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--- Writing Porn For Fun and Profit! ---
The Bi-Weekly E-Letter
Volume III, Issue 11
April 14, 2003

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In This Issue:
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From the Editor
Article:Confess Your Way to Sex Writing Success!
           By S.A. Watkins
Market Listings
Kevin's Book Review Corner
            Goodbye, Susan By Saxis
Goings On
Q & A - Should You Get An Agent?
Looking for Writers

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From The Editor
Katy Terrega
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Happy Tax Eve to all you stateside readers!

I got mine done late this year, about a half an hour ago to be exact, but hey, it could be worse. I could be one of those poor souls that will be waiting in line in their car at the main Post Office at midnight tomorrow night. Hope none of you will be there and that some or all of you are getting a nice refund :)

(For what it's worth, I've had great luck with H & R Block's online filing the last couple of years. The first year it was insanely slow but it's much better this year. I double checked by doing paper forms this year, just to check and see how it compared, and H&R's figures came out much more in my favor than my own did. Plus they're fairly cheap, only $20 ($30 for both state and federal.) And no, I'm not getting paid to say this!)

After our big blizzard, we're definitely enjoying spring here in Colorado. Everything's green and/or starting to bloom. Unfortunately my entire family - except for me that is - is dealing with more-severe-than-average allergies this year. Poor guys, even with their prescription allergy meds, they're suffering something fierce!

We've got a really good issue for you today. Kevin Tipple's got a book review for us and S.A. Watkins will tell you how to "Confess Your Way to Sex Writing Success!" In addition, we've got some great Goings On, three different erotica-writing contests in Market Listings and I answer a question about agents in Q and A.

Remember, I'm always looking for articles to run; I'm paying a whopping $5 for them and I don't mind reprints. On a similar note, if you enjoy this newsletter, please consider donating to the cause so we can continue to pay the big money(!) You can order a voluntary subscription for a year for only $5 right here - http://www.katyterrega.com/writersorderform.html

Hope you enjoy the newsletter and please keep in touch!

Katy

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--- Confess Your Way to Sex Writing Success! ---
--- By S.A. Watkins ---
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The first-person erotic story can, when done well, take the reader by the hand and lead her into realms of delight beyond her imaginings. These stories are personal, conversational in tone and pull the reader into the heart of the action. One of the best markets for the budding sex writer is one of the oldest: confessions. Confession magazines focus on passionate women in desperate, sometimes treacherous situations. And as we all know, passion, desperation and treachery can all lead to sex in one way or another--at least in fiction!

While confession stories are pretty short (usually between 2,500-4,000 words) most require an outpouring of passion immediately. You can choose to open your story with a sex scene or do a slow build-up towards the first passionate embrace. And while the sex scenes aren't as steamy as those found in erotic stories, learning to write for this market can teach you five things about writing successful sex scenes:

1. Why are the participants having sex?

Now, this question is moot is you're writing a straight-up sex story where mechanics are more important than believability. But if your story is more character and plot driven, there are (or should be) reasons as to why sex is taking place.

Is your main character timid in this area, but set free after meeting the man/woman/horse who unleashes her passion? Or is she a sexual tigress who stalks her prey, bringing her partners to their knees?

In my experience, even when writing the most elementary love scenes, fleshing out the protagonist's mindset is important for the story to have maximum impact. While it's not necessary to go overboard--for instance, readers don't need to know that your protagonist won the state spelling bee when she was eleven, unless it's important to your story--readers do need reasons to care about and empathize with your main character--even before the sex heats up.

2. What are the participants thinking/feeling during sex?

This questions picks up right where the first left off: when you know why you're characters are having sex, it's easier to gauge their feelings about the process.

Is it good sex? If so, why? Does the main character feel conflicted, ashamed, violated in any way? What could be the causes for these feelings? What role does the partner play? Is he or she dominant or passive, giving or selfish?

3. How do the participants feel after having sex?

Do you see a theme? After the main character has sex, she must then experience it. After the sex act itself, ask yourself: How does she feel? More importantly: How does the reader feel?

If the protagonist feels she made mistake, is it clear why? Have you fleshed out the main character enough for the reader to understand her misgivings? Or maybe she's elated with what she's done and wants to sing the praises of her partner. Does the reader know why?

4. What are the repercussions of the sex act?

Repercussions aren't always negative. But we all know that every action begets a reaction. So ask yourself: Did having sex progress the relationship? Taint it? Cause anxiety? Open the lines of communication? Did the participants feel freer with each other? More closed? Embarrassed?

Think of the myriad ways you've felt after sexual experience and write about it, no matter how personal or alien it might seem. Readers of erotic fiction are in it for excitement, sure, but don't underestimate their craving for reality!

5. Will the participants "participate" again? Once you've decided why your characters are having sex, what they're feeling during the activity, how they feel afterward and highlight the repercussions, then you have to decide if and how sex will take place again.

If all went well during first contact, getting your characters back into bed (or in the barn or in the bathroom) should be simple. But what if ambivalence or guilt stands in their way?

This is where you might decide to go into more romantic areas than erotic. Old standbys like candy, flowers and poetry are time-tested ways of getting your protagonist ready for round two of steamy sex. A brief introspective interlude where your protagonist questions herself, then opens her heart is also a satisfactory way to heat the sheets up again.

Whether you write erotic shorts, category romances or confessions, keep in mind that your readers want real stories to light up their libidos and touch their hearts. Have your main character whisper into your readers' ears, confess tantalizing secrets and build passion to dizzying heights.

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A writer and new age enthusiast, S.A. Watkins has published dozens of confessions in magazines like JIVE, BLACK CONFESSIONS, and BLACK ROMANCE. Her published works to date encompass a mix of romance, new age and science fiction. She currently resides in Brooklyn, NY.

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--- Market Listings ---
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Nerve.com's Bad Erotica Contest
http://www.nerve.com/baderotica/

THE WHY:
Back in the paleolithic era of Nerve.com (that'd be the late nineties), we were frequently accused of literary snobbery. This was due in no small part to our rejection of the "erotica" genre — we expected the writing on Nerve to avoid the formulaic narrative arch of so much short erotic fiction. If our stories titillated you, that was merely a pleasant side effect of new and unexpected storytelling.

But if you spend enough time rejecting anything, you start to get attached. As editors here, we've read our share of bad erotica submissions. And like eighties hair bands and Kevin Bacon movies, sometimes they're so bad they're good . . . so wrong they're right.

This week, spring officially hit NYC: the air is warming up, our hormones are stirring, and we're craving some serious cheese. The hot throbbing logs, the dripping love juice, the deep penetrating thrusts of clenched buttocks . . . we need a hit! We want you to be bad to us, and we want you to be very, very wrong.

THE WHAT:
There are two categories in this contest:

1. D.I.Y. Bad Erotica: Put your feather quill to rose-scented parchment (in 600 words or less) and submit your own entries to diyerotica@nerve.com. If you plagiarize, you will incur the wrath of the bad sex gods.

2. Found Erotica: This can come from any published material — a '70s romance novel, a best-selling memoir, a sex website (just not this one!), a personal blog, an obscure medieval manual on asceticism, an Independent Counsel Report. Type it up carefully and send it to founderotica@nerve.com, making sure to list the source (author, title, publisher, publication date, etc.). Just make sure the excerpt is less than 300 words, as that's the legal limit for quoting copyrighted material.

THE HOW:
Email all entries to the appropriate address — founderotica@nerve.com and/or diyerotica@nerve.com — by midnight (E.S.T.) on Wednesday, April 30. Feel free to submit multiple entries.

THE BOOTY:
We will announce the top five winners in each category on Nerve's homepage and publish all ten entries in the magazine sometime in May. As if it could get any better than that, there are prizes. DIY Erotica winners will receive a free one-year Nerve Premium membership (or a one-year Premium membership extension), twenty-five Nerve Personals credits and an advance copy of our new book The Big Bang: Nerve's Guide to the New Sexual Universe, which is due for release this June. PLUS - One Grand Prize Winner will receive $500! Found Erotica winners will receive a free one-year Nerve Premium membership (or a one-year Premium extension) and an advance copy of The Big Bang.

YOU MIGHT BE WONDERING: What is "Bad Erotica?"
It's redundant — ba dum ching! But seriously, folks, if we're going by the dictionary definition, then plain old erotica is literature intended to arouse sexual desire. Note the word intended. Hence, bad erotica intends to turn you on, but is more likely to make you laugh or squirm with second-hand embarrassment. Or even better, it turns you on and makes you laugh and squirm with secondhand embarrassment. It's flowery, it's turgid (the prose as well as the throbbing logs, that is), it's descriptive, it's purple, it's X-rated. If Fabio were a literary genre, he'd be bad erotica.

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BUST/Good Vibes One-Handed Read Contest
http://www.bust.com/news.shtml

Do you write dirty prose that glows?

Think you can rev up our randy readers? Then enter the erotic story cunt-est sponsored by BUST and Good Vibrations! The first 50 entries get a Good Vibes tee, and the most panty-drenching writer gets published in BUST, plus a goodie basket from BUST and Good Vibrations! To enter, send in your sordid story to us at:

Good Vibrations/BUST Magazine
Reader Write-in Contest
P.O. Box 1016
Cooper Station
New York, NY 10276

Winner will be announced in the Fall, 2003 issue of BUST Magazine! No purchase is necessary to enter. Stories with toys encouraged but not required to win. Entries must be postmarked by July 1, 2003. One entry per person, please. Employees of BUST Magazine and Good Vibrations are not eligible to win. Entries, including winners’ names may be published by BUST and Good Vibrations. All persons who enter agree to receive subsequent information from BUST Mag and/or Good Vibrations. Must be 21 or older to enter. Good luck!

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Free Sex Story Erotic Story Contest
http://free-sex-story.org/contest.asp

'Erotic Story Contest' From Free Sex Story: Your seductive, online, literary climax!

A. We are looking for:
Free Sex Story is looking for erotic and sex stories that are clever, funny, intelligent, and of course sexy. We love stories that show great attention to detail and have characters that you care about. If you need to get more of an idea of the style of erotic writing we are looking for please visit our homepage.

We generally publish fiction from 500-1200 words, which is considered a fairly short story, but we will review longer stories as well.

You may publish under a pen name but be sure to let us know if you would prefer that we use your real name for publishing your story on our website.

B. Prizes: $200.00 Grand Prize, $100.00 for second place, and $75.00 for third place.

C. Time Frame: This contest will run for 2 months. (May 31st deadline)

D. Standard Story Guidelines:
No rape (after-the-fact 'consent' is not acceptable)
No underage characters (no one under 18)
No necrophilia, or snuff
No bestiality
No incest

E. How to Submit:
1. Send one story at a time, in the plain text of an email to contest@free-sex-story.org. For email submissions the subject line should read Contest Submission. (This is required to be considered as a valid contest entry).

2. You can also submit your story using our form (www.free-sex-story.org/submitform.asp). *IMPORTANT NOTE When using the form you will need to enter 'Contest' for the Promo field, otherwise we will not know if you are submitting your story into the contest and you will only receive a $5.00 payment if we publish your story.

There is no limit to the number of story entries you submit. Even if your story is not selected as one of the top three in the contest, you will be paid $10.00 per published story just for being a contest participant.

We receive numerous stories each month. Please be sure to follow our guidelines to assure you get careful consideration. You should receive a reply within two weeks. If you have not heard back from us within that time, please contact us at contest@free-sex-story.org.

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Has this newsletter helped you get your work published or
motivated you to finally put pen to paper?

If so, please consider making a
voluntary subscription payment of $5 per year
to help defray the many costs inherent in running a webzine, such as
advertising, payments to contributors and prizes for the contests.

Order your voluntary subscription Here
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--- Kevin's Book Review Corner ---
--- By Kevin Tipple ---
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Goodbye, Susan By Saxis
2002 - Pink Flamingo Publications - www.pinkflamingo.com

"Susan had showered and dressed in light cotton shorts and a white t-shirt. Her hair was still damp, and she had decided not to put on any make-up (even the best of it could run and get icky during prolonged sex, which she definitely was planning on this night). Now she sat at one end of the sofa, her eyes darting from one face to another, feeling possessive and horny and excited. Only Shawn knew why they all were there. Mark had told the others that he had something interesting to show them, but not what it was. They didn’t know they were there to gang-fuck the cute blonde woman who was almost smirking at them from the end of the sofa . . . but she did, and the knowledge was driving her wild. How would Mark tell them? Would he just say, “Susan’s a slut, and we’re going to fuck her till she screams?” Or would he have more class than that? Susan found that she didn’t really care, as long as she got to see the look of joy and lust and hunger on their faces."

The above quote comes from deep in the middle of this exceptional erotic novel. The main storyline revolves around Susan who sets out to play a seduction game of high stakes office politics. But her plan backfires on her in several ways, one of which is referenced by the quote above.

Susan misses her past in which she engaged in group sex and self-medication. Her current sexual relationship with fellow VP of JoJo Cosmetics is all right and enjoyable, but not what she really wants from a lover. He thinks that he is fine as a lover and has no idea of her secret desires and needs. He also thinks that she will docilely marry him and help him run the company, but she does not see herself as second fiddle to anyone, in or out of the bedroom. As VP and Regional Sales Manger for the western half of the country she has her own corporate problems. Susan is based in the home offices located in Los Angeles, California and the company grapevine is telling her heads are about to roll. The company is having its first ever loss and the Board of Directors is forcing out the company founder Joanne Johnston. Company President Lois Maxwell is looking to save herself and shift the blame onto Susan’s shoulders. Susan is aware of her deceit and has a plan of her own.

The problem account that she has been setup to take the fall for is the NuMart Account. For years, it has been used to train new female sales reps for JoJo Cosmetics in what it takes to sell cosmetics and as such, the profits for the account are low. While the boss of NuMart and his wife are out of town for the next six months, Susan plans to take advantage of the situation. She plans on seducing the son by moving in as his roommate in answer to his ad. She arrives at his home and soon is successful as far as moving in goes.

Susan turned sideways to look in the mirror—and knew at once she was in deep trouble. She actually looked good in the black lacy bra and matching crotchless panties Mark had asked her to buy. The problem was, she was supposed to be asking little favors of Mark, and he was supposed to be falling all over himself to please her.

But her plan of seduction has failed and he has plans of his own for her, which soon leads to the quote referenced at the beginning of this review. For Susan, her game of seduction backfires in several different ways and she learns that her actions had unintended consequences that touched other lives as well. The results of her actions fundamentally alter her life perceptions not only in regard to herself but in others as well.

While this is going on there are several other storylines also simultaneously working that I simply don’t have the space here to review. This novel features excellent writing with evolving and changing complicated characters. This is not the typical erotica book with cookie cutter sex scenes linked together. No, this is more like a mainstream work with the added enjoyable component of erotica. And for these characters, the erotica arises naturally and is not contrary to the character development or storyline.

This novel is a fine example of what those of us who are interested in writing should aspire to create. Even stripped of its erotic elements, this novel works on several different levels, which is the ultimate test for any writing. This is definitely one to add to your collection—whether you’re interested in being a writer or just want something great to read.

Rachel Kramer Bussel (www.rachelkramerbussel.com) has had her story "Two Guys, A Girl, and a Porno Movie" accepted for Best American Erotica 2004, edited by Susie Bright, to be published in February 2004. Another story, "Doing the Dishes," is slated to be published in Best Women's Erotica 2004, edited by Marcy Sheiner.

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Katy, I hate to grouse, but you never published my news about a short story sale! Here's the sordid details again: Alex S. Johnson wishes to share his joy at selling a thoroughly nasty tale of video voyeurism and punishment, "Live Transmission," to the slave anthology edited by N.T. Morley (author of The Parlor). Slave and its companion volume, master, will appear late in the year. Ok? I'm really proud of this one. Thanks! Alex

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D.L. Tash's trashy little story, Private Eyeful, has gone #1 at storiesonline.com! With a 9.7 rating, it is the highest rated story of the last 30 days! And Katy Terrega, whose web site, e-books and newsletter are DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE for Mr. Tash's rapid descent into the morass of pornographic writing must accept a substantial portion of the blame! Thank you, thank you!

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Congrats to all of you! Tell me what's going on. Have you made a sale? Do you have a piece being published? Let me know and I'll print it here for all to see! (It helps if you write it in the format above; makes it easier for me to just cut and paste.)

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If you sent me your Goings On but don't see it here, just let me know and I'll get it out.

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Check out my column at http://www.absolutewrite.com/ on - what else?! - writing porn. This week I wrote about the importance of keeping your stories realistic in "The Reality Factor." Check it out here - http://www.absolutewrite.com/specialty_writing/porn_101.htm

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Check out the new and improved, totally revamped story site at KatyTerrega.com and let me know what you think! Or there's always the (now free) Daily Jack-Off Stories to peruse...

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--- Q & A ---
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Katy- I write for a variety of publications-most of them decidedly mainstream. I enjoy writing my smutty stuff, and am thrilled when it sells, but I worry-will a sexy reputation make it impossible for me to sell to all the parenting/business/women's magazines that are my bread & butter? Was my mom right, all along? Will no decent editor have me if he finds out where I've been? Or, in more practical terms, should I leave the sexier stuff I write off of my standard resume, or can I mention "Also writes adult fiction under the pen name "...."? Thanks, Christine

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Send me your questions! I'll answer the most common ones here, and if I don't know the answer, I'll do my best to find a pro who does. (Of course, failing that, I'll ask y'all for help...)

Send Me Your Stories And Ideas!

I'm looking for essays/articles that will inspire and/or instruct other porn writers. Success stories, how to break into certain markets, unique views on the genre, etc. Around 800 words is good, although I'm flexible.

I'd love articles on specific markets. There are so many sub-genres of porn and it's hard to know the subtleties of each. If you've got a specialty, from BDSM to Watersports to Leg Sex to Amputeeism, feel free to share your knowledge.

You can either suggest a topic (query) or send something whole. I'll get back to you within a week as to whether or not I'll be able to use it.

Payment varies; From $5-$10 per article (depending on site income for the month) OR a copy of one of the books on the Order Form. I'll also include a lengthy bio and url if you'd like.