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Acolyte
Has anyone tried writing erotica in a fantasy setting? Is there a market for this?
I think it could be fun.
I think it could be fun.
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Erotica in fantasy stories
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Ophiucha
Dark Lord
There is fantasy erotica, although it is near invariably going to be placed in the 'erotica' section of a bookstore, and not the fantasy store. Just something to be aware of.
Mdnight Falling
Mystagogue
I've read ALOT of Fantasy "Romance" novels.. Most of them are actually very good.. When I remember the name of the last one I read.. it's actually a series but the name and author escape me for the moment x.x! I'll let you know the books are enthralling and would be good even without the romance in them LOL
Fate Valentine
Acolyte
There is definately a market for it, i've read some erotica books masquerading as fantasy, I don't know about every bookstore but my local Waterstones doesn't place these sort of books in the erotica section they go in the fantasy section, i guess it just depends on the bookstore lol
Ophiucha
Dark Lord
From my experience, it depends on where it lies. Is it a fantasy book with sex scenes, or an erotica with elves?
Fate Valentine
Acolyte
Theres both, i think and i know this isn't true for all book stores that the book only goes in the erotica section if it can't fit in another category, it's also where all the romance goes lol
Meg the Healer
Mystagogue
The last series I read that were a "fantasy" type novels were found in the romance section. I think the stories would be good without all the sex....but it was more a romance novel than a fantasy novel. It's the Dark Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon. The Dream hunters are okay, but the Dark Hunters is really where the overall story is. So I agree with Ophiucha....is it a fantasy novel with sex scenes or a sex novel with some fantasy.
If what you have in mind is specifically to write "erotica," I doubt you will find much of a market for this: the vast majority of people who normally buy erotica won't care about (or will actively dislike) the trappings of fantasy; the people who read fantasy are, for the most part, going to be astonishingly bored by erotica. There are a few small-circulation publications (most internet-only, these days) that cater to the subset of fantasy readers who do want to read erotica, but they do not constitute a market in the sense it's usually used—that is, don't expect to be paid for it.
"Fantasy romance" is another story… as the Twilight books demonstrate. These, however, are clearly not erotica. (And, conversely, they didn't achieve their popularity by selling to fantasy fans.…) Other romance books with quasi-fantastic settings may include a few detailed passages for the purpose of titillation, but will, I suspect (no, I don't know: I really don't read these) either avoid the explicit blow-by-blowjob accounts of unarmed copulation normally associated with erotica, or else will lack such staples of fantasy as magic… they'll be more in the "historical" vein. On the flip side, there are certainly fantasy stories that include graphic portrayal of sexual activity, but not as their raison d'étre; it is just one part of the tale. So at least part of the answer depends on what you have in mind when you say "erotica."
Yes, sex is one aspect of life, and there isn't necessarily a reason to avoid using it (unless the publication you're trying to sell to doesn't want to see it—and many don't)… but a little goes a long way. For the most part, I think the reaction you'll encounter from regular fantasy readers is the one Meg had, "the stories would be good without all the sex," or Falling's "would even be good without the romance." Remember: we aren't reading fantasy because we want to read about sex. (That's what pornography is for.
) Which, in most cases, means that detailed descriptions of sex—"erotica"—is, for the fantasy reader, wasted verbiage, taking up space and attention that could have been devoted to the stuff we are reading fantasy for: the fantastic.
"Fantasy romance" is another story… as the Twilight books demonstrate. These, however, are clearly not erotica. (And, conversely, they didn't achieve their popularity by selling to fantasy fans.…) Other romance books with quasi-fantastic settings may include a few detailed passages for the purpose of titillation, but will, I suspect (no, I don't know: I really don't read these) either avoid the explicit blow-by-blowjob accounts of unarmed copulation normally associated with erotica, or else will lack such staples of fantasy as magic… they'll be more in the "historical" vein. On the flip side, there are certainly fantasy stories that include graphic portrayal of sexual activity, but not as their raison d'étre; it is just one part of the tale. So at least part of the answer depends on what you have in mind when you say "erotica."
Yes, sex is one aspect of life, and there isn't necessarily a reason to avoid using it (unless the publication you're trying to sell to doesn't want to see it—and many don't)… but a little goes a long way. For the most part, I think the reaction you'll encounter from regular fantasy readers is the one Meg had, "the stories would be good without all the sex," or Falling's "would even be good without the romance." Remember: we aren't reading fantasy because we want to read about sex. (That's what pornography is for.
) Which, in most cases, means that detailed descriptions of sex—"erotica"—is, for the fantasy reader, wasted verbiage, taking up space and attention that could have been devoted to the stuff we are reading fantasy for: the fantastic.