Jordan Xavier's Blog
April 4, 2021
Small Gesture - Huge Impact
Erotic writers are not as talented as mainstream fiction writers, by and large. Writing an epic high fantasy like Song of Ice and Fire is obviously deserving of more rewards than a story about Lucy getting railed from behind over the kitchen counter.
But they do have a place.
Otherwise, you wouldn't be reading them. And since George R.R. Martin has no plans to write about the budding kitchen romance between Lucy and John, it is up to erotica writers to provide that for you. But if they get zero dollars for their work, how long can they keep providing it?
It's not on you to give erotic writers hundreds of dollars. But can you do one tiny thing? Click the 5-stars button. It takes almost no effort. Burns zero calories. But boy, does it go a long way. If five of you did it, then just like that there is interest from others in buying the story. Suddenly, the erotic author makes a couple of bucks. Most of the stories you find in the erotica genre will make the author fifty bucks. Maybe a hundred. The really popular authors will make several thousand dollars.
But how many talented erotica authors fall by the wayside because they didn't sell anything. The two dozen people who read their book - which may have been the best damn erotica piece ever written - didn't bother to rate it at all. And so, nobody else noticed it because it quickly became buried in erotica book purgatory amongst all the others. After a handful of books, the author gives up.
Click the 5-star button. It goes a long way and can be the equivalent of giving the author a few bucks without costing you another cent. And if you're really appreciative, then leave a nice comment. On the flip side, if the book wasn't to your tastes, don't kill it with a 1-star. Save that for the true trash - terrible grammar, weak story, horrible stuff. No, if you don't like the story give it a 3-star and write a review explaining way (so that future customers can decide for themselves if they agree with that reason).
This is the best way to keep stories that you enjoy continue getting published. Myself, early in my career I have had hundreds of sales... but only about two dozen ratings. Thankfully mostly 5-star (though one guy keeps giving me 1-star...the same guy...if he doesn't like it, why does he keep reading? But that's another blog for another day!). But my readership would quadruple if more of you would just click that rating button on Goodreads AND on Amazon or where you buy your e-books and paperbacks.
We thank you!
But they do have a place.
Otherwise, you wouldn't be reading them. And since George R.R. Martin has no plans to write about the budding kitchen romance between Lucy and John, it is up to erotica writers to provide that for you. But if they get zero dollars for their work, how long can they keep providing it?
It's not on you to give erotic writers hundreds of dollars. But can you do one tiny thing? Click the 5-stars button. It takes almost no effort. Burns zero calories. But boy, does it go a long way. If five of you did it, then just like that there is interest from others in buying the story. Suddenly, the erotic author makes a couple of bucks. Most of the stories you find in the erotica genre will make the author fifty bucks. Maybe a hundred. The really popular authors will make several thousand dollars.
But how many talented erotica authors fall by the wayside because they didn't sell anything. The two dozen people who read their book - which may have been the best damn erotica piece ever written - didn't bother to rate it at all. And so, nobody else noticed it because it quickly became buried in erotica book purgatory amongst all the others. After a handful of books, the author gives up.
Click the 5-star button. It goes a long way and can be the equivalent of giving the author a few bucks without costing you another cent. And if you're really appreciative, then leave a nice comment. On the flip side, if the book wasn't to your tastes, don't kill it with a 1-star. Save that for the true trash - terrible grammar, weak story, horrible stuff. No, if you don't like the story give it a 3-star and write a review explaining way (so that future customers can decide for themselves if they agree with that reason).
This is the best way to keep stories that you enjoy continue getting published. Myself, early in my career I have had hundreds of sales... but only about two dozen ratings. Thankfully mostly 5-star (though one guy keeps giving me 1-star...the same guy...if he doesn't like it, why does he keep reading? But that's another blog for another day!). But my readership would quadruple if more of you would just click that rating button on Goodreads AND on Amazon or where you buy your e-books and paperbacks.
We thank you!
March 9, 2021
Consequences
I've seen comments on my work in various outlets implying that they would prefer consequences for the woman's actions. She cheated, so there needs to be consequences.
Why?
I have no idea the specific statistics out there for cheating on a marriage. Is it 50%? 60%? 70%? I have no idea. I 'believe' it's over 50%, but that's just a guess because the divorce rate is around 40% and many of those are due to catching a cheater.
For the sake of argument, let's just say the number is 60%. How many of those do it more than once? Most? Once you have an affair, it's easier to have another one. Right? And how many of those get caught? Well... the last one, usually. But most never get caught. That's why they do it again. It's human nature.
So if most affairs (and by 'most' I am saying 51% of affairs or more) never get caught, why does every single erotic novella need to end in "consequences"?
I write in realism. I come up with an erotic situation and I write the characters into that situation. Sometimes I hit roadblocks. Such as - how do these two characters end up alone? How would this loyal, deeply-moral woman get tempted? And I have a talent for making it work.
I'm not going to end my story with an action scene. Really? You want the husband or boyfriend to find out? And...what - punch the other man? Dump the star character and throw her stuff out on the lawn?
It's an erotic story. When the erotica ends, I wrap things up pretty quickly. I don't thing anyone is going to get off reading an additional five or six pages about "consequences". You can imagine that stuff happening after the story ends. Behind the scenes. If that's what you want. I'll leave that part to your imagination.
Why?
I have no idea the specific statistics out there for cheating on a marriage. Is it 50%? 60%? 70%? I have no idea. I 'believe' it's over 50%, but that's just a guess because the divorce rate is around 40% and many of those are due to catching a cheater.
For the sake of argument, let's just say the number is 60%. How many of those do it more than once? Most? Once you have an affair, it's easier to have another one. Right? And how many of those get caught? Well... the last one, usually. But most never get caught. That's why they do it again. It's human nature.
So if most affairs (and by 'most' I am saying 51% of affairs or more) never get caught, why does every single erotic novella need to end in "consequences"?
I write in realism. I come up with an erotic situation and I write the characters into that situation. Sometimes I hit roadblocks. Such as - how do these two characters end up alone? How would this loyal, deeply-moral woman get tempted? And I have a talent for making it work.
I'm not going to end my story with an action scene. Really? You want the husband or boyfriend to find out? And...what - punch the other man? Dump the star character and throw her stuff out on the lawn?
It's an erotic story. When the erotica ends, I wrap things up pretty quickly. I don't thing anyone is going to get off reading an additional five or six pages about "consequences". You can imagine that stuff happening after the story ends. Behind the scenes. If that's what you want. I'll leave that part to your imagination.
February 14, 2021
Weird Stigma (18+)
As with all of my writing, the following is NSFW and 18+
50 Shades of Grey. I never read it. I learned long ago that most erotica writing falls short of my needs. That only my own work will stimulate me. Everything I do is based in some way on actual people I know. Usually my spouse or (now ex) girlfriends. And they need to be in realistic scenarios. I need to buy into the story, or I'll overthink it and thus lose interest.
I never watched the 50 Shades movie either. But I needed to know what all the fuss was about at the very least. So one day I played it on Netflix and fast-forwarded to the 'scenes' and sped through each of those. So it seems to be S&M and/or Domination of some kind. This is what becomes vastly popular in the world of erotica? Pleasure from pain? Submitting to dominance? Tying someone down and simulating helplessness?
Okay. I won't judge. It's not for me, but people can enjoy whatever they want.
So why is my work judged? My writing is beloved by many, but it is also reviled by some. And why? Because it's about committing adultery. It's about betraying a loved one. Somehow, in the eyes of some, cheating on your spouse is worse than tying someone up and whipping them.
That's the part I don't understand. Why myself and others can accept that many people are turned on by bondage or S&M, but some can't be accepting of other turn-ons such as infidelity. Why is that? I have some theories. Most people, at one time or another, were hurt badly by someone who cheated on them. A boyfriend or girlfriend, husband or wife in their past. And so they are understandably more insecure about it in future relationships. To them, it is the ultimate in pain. More so than with bondage and whips (!).
I, too, was burned. Twice. Each time was immediately after a breakup, and not during. But the hurt was almost as powerful. However, I began to fantasize about what they were doing and I realized it was becoming a turn-on. After the second one happened, it pretty much became my only fantasy. And I would apply to all future relationships. I didn't want them to cheat. I didn't want to cheat (and didn't). But imagining them cheating with someone else, and imagining myself as that 'other person', was incredibly stimulating. Even picturing my significant other's thoughts and desires as they wrestled with the temptation of cheating excited me.
My stories aren't encouraging anyone to commit adultery. My stories are a way of fantasizing about it, without ever doing it. And no, it isn't a 'gateway story' that would lead your husband or wife to go out and cheat after they read enough of them. I've been doing this for twenty-five years and it hasn't gotten me to cheat yet.
So relax. Be more accepting. Give one- or two-star ratings if you feel the writing is weak. But let's not give such ratings because we are intolerant of the genre.
If you agree, let the world know! If you disagree - then let us know why.
JX
50 Shades of Grey. I never read it. I learned long ago that most erotica writing falls short of my needs. That only my own work will stimulate me. Everything I do is based in some way on actual people I know. Usually my spouse or (now ex) girlfriends. And they need to be in realistic scenarios. I need to buy into the story, or I'll overthink it and thus lose interest.
I never watched the 50 Shades movie either. But I needed to know what all the fuss was about at the very least. So one day I played it on Netflix and fast-forwarded to the 'scenes' and sped through each of those. So it seems to be S&M and/or Domination of some kind. This is what becomes vastly popular in the world of erotica? Pleasure from pain? Submitting to dominance? Tying someone down and simulating helplessness?
Okay. I won't judge. It's not for me, but people can enjoy whatever they want.
So why is my work judged? My writing is beloved by many, but it is also reviled by some. And why? Because it's about committing adultery. It's about betraying a loved one. Somehow, in the eyes of some, cheating on your spouse is worse than tying someone up and whipping them.
That's the part I don't understand. Why myself and others can accept that many people are turned on by bondage or S&M, but some can't be accepting of other turn-ons such as infidelity. Why is that? I have some theories. Most people, at one time or another, were hurt badly by someone who cheated on them. A boyfriend or girlfriend, husband or wife in their past. And so they are understandably more insecure about it in future relationships. To them, it is the ultimate in pain. More so than with bondage and whips (!).
I, too, was burned. Twice. Each time was immediately after a breakup, and not during. But the hurt was almost as powerful. However, I began to fantasize about what they were doing and I realized it was becoming a turn-on. After the second one happened, it pretty much became my only fantasy. And I would apply to all future relationships. I didn't want them to cheat. I didn't want to cheat (and didn't). But imagining them cheating with someone else, and imagining myself as that 'other person', was incredibly stimulating. Even picturing my significant other's thoughts and desires as they wrestled with the temptation of cheating excited me.
My stories aren't encouraging anyone to commit adultery. My stories are a way of fantasizing about it, without ever doing it. And no, it isn't a 'gateway story' that would lead your husband or wife to go out and cheat after they read enough of them. I've been doing this for twenty-five years and it hasn't gotten me to cheat yet.
So relax. Be more accepting. Give one- or two-star ratings if you feel the writing is weak. But let's not give such ratings because we are intolerant of the genre.
If you agree, let the world know! If you disagree - then let us know why.
JX
