Queerotica

[ravenstar]

So I thought I'd give writing an eBook a go, some little novella with a gay story line. I downloaded a bunch of free eBooks on Kindle the other week and have been wading through them.

Frankly they're a load of dribble. If I can't do something better than that I'm handing in my writing license and taking up a career as garbage collector.

One thing I've noticed though is that about 90% of the stuff on Amazon is written by women. It's all gym-buffed hunks, just reeking in musky man scent with 20 foot long dicks, tight arses and ecstasy on their faces as they get ploughed for the first time.

Not to mention the violence and rape turning into "OMG I like so have been in love with you all my life and didn't know it until I beat you and forced you to have sex with me. Let's get married and raise 2.5 kittens together in a loft in a *insert gay ghetto here*

Has anyone got any recommendations of good gay story telling that's got an actual plot and doesn't make me roll my eyes as the virgin nerd ends up fucking the football jock in shower?

I'm not certain if this is the standard I should aim for to get sales or if it's a bunch of horny housewives idea of 50 shades of gay sex?

[Telstra]

So I thought I'd give writing an eBook a go, some little novella with a gay story line. I downloaded a bunch of free eBooks on Kindle the other week and have been wading through them.

Frankly they're a load of dribble. If I can't do something better than that I'm handing in my writing license and taking up a career as garbage collector.

One thing I've noticed though is that about 90% of the stuff on Amazon is written by women. It's all gym-buffed hunks, just reeking in musky man scent with 20 foot long dicks, tight arses and ecstasy on their faces as they get ploughed for the first time.

Not to mention the violence and rape turning into "OMG I like so have been in love with you all my life and didn't know it until I beat you and forced you to have sex with me. Let's get married and raise 2.5 kittens together in a loft in a *insert gay ghetto here*

Has anyone got any recommendations of good gay story telling that's got an actual plot and doesn't make me roll my eyes as the virgin nerd ends up fucking the football jock in shower?

I'm not certain if this is the standard I should aim for to get sales or if it's a bunch of horny housewives idea of 50 shades of gay sex?

nifty dot org ?
I think that is the site for gay stories.

[ravenstar]

I've never heard of that site Telly, I'll go check it out.

[gsdx]

^ Don't bother. It's full of the same old drivel you got from Amazon.

[ravenstar]

hmmmm there has to be some good stuff out there. I bought some novella's by a guy called Hayden Chance that had excellent reviews. I've not read them yet though. They're next week's commute reading material.

[gsdx]

Just curious. Why are you reading other stories? For ideas? For style?

[ravenstar]

I wanted to see what was selling, more along the lines of research then anything else. I have a story in mind and wanted to see where or how it would fit in with those already on the market. I think I'll just write it and let it go into the world, it's very different from the ones already out there, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

[loveguys72]

Best of luck!

[Swellegant]

The best online-publishing gay author I've encountered is Josh Lanyon. I've downloaded about a dozen of his books to my Kindle, and before that had bought several in print. He's fantastic, clever plotting and interesting characters and some pretty steamy sex scenes.

Another good way of finding stories is to read the reviews of a book you enjoyed, and see what other books that reviewer had rated well. There are also some online-novel websites outside of Amazon that can direct you to good ebooks, such as Smashwords.

My own ebook is listed on both those sites, and the reviews I got on Amazon really motivated me to write more, while the reviews on Smashwords tended to be just "yay, you" kinds of things.

[gsdx]

I think I'll just write it and let it go into the world

That's what I do. I write what I would like to read. As it turns out, it's what other people like to read as well.

[ravenstar]

Thanks swellegant, I'll look him up.

GSDX I think there's a lot to be said for just writing what you want to read. It comes across in the writing when authors write for their own entertainment first.

[Saybrooke]

The only story I've read was "puppy love". It had a good story, but it was pretty kinky. All about a dom/sub relationship

[GamerBear]

Thanks swellegant, I'll look him up.

GSDX I think there's a lot to be said for just writing what you want to read. It comes across in the writing when authors write for their own entertainment first.

I've been writing stories for like 8 years now I've done a great job with improving my writing through the years, but I think I posted one of my stories to that nifty.org website.

It is probably described as what gsdx considers drivel. I've written stories mainly for entertainment and enjoyment of people getting off to my stories. I'm not gonna make a living out of my stories because people don't really like the type of genre I write. It's fun being able to be creative and write my erotic fantasies onto word documents.

[floridaboy]

all books like that are like sitcom storylines

it all gets recycled and re-used, just change the names, places and some minor details and BAM new story

[teadrinker]

nifty.org is very hit-and-miss. Some stories (but not many) are very good and literate, others are absolute drivel, and some are beyond awful. There is a site called best-of-nifty which purports to link to nifty's best stories. Another site is literotica.com, in the gay male section. Again, some are very good; most aren't. You can try trawling through and find the ones which are labeled "Hot", or "Editor's choice". There are also stories at menonthenet sorted into categories; but I haven't explored this site much.

If you can write a story with decent grammar and spelling, and go easy on the exclamation marks, you'll already have a story far better that 99% of what's out there now.

-T.

[ravenstar]

Thanks guys. I'm not a big fan of the exclamation mark I must say. One or two around the place is fine, but too many make me think I'm going mad with excitement !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've been thinking more on this during the week and I've decided to start small, and write a short story. If I like it I might post it in the stories forum here to get some feedback. I was thinking the other day about writing a collection of short stories with a common theme or character. As a friend of mine said the other day I sound like I'm trying to launch a "gays and boon" publishing empire

I don't know that my grammar is better or worse than most people out there. Over the years I've gotten lazy, and left the grammar to Word, which is proving to be more than a bit erratic.

I was wondering though - and hoping someone here can tell me - what is the success rate for Bear focused queerotica? I can't seem to find any on Amazon, it's all twinkies discovering themselves for the first time. Maybe I'm just not looking in the right place. One of my ideas - not the one I'm going to be working on first - is about a couple of bears and a guest star in their relationship - if you get my meaning.

Frankly I think I'll stick to writing fairly vanilla stuff to get started. As I build an audience I might explore darker theme's but for the most part I get off on affection and love - even in a 1 night stand - so I think I'll start by writing what I like, so to speak. At least writing the style of stories I want to read. From there we'll see how I go.

[GamerBear]

I was wondering though - and hoping someone here can tell me - what is the success rate for Bear focused queerotica? I can't seem to find any on Amazon, it's all twinkies discovering themselves for the first time. Maybe I'm just not looking in the right place. One of my ideas - not the one I'm going to be working on first - is about a couple of bears and a guest star in their relationship - if you get my meaning.

Frankly I think I'll stick to writing fairly vanilla stuff to get started. As I build an audience I might explore darker theme's but for the most part I get off on affection and love - even in a 1 night stand - so I think I'll start by writing what I like, so to speak. At least writing the style of stories I want to read. From there we'll see how I go.

I write a few bear stories. They are probably not as popular but I assume that there are people out there who don't care just as long as it gets them off. I also write older and younger and most of my characters are a bit on the bear side. If you want some examples I can try to pull some stories from my collection but some of them suffer cause they were written when i was just starting out.

[ravenstar]

I'm always happy to have a read GamerBear. Given that most of my experiences have been with younger guys I'd probably be likely to write something similar to what you said above. I guess time and my muse will show whether that turns out to be true or not

[GamerBear]

The more you practice the better it gets, I'm amazed at how my writing has improved but they sure as hell take a while to finish. Here is a story.

http://brandonsgaystories.blogspot.c...n-in-suit.html

http://brandonsgaystories.blogspot.c...ne-at-bar.html

[ravenstar]

Cheers GamerBear, I'll have a read. I've noticed practice makes perfect is a pretty good mantra over the years. I had the opportunity to read my first novel attempt the other day and I nearly cringed

[mikey3000]

There is a book called The Mammoth Book of New Gay Erotica. Actually I think there are a few editions. The stories are by up and comming erotica writers and I've been very happy with them. Most stories were rather out of the ordinary, and that's what I liked.

I'm impressed with the number of writers on here. You can add one more. I've had a few stories published when I was much younger, but have let my writing slide over the years. I'm currently trying very hard to get motivated again to finish at least on of the few books that I have started. None are erotica though. I don't think I have the experience for that.

[stacy]

I am coming out of hiding for a moment - we've talked a lot about this via PM, Ravenstar, but Mikey3000's post struck me to respond here too.

I have several stories in the Gay Stories section here on JUB and just published one of them to Amazon as an eBook. I write for myself, I write what I like, and I put it out there for others to read in the hopes that I'm not SUCH an oddball that they might like what I like too. Writing takes a little bit of ego. You have to believe what you're writing and the story you're telling is one others want to hear. If you can't do that it will be harder to write to be published. But don't write for that reason either. Write because you have to tell the story. Everything else just comes through naturally after that.

I am responding about this here because I have been told my stories have resonance and I am both a straight female and a virgin. I have no idea what any form of sexual contact feels like, but especially in the area of gay sex, obviously. But I have an imagination. And I've watched enough gay porn, straight porn and romance movies to know what I like, hate, what I'd like to see or read more of and what I can do without. So just because you think you don't have enough experience or don't have the experience you're choosing to write about doesn't mean you can't write it. Writing is about imagination and fictionalizing.

Unless you are under contract with someone to write something specifically for them or for their audience, write what you like. Just start putting words to paper, or screen, however you work, and keep going. Reading other people's work is always good because it helps keep your mind thinking, working, but it's not necessary to do heaps of "research" on a topic unless you're writing historical nonfiction erotica Nobody steal that idea. It's mine. Mine!!!

Anyway writing is cathartic, frustrating, rewarding and odd all in one. Writing good gay erotica is not easy - there are still too many "mainstream" people who want to pretend that gay is not normal. So gay erotica becomes incestial, rape fetishy and damaged straight guys finding love together farce. There is good gay erotic fiction out there, I've written some of it, and I can say that because I am an egotistical writer who believes everyone wants to read what I've written. (Not really, but I'm trying to get out of my creative funk so, I'm pretending).

[ravenstar]

Dammit Stacy, I was just about to write a historical nonfiction erotica too. Now you've gone and trademarked it

I agree with you, too much "research" only serves to undermine your own writing belief. That's one of the reasons this thread was initially created. I stopped trusting in what I wanted to write, because I saw it as "different" from what was already in the market. Because what I was looking for couldn't really be found, I began to second guess myself.

I have to say the feedback in this thread - and in our PM's - have done more for my confidence than I had imagined. Instead of worrying about my style being different, I'm embracing it, and having a go.

Who knows, one of us in this thread may one day win the Pulitzer Prize for Gay Erotica. If that's not a category I think it should be.

And Mikey, if you enjoy writing, then the only advice I can give you is to just do it. I wasted so many years not doing the one thing I love above all else because everyone I knew kept telling me being a writer couldn't happen for me until I was a grown up. It took me to reach 38 (nearly 39) for me to realise that regardless of experience it was time to put finger to keyboard.

I write to entertain - whether I do or not I have no idea. I don't write to cure societies ills. My biggest goal is to create a summer blockbuster. You know, the Sidney Sheldon, Jackie Collins type of thing you buy in an airport newsagency and read while you're sipping Pina Colada's on the beach of some tropical get away. One day I may even do it.

I have to say to everyone who has posted in this thread, I'm really grateful for your thoughts on this topic. If I was condense it down into something short and sharp it would be "write, have fun with it, write what you like, let your imagination run free and just do it."

[G-Lexington]

I've written some stuff online - just freebie stuff, and 98% of it non-erotic. (The other 2% I at least attempted to be erotic. ) And yeah, there's a lot of dross out there. One of my pet theories is that many of these "authors" don't want to write - they want to "have-written". They just want to say "I wrote a story/novel" and so push towards that goal. Once they finish, they don't care about making it right or good or better - they post it online, "R&R!", and start the next one. They don't seem to care if anyone likes it (although they seem especially susceptible to any criticism).

My stuff tends towards conversation and character interaction. My favorite negative review of something I wrote said something like "He may be a warrior, but I had long given up hope that this guy would ever draw his sword." It's a bit of an acquired taste. Not as popular as some, but those who like it tend to really like it. My few attempts at sexual writing stuck with that thme, and thus didn't really work too well as erotica. One was about a guy's first time having sex with a more experienced woman (yes, I wrote straight sex!), and his embarrassment of not being as experienced as her, and not knowing if he was "doing it right". So it wasn't really "fap material" - it was standard human interaction with sexual content.

One of the few gay erotic books I really liked was a collection of gay erotic fairy ales. Authors took standard fairy tales and tweaked them (sometimes really heavily) into erotica. The results ranged from extremely well-written to majorly hot to dafuq i just read. But really worth tracking down. "Happily Ever After" by Mitch Cullin (ed).

Lex

[ravenstar]

Thanks Lex, I'll have a look for Happily Ever After on Amazon. The only fairy tale adaptations I've read were Zombie stories lol. Zombie Cinderella was a mean bitch

[EJMichaels]

A post worth reading. The parody at the beginning is awesome.


Is male/male romance fundamentally about men?

[ravenstar]

So I recently downloaded for free from Amazon an anthology a friend of mine had been published in. Let's just say I found the anthology to be tedious and painful for the most part; unrelenting depression seemed to be the overall effect they were going for but it gave me an idea. See, the anthology was created through a weekly writing group my friend is a member of and I thought "Why not create a writers group here for Queerotica.

I gave it a little thought and I came up with a range of things we could do; post pictures for story prompts, help each other out when we get stuck, give critic's of each others work. If we decided to self publish the groups member would be able to help promote each other through their social media connections etc. I also thought the group may even be able to publish to an annual themed anthology free on Amazon as well.

I'm tempted to start a group here on JUB - not that I know how to even find the existing groups here - if there was some interest.

What do you think? Good idea, bad idea?

[G-Lexington]

I might be up for giving it a try. That said, I'm not interested in promoting it through Facebook or Twitter, as most of my followers there presumably wouldn't be interested in anything erotic I had written.

Lex

[ravenstar]

It's all just ideas G-Lex, I doubt anyone will do all of them. It's just thoughts, but you'd be more than welcome.

[Anders123]

I would certainly be interested in participating, but writing erotic fiction is not my forte, and I'd probably be more inclined to help others than to put forth my own stories.

Still, I think it's a good idea. Put me down as 'interested'.

[EJMichaels]

Great idea! I've acquired some experience with publishing and promotion that could be helpful.

One problem - a while back, some of us wanted to post picture prompts and one of the mods said we couldn't because the unknown subjects of the pics might not want stories told about them. Other sites do photo prompts, but here, I suppose we need to be more cautious.

[ravenstar]

That seems really strange EJ. I'm sure half the boys whose photos have been ripped of various Tumblr accounts wouldn't be overly pleased their photos are plastered all over the Kink or Hot Gay Porn forums, but that doesn't seem to stop people from doing it, or the mods from making comments in those threads either.

Possible the group may make it easier to do something like that. Besides, the prompts don't need to be overtly sexual or anything like that. Hmmm I'll have to think about that.

I think I'll start the group anyway, and see what happens.

[EJMichaels]

Shouldn't be difficult to be inspired by a picture without implying the subjects are actually connected to the story. Perhaps a simple disclaimer would cover it.

[ravenstar]

I agree. It's not like we'd know anything about the people. Besides, not all picture prompts need to be some random toothy model with his cock hanging out lol.