Writers making their salary writing porn

[RPGnet Columns]

Post originally by Teemu K. Lohenoja at 2001-05-10 05:03:34
Converted from Phorums BB System

The people demand names. :)

[RPGnet Columns]

Post originally by Sandy Antunes at 2001-05-10 10:38:10
Converted from Phorums BB System

Hi,

This is why pseudonyms were invented, alas. One downside of writing porn is that some people hold it against one's professional rep in other writing areas.

That's why romance book writers use pseudonyms, too-- so they can someday get their "real" novel published without stigma.

Sorry,
Sandy
sandy@rpg.net

[RPGnet Columns]

Post originally by Steve D at 2001-05-10 20:15:23
Converted from Phorums BB System


Let's face it, there are only two things which get regularly read - news, and porn. Ipso facto, they're the only two things people will regularly pay for. If a writer isn't making a living through journalism, he's most likely making one through porn. Or, he's not making a living as a writer at all.

It's simple mathematics.

Cheers,
Steve, off to write some more porn....

[RPGnet Columns]

Post originally by B. Miller at 2001-06-05 11:39:12
Converted from Phorums BB System

Least those of us with no other incomes than writing...

[RPGnet Columns]

Post originally by Steve Dempsey at 2001-06-05 15:19:07
Converted from Phorums BB System

How can you tell this is from a game writer?

<http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0352336005/o/qid%3D990573554/sr%3D2-2/202-1950500-4740657>

[RPGnet Columns]

Post originally by Fillerbunny at 2001-06-05 16:37:42
Converted from Phorums BB System

I couldn't stop laughing after reading the little summary of the book. I bet a D&D fan, or at least a CoC fan wrote that book. Now I want to read it!

Thanks for link to weird and strange porn,
Fb

[RPGnet Columns]

Post originally by Jo at 2001-06-06 00:43:15
Converted from Phorums BB System

And did he write his own reviews too?


jo

[RPGnet Columns]

Post originally by Max at 2001-06-06 10:28:30
Converted from Phorums BB System

Wrote "Sandman" comic series and co-authored "Good Omens" with Terry Pratchett.

He does say it out loud in his collection of short stories "Smoke And Mirrors".

[RPGnet Columns]

Post originally by J.S. at 2001-06-06 13:26:37
Converted from Phorums BB System

And that's why the person who came up with the idea for NakedNews deserves a religion.

-J.S.
Desperado in the Culture Wars,
Cosmic Bandito Emeritus

[RPGnet Columns]

Post originally by R.E. McCall at 2001-08-07 13:08:31
Converted from Phorums BB System

So THAT is what I should've been doing all this time...

Well, I better go start some smut then.

[RPGnet Columns]

Post originally by tom at 2001-09-05 16:58:07
Converted from Phorums BB System

Sorry, I don't buy it. I've been writing smut for a while now, edit my own online smutzine/community, and the pay is much much much lower than what I get from technical and business copy.

One technical article, 1000 words or so: $1500
One brochure, marketing fluff: $2000
One business article, journalism style, 500 words: $250
One smut story sent in to Cavalier: $150
One smut story sent in to a webzine: free to $10


editor@brilliantsmut.com
http:/www.brilliantsmut.com

[RPGnet Columns]

Post originally by Sandy Antunes at 2001-09-14 12:35:49
Converted from Phorums BB System

Hi,

Heh. For me it's the other way. Tech writing is around 5 cents a word. I can't imagine getting $1500 for a 1000-word document, unless it was a Gameboy manual or similar ($1.50 a word!). I barely get over $1500 for an entire book chapter. I must be writing for the wrong publishers.

At which $150 for a 1000-word smut bit ain't bad. 0.15 is a bit low, but I'm told the porn book trade pays a lot better than articles, which makes sense: books always pay more than articles. Articles never pay.

(And don't get me started about academic papers-- where one has to pay the publisher to get printed!)

Clearly, there's a lot of market variance. Perhaps I should get someone to write about tech writing at some point.

Cheers,
Sandy
sandy@rpg.net

[RPGnet Columns]

Post originally by caryn mallard at 2001-09-24 09:00:47
Converted from Phorums BB System

Sandy,

As far as technical writing goes, it appears that it pays far better than much of the writing discussed here. When last I was a tech writer, in 1996, one could get around $40/hr. through a job shop, or $50/hr. freelance (almost impossible, thanks to the IRS). Working two or three jobs at a time, one can make a fairly substantial income. Even working one job pays quite well.

The trouble with "real" writing---and I haven't read the post that started the whole "porn" discussion---is that the person doing all the work (the writer) receives the small portion of the proceeds, while the huge conglomerate that publishes it receives the majority of the revenue. This situation only changes when a writer becomes *very* well known.

This unfair distribution of monies is derived from the monopolistic control book publishers have over booksellers. Although they claim it is to defray risk, etc..., there is no way in which one might absorb the risks oneself, and still have the published book distributed (and thus, sold in bookstores). So, you are forced to take the deal or not be published.

Not avery happy state of affairs, I think. On the other hand, I wish someone who could write well *would* write some pornography; it might be more interesting and arousing than what exists now (of course, there's something to be said for learning all the disgusting names men have for women, their bodies, and their various body parts, no one of which may ever be used more than once per story, apparently).

caryn

[RPGnet Columns]

Post originally by caryn mallard at 2001-09-24 09:01:30
Converted from Phorums BB System

Sandy,

As far as technical writing goes, it appears that it pays far better than much of the writing discussed here. When last I was a tech writer, in 1996, one could get around $40/hr. through a job shop, or $50/hr. freelance (almost impossible, thanks to the IRS). Working two or three jobs at a time, one can make a fairly substantial income. Even working one job pays quite well.

The trouble with "real" writing---and I haven't read the post that started the whole "porn" discussion---is that the person doing all the work (the writer) receives the small portion of the proceeds, while the huge conglomerate that publishes it receives the majority of the revenue. This situation only changes when a writer becomes *very* well known.

This unfair distribution of monies is derived from the monopolistic control book publishers have over booksellers. Although they claim it is to defray risk, etc..., there is no way in which one might absorb the risks oneself, and still have the published book distributed (and thus, sold in bookstores). So, you are forced to take the deal or not be published.

Not avery happy state of affairs, I think. On the other hand, I wish someone who could write well *would* write some pornography; it might be more interesting and arousing than what exists now (of course, there's something to be said for learning all the disgusting names men have for women, their bodies, and their various body parts, no one of which may ever be used more than once per story, apparently).

caryn