Guest Speakers: Kenneth Broome Jr., Kelley M. Frank
Track Director: R. J. Joseph
Assistant Track Director: Rory Montgomery
How do you define erotica? Definitions change all the time. Romance would have been considered a comedy in the Shakespearean past, when genres were classified as comedies vs. tragedies (happy vs. sad.) And what of Romeo and Juliet? Does erotica just refer to sex in stories? Or is sex the driving point of the story? Is your audience reading it purely for humor or to get off?
In its time, Dracula was considered dark erotica. The penetration of teeth and blood exchange were symbolic in regards to intercourse. So why is erotica considered taboo within a college setting, when we study earlier versions of it as literature?
Facebook, Amazon, and the film industry filter or ban erotica-related content from being posted, reaching the theatre, or shove it under the radar from an algorithm perspective. “It’s fine when it’s trendy” or they can make money off of it – even in cases where it can be harmful.
So how do we get erotica out of the taboo realm, and turn it into something that can actually be studied from an academic sense? Is it just a matter of time? There was a film directing school which offered a pornography class, but it was dropped. Despite being fully booked out all the time, there was simply too much protesting and complaints from outside sources, due to its availability in the first place.
We know that sex sells – we see this from commercials all the time. The hot girl eating a hamburger like it’s blowing her mind, and having an orgasm in her mouth. The car wash stereotype is another example, along with many others. However, there is always a hyper-focus on specific genders, body types, etc. Anything outside of the norm is frowned upon.
There is a lot of academic curriculum that is cut, primarily because of finances. However, we must consider: are universities creating thinkers or cogs in a machine? Many people’s exposure to other ways of thinking are limited to high school literature, and that’s it.
If you’re looking to write erotica, where can you start?
- Reddit forums
- Frolicon (and other conventions that focus on erotica)
- Zines
- Radish (serial apps)
- Smashwords
- Wide for the Win
- Wattpad (OC – original characters, and fan fiction)
- Fanfiction.net
You’ll need to build an audience, and then most likely self-publish on Amazon. Make a newsletter – that way, if someone gets upset and tries to sue or cancel you, you’ll still retain your audience. It IS worth looking into getting a separate pen name, if you write in other unrelated genres. Ultimately, the best way to learn is to find other authors who write erotica, follow them, and do what they do.
What’s one of your favorite erotica novels or series? Are you inspired to write erotica? If so, what is it that draws you to the genre, and why? Does it reach beyond the mere combination of hormones and sexual gratification, speaking to something more?
If you’d like to see more panels like this and receive the FULL experience in person, check out Multiverse Con! Get your tickets here: https://www.multiversecon.org/ Hope to see you there! 🙂
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