Apparently there’s a large global market for erotica. Who knew?!? As Business Insider reports, the recent Frankfurt Book Fair was awash with titles such as The Perfect Submissive and Dark Desires, showing that consumers the world over still have a major appetite for erotic books, particularly in ebook format.
It has often been argued that ebook readers provide cover for readers’ erotic ebooks. After all, you can read hardcore porn on the bus, but no-one can see the cover of your ebook. Added to that is the ongoing success of titles such as Fifty Shades of Grey and Bared to You, which have encouraged traditional bricks-and-mortar bookstores to overcome their timidity and stack BDSM books to the rafters.
There seem to be two different types of customers for these ebooks. First, there are those who have always consumed erotica but who used to be more discreet. Second, there are those who never thought to dip a toe into these murky waters until the opportunity was rammed down their throat. But with customers spending huge sums of erotica in 2012, this looks set to be a continuing trend over the next year.
I have one word: Duh.
Those of us making a living writing romance/erotica for indie publishers (or self-pubbing it) have known this for years. I always shake my head at these narrow-minded people who are *gasp* shocked to find out erotica and romance still continues to be one of the most lucrative markets for writers.
Posted by Tymber Dalton | October 16, 2012, 4:26 pmHeh, the opportunity was “rammed down their throat”? Odd choice of words.
But yeah, this has been well-known for years among writers and readers. It’s only because it’s gone mainstream recently that people are really discussing it in the media as being some wild and extreme phenomenon.
Posted by Karen Mercury | October 16, 2012, 7:00 pm