As promised, I’ve brought Grace Bradley (an editor at Ellora’s Cave) back today to answer any questions you may have about the Ellora’s Cave Pitch Contest being held on the blog April 23rd. Please extend a warm welcome to Grace. She’s going to tell you a bit about herself and hopefully debunk some of the myths you may have about erotic romance. 🙂
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I’ve never met a sub-genre of erotic romance I didn’t like, so when I joined Ellora’s Cave as an editor last year I felt as though I’d hit the jackpot. I get to read what I love, every day, and work with talented authors who continue to impress me and their readers with imaginative, sensual stories. A short list of my authors includes Stephanie Julian, Tawny Taylor, Kim Knox, Marisa Chenery, Fran Lee and Nara Malone (who was discovered from a contest held by Passionate Ink).
One of the aspects I most enjoy about my job is discovering new talent. There is something magical about coming across that manuscript that makes you take a deep breath and say, “Wow.” It takes a while for the smile to fade from my face when this happens. I’ve recently added three new authors who I’m very excited about—Crystal Kauffman and Erica Anderson who both write historical, and Heather Howard who captured my attention with her intriguing paranormal (sexy ghost, anyone?).
From speaking with authors and the general population at large, I believe there is a lot of confusion about what an erotic romance or a women’s erotic fiction book is made of. From personal experience, I’ve been to more than one social event where someone has leaned in and said, “You do what?” And then, of course, there was the unfortunate incident when I was coming out of anesthesia after surgery and explained to the surgeon, who had snickered earlier when he asked me what I did for a living, that people who read erotic romance have a lot more sex than those that don’t and it would behoove him to buy a few for his wife. He told me at my post-op visit that he passed on the information to his wife, by the way. I’m pleased that Beverley has given me the opportunity today to answer your questions, as authors, about erotic romance and erotic fiction, and how your writing fits within the genre. Please feel free to ask me any questions that you may have. If you’re like many, I think you may find some of the answers surprising.
As far as what I’m looking to acquire, I like books with solid, interesting plots, engaging characters I can fall in love with, lots of sexual tension and, of course, really hot love scenes. I enjoy and review books in all the sub-genres we publish, but have a soft spot for contemporary, historical and paranormal (if you shift or drink blood, you’re a friend of mine). I also have experience in editing BDSM as well as gay/lesbian erotic romance.
Thank you, Beverley, for having me today.
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Thank you, Grace for dropping by today. If you have any questions for Grace, please feel free to ask!
Hi Grace!
Can you share with us your definition of an erotic love scene? What elevates love scene from hot to erotic? Is it the bolder word choices, or the bolder level of detail of description – even if more “flowery” words are used? Or is it merely the types of acts being depicted that make it “really hot”?
What about a word like ‘nub’ as a substitute? Would that be appropriate?
I’ve heard about some e-presses where authors make very little money. I’ve always had the feeling if I wrote for an epublisher I would make next to nothing and I don’t want to ‘give’ my work away. Can you give an average of what Ellora’s Cave authors make?
Hi Tatiana 🙂
This is an excellent question, and one that most authors considering writing erotic romance have likely asked themselves…”Is my writing hot enough?” Erotic love scenes, and the authors who write them, come in all different varieties, depending on the sub-genre of the book and the author’s personal style (more on that in a minute). We look for love scenes that are descriptive, utilizing all five of the senses. We want to know what the characters see, taste, feel, hear, smell. What does the hero’s skin feel like as it slides against the heroine’s? Does the scent of arousal permeate the air? What do the muscles in the hero’s shoulders feel like under the fingertips of the heroine as he thrusts deeply inside her? The reader should feel as though they are right there, experiencing what the characters are experiencing, seeing what they see, feeling what they feel. We want to get deeper into the love scene than what you might find in a more traditional romance. We also want to spend more time on the sex scenes. When written correctly, a wonderful sexual tension exists and the reader can’t wait to experience the culmination of that desire with the characters. A brief love scene (especially the first!) can be frustrating.
As for language, we shy away from “flowery” verbage. Readers do not want to see love tunnel, delicate flowers or anything along those lines 😉 Having said that, the type of language used varies from author to author. Some prefer more explicit terms, while others use what may be considered more “tame” words. Some examples: One author may use the word cunt, while another will use sheath or pussy (or many other variations…core, wetness, canal, etc.). And for the men? They have lots of choices as well: penis, cock, dick, hard-on, shaft, manhood…shall I continue…lol. As stated above, we are looking for engaging sex scenes. If these scenes are done correctly, the language used just performs a supporting role. Using bolder word choices alone does not make a love scene erotic.
Different types of acts also contribute to making a love scene erotic, but this depends on the sub-genre of the book. For example, if you are writing a BDSM story, clearly there will be acts portrayed in that book that you might not find in an historical. On the other hand, you may be writing a contemporary erotic romance that may contain some light bondage. I’ve found that many people assume that “kinkier” sex or crass language must be used in order for the book to be considered erotic. That is not the case. We have specific lines and icons to alert readers to not only the genre, but also content the book contains.
You didn’t ask this question, but I’ll go ahead and include the information. What we are not looking for in our books are sex scenes that are not an integral part of the story. What is not an erotic romance is a bunch of sex scenes strung together with a happily ever after thrown in at the end. We want solid plots with lots of sexual tension, hot love scenes that function to move the relationship between the h/h forward, and a moving, satisfying conclusion.
I hope this has answered your question 🙂 Thanks for stopping by.
Hi Beverley,
Thanks again for having me today. Yes, nub is appropriate (as a variation for clitoris), and I find it used across the board in all sub-genres (historical, contemporary, paranormal, etc.). 😉
Hi Love My Historicals,
Ah yes…the money question. While I am not at liberty to discuss numbers, I can tell you that what an author makes is influenced by different factors, including promotion, backlists and genre. We house some very well-known names in erotic romance at EC and some of our authors make very cushy livings. I invite you to visit our site http://www.ellorascave.com and check out the submissions section. There is an author information document you can download that will give you more information. Thanks for stopping by!
Grace,
Thank You for your advise today. Have you seen any “Steampunk” in erotic romances at EC? Do you have an opinion of the genre?
Hi JM,
I personally have not had any submissions in this particular genre, and my personal editing experience is more closely aligned with straight sci-fi. If you have a mansucript in this genre I’d love to see a query in the pitch contest 😉
Thanks for giving this opportunity to aspiring writers.