practices – tantra, heavy BDSM, spanking, domestic discipline. I know a growing number of e-book publishers do welcome of any number of sexual avenues in the fiction they accept, but I’m not seeing it nearly as often among print publishers. And I’m not convinced that readers are willing to step beyond the bottom-y female protagonist in their reading selections. (I have not given up hope either.)

4. I’ve long known that you can’t please all of the people all of the time when it comes to erotica, especially when your reader seeks wish fulfillment. Nowhere is that more apparent than when you try to entertain the severe fetishist. For example, I could easily compose perfectly competent foot fetish tale but I’ll never write the perfect tale. Why? Because it’s far too easy to destroy the illusion. I’d only have to select the wrong kind of shoe, the wrong color, the wrong size. Or I could make her feet too big, too small. Her toes too long, too short. I could color her nails or leave them bare. It wouldn’t matter. If my details don’t match a reader’s fetish to the tee, if I stray from his fantasy, I’ve wrecked it for him. Women, I suspect, aren’t much different. We simply let our desires revolve around six-pack abs, six-figure salaries, and sixtieth-story penthouses.

As I write this, much of my time is dedicated to a final hard edit of an erotic fantasy that placed third in the 2006 Project Queer Lit contest. Earning a place in that contest told me that the work had merit, that it was worth seeing through – despite the fact that I doubt its post-queer, omni-sexual, polyamor-ist, many-charactered platform would have many takers in the print world. Nor do I think my next contemporary novel (just a few thousand words shy of completion) would easily find a print home. Why? Because it explores the personal growth of a married couple at a BDSM weekend when they’re confronted with potential disaster. Despite plenty of kinky content, it might be a touch too cerebral, a touch too married, and a touch too Canterbury Tales.

But I’m not giving up. Writing gives me entry in worlds extreme and exciting, and e-book publishing gives those worlds home. I can hardly wait to sink my teeth into that erotic fantasy I’ve been dreaming about, the one where the sadomasochism of Story of O collides with the expansiveness of George R. R. Martin’s Fire and Ice series, where sacred whores can save the world. I can hardly wait to see it take shape as a multi-part, serial, constrained only by two requirements: solid writing and a positive ending.

I might still be writing far too outside of the lines for print publishers, but I’m having a hell of time doing it. My zeal has never been more hopeful, more enthusiastic. I’m loving every minute of it. I can only hope that readers will follow.

**Note: Romantica is trademarked by Ellora’s Cave. If you’re reading an EC publication, you’re reading Romantica. If you’re reading anything by another publisher, it’s erotica romantic. Just trying to prevent a trademark trip-up here.