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AbigailThornton
Over 90 days ago
Straight Female
0 miles · Manchester
Forum
Orgasm Aficionado
Quote by nicola
For a long time, we published eBooks on Amazon, but they had a policy change 5 or so years ago (from memory!) saying they were no longer publishing what they considered, "Pornography".
I noticed earlier today though that 2 of our eBooks (we used to repackage our best stories, competition entries or individual longer stories) are still published on Amazon - so they aren't deemed outright pornography in Amazon's eyes:
https://www.amazon.com/Lush-Erotica-Stories-Authors-ebook/dp/B00838YM8C/ref=pd_sbs_4[…]1f4-bc7c-b419f178a05f&pd_rd_wg=M2j7M&pd_rd_i=B00838YM8C&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/VIP-Sex-Stories-Lush-Authors-ebook/dp/B0096IQEZM/ref=sr_1_1?k[…]+erotica&qid=1637068249&rnid=2941120011&s=digital-text&sr=1-1
In theory then, if sex scenes are part of an overall story, then they should be fine. Their content guidelines say as much: https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G200672390 (cough, 50 Shades of Grey).
Here's a recent article on the subject too, which shows many are clearly getting published: https://redlightnetwork.net/sell-erotica-on-kindle/
I am thinking of publishing again on there. The best of the latest competition entries would be a good test for example (price = free), as they are longer and have more of a plot than your typical interweb "sex story".
Does anyone here have experience of publishing on Amazon (via KDP) over the last year or so? What did you publish? What is accepted as "ok" with them?
Amazon's interpretation of 'pornography' is very much visual representations of sex. My first cover for a recent release, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09JPBFHX1, accidentally featured the crinkles of a woman's arsehole. That caused all sorts of ruckus and earned me a ban from pre-releasing ebooks for a year. D'oh!
The big Zon have been quite happy to publish all of the filth which has fallen out from between my ears onto the page though, which is nice of them as it makes room for me to think about other things.
All the WFH stuff proved to be a good time to be an erotic writer on Amazon - I had more time to write and people seemed to have a lot more time to read, judging by the numbers.
Orgasm Aficionado
Thanks for taking the time to provide such insightful feedback on my 'Oh Daddy!' covers.
This series originally comprised only the first four titles - Mummy Swap Out / Dearest Daughters / Bath Night / Bear With Me - and came about because I bought a 'job lot' of stock photographs when I was creating ebook covers for my Lush competition stories as a push to try and improve my graphic design skills. I needed a dozen pics, but it was cheaper to buy 70, which was bizarre.
So I had a folder with 60 photos and no stories attached to them.
Stylistically, these four photos stood together and it was the feeling of 'intrusion' for what became 'Mummy Swap Out' which planted the seed about who the girl on the cover was and her relationship with whoever was looking at her. The series expanded because of lockdown when I was working from home. I basically kept going back to the pool of covers and created more ebooks from them.
You're spot on to say that the subtitles are overpowered by the images - I know it goes against cover convention, but the strength here is in the pictures. They popped off the page when I bought them and I think they do the same as covers. If anything, the titles detract from the artistic merits of the photos. This is designed to work as a series, so in effect, the subtitles are irrelevant, used only to distinguish one book from another within the 'Oh Daddy!' story arena. I colour-coded the 'Oh Daddy!' title itself to indicate when a story had got out of control and expanded into more than I had set out to write - although they need a re-write to get on Amazon as they are 'actual blood' incest. Oops!!
The positioning of the obscured title on 'His Lost Laptop' is a deliberate ploy to force the observer to look up the woman's skirt, which is a key scene in the story. All these stories are tightly keyed into the covers, which has made the writing a lot of fun :-)
Again, thank you for your feedback. It shows that I have at least in part achieved what I set out to achieve!
This series originally comprised only the first four titles - Mummy Swap Out / Dearest Daughters / Bath Night / Bear With Me - and came about because I bought a 'job lot' of stock photographs when I was creating ebook covers for my Lush competition stories as a push to try and improve my graphic design skills. I needed a dozen pics, but it was cheaper to buy 70, which was bizarre.
So I had a folder with 60 photos and no stories attached to them.
Stylistically, these four photos stood together and it was the feeling of 'intrusion' for what became 'Mummy Swap Out' which planted the seed about who the girl on the cover was and her relationship with whoever was looking at her. The series expanded because of lockdown when I was working from home. I basically kept going back to the pool of covers and created more ebooks from them.
You're spot on to say that the subtitles are overpowered by the images - I know it goes against cover convention, but the strength here is in the pictures. They popped off the page when I bought them and I think they do the same as covers. If anything, the titles detract from the artistic merits of the photos. This is designed to work as a series, so in effect, the subtitles are irrelevant, used only to distinguish one book from another within the 'Oh Daddy!' story arena. I colour-coded the 'Oh Daddy!' title itself to indicate when a story had got out of control and expanded into more than I had set out to write - although they need a re-write to get on Amazon as they are 'actual blood' incest. Oops!!
The positioning of the obscured title on 'His Lost Laptop' is a deliberate ploy to force the observer to look up the woman's skirt, which is a key scene in the story. All these stories are tightly keyed into the covers, which has made the writing a lot of fun :-)
Again, thank you for your feedback. It shows that I have at least in part achieved what I set out to achieve!
Quote by RejectReality
You might consider some outer glow on your title/subtitles when they're positioned in a "busier" area of your image. They're getting lost in the image. This one in particular really obscures most of the title. The pink on "Oh Daddy" isn't quite bold enough to stand out from the background and her hair without some additional pop. "His Lost" really gets lost in the background with the multicolor bands behind it. "Laptop" is bright enough to pop over the change in light to dark between her legs and the shadow on her thigh, but it would need a glow if you used it on the rest of the title.
A slightly bolder pink could pop "Oh Daddy" but I don't see any way ( with this font ) to make "His Lost" truly visible without some outer glow.
Your byline pops well with the white and bevel, despite the light background. It's a bolder font, which makes that easier. It really pops in the darker areas of most of your covers where the white is a bright contrast.
One thing I often do is to convert the final image to grayscale, and see what it looks like.
The image is the first eye-catcher, but you want that title to pop as well — especially when you're hitting a popular keyword.
Thumbnails are another way to check them, and in the two for your Amazon releases, the subtitles are severely overpowered by the images. The red is again especially difficult to read.
Sitting here in preview, I'm staring at my ad for "Her Cut to the Chase" and smacking myself for not making that pop more against that Astroturf background. LOL "Morning Jo" could honestly have used a slightly lighter shade to make that title pop as well. It's doubly important there, because unlike your Amazon listings, the title isn't available in text next to it. The image is all there is to go from. I'll probably edit Chase, but Jo is so close to hitting 30k that I think I'll let it go.
Your composition is spot on. The image choices are either very evocative of the titles, or very provocative in and of themselves. I like the font choices as well. The finer ones just need a little extra pop to prevent the image from overpowering them.
Orgasm Aficionado
For those who prefer Amazon, the Oh Daddy! series are making the transition, although I'll have to re-write a few of the *very* naughty bits in some of the titles ;-)
Orgasm Aficionado
And to complete the series with more hot, incestuous sex...
It's been a lot of fun, but now it's done :-)
It's been a lot of fun, but now it's done :-)
Orgasm Aficionado
Quote by KimmiBeGood
Thank you so much for responding. Actually, I had been helping him get his first story published. He had reached out to me for help as his story was rejected. He was barely old enough to be here. And he was so upset by what I wrote he said Lush wasn't for him and he left. That's what really upset me. He was gone before I could respond. His view of me completely changed overnight due to one hardcore story.
I very much appreciate everyone's comments
His view of you didn't change because of the contents of the story. He blamed you for the hurt he felt because of the rejection of his story and weaponised a review as revenge. The guy's a troll.
My favourite trolling on Lush was one who took time to get me into a chat window, asked which of my stories I would recommend and then told me, 'It was shit'. I asked which story he had read, to which he replied 'All of them. They're all shit."
I said he must be a pretty quick reader, given how many stories I've published on Lush. I asked him which aspects 'were shit', which he wasn't expecting. When he realised that I wasn't biting, he wanted to know why I hadn't closed the chat window and accused me of being a professional author masquerading as an amateur. "That's an interesting theory. You think I'm a professional author deliberately writing shit stories. To what end? Are you accusing me of troll baiting?"
We had a chat about why he was doing what he was doing, and basically it was because he was bored. Trolling is easy and gives a little thrill if you've got a certain type of mindset.
The lesson is to not take comments like these to heart, because they aren't real; they're word weapons... and the thing about word weapons is this: if you don't listen, they don't work.
Orgasm Aficionado
Quote by Wilful
Option C: write what I want when I want and make a shitload of cash. Hey, if we're going to fantasise, let's do it properly!
Gun to my head, I'd go with B. The freedom and creativity is much more appealing. The whole convention thing would be a bit of fun too.
I had a very brief taste of churning out the smut under a false name for a publisher and it kind of sucked the fun out of it. Here's the story outline, now write! Put more emotion in it! Certainly a valuable experience, and probably something I could get used to. Hell, on the road to Option C, I'll probably even grovel back there to see if I can get a few more credits on my query letter to try and land an agent. But long term? No...t at this stage.
Morgan Hawke's got a good thread on what it's like in the publishing house engine room. Make no mistake, it's a job.
Option C sounds wonderful :-)
I'm lucky enough to have done options A & B at various points and they all have their merits.
Orgasm Aficionado
The 'Brother Sucker' series is back! This was the first series I started on Lush way back in 2012. It was wiped at some point, but it's come back stronger now in the form of a series of ebooks, the first two parts of which are available now. I'm just polishing of the rest of what will be a five-part series. It's filthy. It's fun, and there's a few good twists.
Orgasm Aficionado
Quote by Master_Jonathan
I just reached 1,000 followers! I want to thank all of you who have followed my stories and invite those who don't to check them out. I write in most of the categories here and have 626 stories out there now to peruse with more coming each week! So drop on by or drop back by if you've been there before!
Jonathan
1000 followers? You need to get those restraining orders checked ;-)
1000 followers? I hope they're all socially distanced ;-)
OK, I'll shut up. Seriously, congratulations. Well deserved
Orgasm Aficionado
Congratulations!! Surely your poor little pencil must be getting a bit worn down by now ;-)
Orgasm Aficionado
Here's another couple of naughty daddy/daughter tales...
Orgasm Aficionado
Quote by naughtyannie
It's taken me nearly ten years to get here, so keep up the good work!x
You're getting close now, Annie... where have I heard you say that ;-)
Orgasm Aficionado
Dear Lushies,
I just wanted to share my latest trilogy of naughtiness with you all. No hole is safe when there are wandering, well-lubricated hands around! If fisting is your thing, you'll love this series :-)
I just wanted to share my latest trilogy of naughtiness with you all. No hole is safe when there are wandering, well-lubricated hands around! If fisting is your thing, you'll love this series :-)
Orgasm Aficionado
Quote by elliotlacey31
A naked violent Rachel is the best motivation ever ?????
Agreed. Naked Rachel has motivated me to do all sorts of things that I might not have otherwise done. Now, on a completely unrelated topic, has anyone seen the keys for these handcuffs?
Orgasm Aficionado
Quote by naughtyannie
Carly above is well snoggable! ???
So am I ;-)
Orgasm Aficionado
If beautiful, swashbuckling babes and alien battlecruisers are your thing, you’ll enjoy this sexy sci-fi romp which is filled with humour, kidnappings, alien sex, interspecies pregnancies and an AI with a murderous agenda.
Orgasm Aficionado
Quote by clum
Many will know how excited I was about the new Strap-On Sex category. Not something I’ve ever personally tried, just a big fan.
I’ve been beavering away on a story to show my enthusiasm, and it was posted this morning.
Blue, For Boys
This is the story of a straight married couple, Jessica and Matthew, who are madly in love and sex-crazed for each other all the time. They decide to explore new things together, and they do not regret it.
This is the first story in the category to receive a Recommended Read, for which I will be eternally grateful.
At nearly 9000 words, it’s a long one, but I promise it’s packed with “action” from beginning to end. I hope many of you will give it a read and let me know what you think.
Thanks for posting this here. I've just read and enjoyed this story. Anyone who likes the 'softer' side of pegging will enjoy this :-)
Orgasm Aficionado
I love doing a thorough bit of research, even for inconsequential points within a story. When I was writing the 'Wet Dates' series of eBooks earlier this year, I researched planning laws and licensing for strip clubs and Googled the types of questions that you might ask when interviewing a stripper. It took me a couple of days mulling over what the club should be called, and I gave up coming up with something unique as all the names I could think of were real clubs somewhere around the world. Goodness knows what Google and the Feds thought I was up to.
*Laughs* For 'Seeing Red', having settled on a Mercedes S 600 Pullman Guard for an armoured limousine, I then Googled how best to go about killing someone inside it.
*Laughs* For 'Seeing Red', having settled on a Mercedes S 600 Pullman Guard for an armoured limousine, I then Googled how best to go about killing someone inside it.
Orgasm Aficionado
What happens at a party if the guests start peeing in places where they aren't supposed to? Forget peeing in the bath or in the sink; forget peeing on the patio or behind the shed, these guests prefer peeing on the landing carpet... or even better on the bedroom carpet or on each other.
This series was inspired by an infamous housewarming party where the toilet blocked up, leading to the entire neighbourhood seeing things that they really shouldn't have done.
This series was inspired by an infamous housewarming party where the toilet blocked up, leading to the entire neighbourhood seeing things that they really shouldn't have done.