The difficulties of publishing unconventional erotica

They say that sex scenes are the hardest things to write well, so I decided, with my first novel, to start with that. Could I write a book based around (sometimes confronting) sex scenes that was also intelligent, humorous, and beautiful? I don't know if I have, but the result certainly does not fit neatly, I think, under the sole label of erotica, as it is designed to make the reader think, not just to titillate. The story is of a woman's journey to find a different way to live and to be, but I am also not sure it fits under the label of women's fiction. There is a love story within it, but I wouldn't put it under the romance label either. So where does it, in fact, belong? Perhaps under all three? Perhaps I need a new label. Perhaps it doesn't matter, except that it does to publishers and agents.

I came to the conclusion that I should just self-publish the book, which I named Erotiquette: A love story that swings. As the subtitle suggests, much of it is about a couple that swings or otherwise engages in non-conformist sexual adventures. The protagonists joke about requiring a guide to etiquette to navigate that journey, inspiring the first part of the title. I thought it a cute kind of word, bringing together erotica and etiquette, but am not sure if the meaning comes across easily to others. Perhaps it is too obscure.

I first e-published the book in 2020, but quicky unpublished it after selling only three copies. I panicked, mainly because I thought the book was not yet ready for the world, and would be benefit from the keen eye of a professional publisher or editor. I had also taken on a new role with a conservative organisation, and didn't want the risk of being found out, even if I did publish fiction under a pseudonym. And so the publication remained in the electronic equivalent of the bottom drawer for a several years.

In 2023, no longer in that job, I decided to have another go. I'll start detailing that journey in the next blog post.