A Second Imprint?

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Thought I would ask for some advice....

An author has approached me to publish her stories via Kindle.

While the stories ARE TG based, they are much more "hardcore sex books" then I have ever been involved in before.

I was wondering if I should start a different imprint for those ebooks, as to not really have "Sapphire's Place' attached to them.

What do you think?

Thanks for any advice.

Sapphire

Comments

I would say yes....

D. Eden's picture

I would keep them separate so as to not have Sapphire's Place get the reputation as a porn site. I already find that I have difficulty accessing it and BCTS from some internet connections. Case in point, I can not access BCTS via the Internet connection on an airliner as it is a blocked site due to content.

That is annoying in the extreme.

Dallas

D. Eden

Dum Vivimus, Vivamus

It's probably...

erica jane's picture

A good idea to keep hardcore fiction separate from what you've been publishing so far.

~And so it goes...

always

For myself, I use a different author name and style for each genre. "Anesidora" is used for light TG while others
are used for my works in History, Electronics, and general fiction.

Anesidora

Please

Do everything you can to keep your name separate from porn, hard, soft, or otherwise. It helps potential readers that want to avoid the stuff, and for those who want erotica it's also easier for them.

I used to read a lot of mainstream science fiction, but as the Isaac Asimov generation gave way to younger authors, I found that the bookstores had combined sci-fi with fantasy, and I wasn't into reading about dragons and sorcerers. These days, when I can actually find a bookstore, I just avoid that area altogether.

Hugs
Carla Ann

Dont Empty the Bath Without Checking for Absence of Baby in it !

Dear Carla Ann,

it is up to you of course, but by avoiding the WHOLE SciFi scene in order to avoid the Fantasy stuff, you are almost definitely missing some good Hard-Science Fiction. There are such items being written and published still. One can tell by reading the dust covers usually what is inside the book. There are also many reasonably reliable reviews written.

In general I agree that it is desirable to keep hard porn out of proper TG fiction, and Sapphires is a sign of well-written, genuine TG fiction, as is BCTS. We should leave it to "that other place" to offer the hard stuff, which probably many people do feel the need of from time to time, otherwise it would not exist or be so popular ! One can always switch off and change to another tale when one finds something not to one's liking or mood. It can only upset one of one allows it to.

Briar

On the Other Hand

Is the author expecting your imprint will help her sales?

If you can convince the author that XXX will boost her sales you can give adequate warning to your clients.

XXX does very well on Fictionmania.

JIll

Angela Rasch (Jill M I)

There is another option

I am surprised you haven't thought of another option and that is to turn the author down. There are a lot of things I could write that I choose not to and there are a lot of things that I have written that I won't publish at all, not even posting it on Big Closet or Fictionmania where it would probably wildly accepted. There comes a time when you have to decide how you are going to present yourself and what you're going to attach your name to.

I have to do this with some of the things I publish. OEM is a good recent example. I had to decide whether or not to attach my name to it and decided that if I wasn't willing to let people know it came from me, then there was a major problem with publishing it at all. I understand what people are saying about it being different genres and I agree to keep things like historical fiction and scifi romances separate, but this doesn't sound like its the case.

If you want, you can help the person with formatting and such and let them do their own publishing. I would publish romances with erotic scenes, but I do have certain lines I won't cross and you have to decide for yourself what are yours.

Katie Leone (Katie-Leone.com)

Writing is what you do when you put pen to paper, being an author is what you do when you bring words to life

Do both

This is one occasion when you can have your cake and eat it, the caveat being that you have to be careful about it.

The way to do it is to have separate personas who handle the differing genres. There are any number of famous authors who write in genres different than those they are famous for, they simply use a different pen name - and possibly even use different agents and publishers. Very often it is many years before someone finally connects the dots.

Penny

Let her do it herself

It's not like publishing on Kindle is all that hard. Funny thing about our fiction, it's so easy to go to the dark side. When I first started writing stories, I wrote like everyone else, change of sex and in inevitable jump in bed with a man, or woman. I noticed my stories went from X to G over time. Its not that I'm a prude, far from it, but I use sex only where it helps a story, such as "Really" which starts out in bed, but is important for the story. A kiss is as hot as it gets in most of the stories I've written as of late. Anyway back to your question, no don't associate your name with XXX unles you wrote it. Smut is easily transfered to an innocent party and is a bitch to get rid of. Just wondering, why doesn't your friend want to publish her own works? Why woiuld you have to get involved? Just some thoughts, Arecee

Probably not worth it but for a different reason

That genre is a crowded field as it is too easy to write really and the odds of it being a long term success is imho poor at best. I agree that another imprint is warranted if you want to dip your toes into it but prepare for the piranha that tries to bite it.

A Sort of Related Question

Are there any plans for bringing Sapphire's Place live again? and... Do authors receive part of the profit if their stories are included?

Inquiring Minds Want to Know...

Thanks,
Beth

Someone mentiontioned Fictionmania as example

BarbieLee's picture

I quit Fictionmania and pulled ALL my stories as I could no longer support them. The majority of their stories have become porn with a TG flavor. The difference in the quality of authors between Fictionmania and BC is kind of like the difference between spoiled tweens and mature adults.

I have watched different blogs and sites go static or off line over the years. If what you have is working I strongly suggest one give it some serious thought and a ton of prayer before making a radical change from entertainment to porn.

All of us worth our salt who have been writing for years have probably written some ten X rated porn which would melt the web if released into the wild. However an adventure into such is also enough to make most of us cringe and lock it away if not destroying it after we finished.

On the other hand porn is a very financially rewarding industry for a lot of people. I for one hope I never feed it. Each to his or her own.

Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl

Ambiguity is rarely a good idea in publishing...

Puddintane's picture

...witness the fact that serious writers typically write under pseudonyms when they want to try a new genre.

When J.K. Rowling wanted to write a mainstream mystery novel, she chose Robert Galbraith as a suitable "cover."

When Agatha Christie, the famous author of mysteries, wanted to pen a romance or two, she chose to go by "Mary Westmacott."

Consider too that most publishers have many "imprints," such as Mills & Boon (Harlequin), who offer:

Blaze: Very sexual novels featuring couples in contemporary romantic relationships.

By Request: Reissues of novels from the Modern or Romance series.

Cherish: Warm and emotional novels that focus on capturing the feeling of falling in love.

Desire: Sexual novels featuring couples in a contemporary setting with dramatic plots.

Historical: Romance mixed with historical fiction. (e.g. Romance in 1920s New York or 17th century England.) Formerly called Masquerade Historical Romance, Legacy of Love and Historical Romance.'

Intrigue: Romance mixed with the Suspense or Thriller genre.

Modern: Novels focus on glamorous and 'sophisticated' passionate romance in international locations. Featuring intense relationships, often very sexual, often reflecting shared feelings and desires.

Medical Romance: Contemporary romances set against the background of the medical profession.

Nocturne: Paranormal romance imprint, mixing romance with genres such as horror, science fiction and fantasy.

Modern Tempted: Novels aimed at younger readers. Launched in 2013 to replace Riva which itself replaced Modern Heat.

Special Releases: Includes seasonal collections and reissue anthologies.

Spice: Erotic fiction imprint, featuring casual sex and bondage. The most explicit imprint published by Mills & Boon.

Vintage: Backlist titles from the Modern. Desire and Historical imprints published in e-book format.

American Romance: themed around classically American heroes such as cowboys. e-book only.

Historical Undone: shorter length historical editorial of greater sensuality in general than the Historical series. e-book only.

Kimani: African-American romances. e-book only.

Love Inspired: Inspirational romance. e-book only.

Love Inspired Suspense: Inspirational romance containing themes of intrigue or Thriller titles. e-book only.

Love Inspired Historical: Inspirational romance containing historical themes and settings. e-book only.

Nocturne Cravings: shorter length titles dealing with darker and paranormal themes. e-book only.

-

Cheers,

Puddin'

A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style

Did you know that off the top of your head?

Just kidding. But did you know that Harlequin has digital lines, too? Strictly for online fiction?

There's one for Space Opera (I kid you not), one for Time Travel (!) and one for Time Travel Romance (!!!)

I don't know why a romance publisher would need two categories for Time Travel, but it shows that they
care enough to keep them separate.

Kaleigh

stories

I join a site call Stories on line I pay X amount of $$$$$ a year to read stories that are IN XXX format all I can say check it out