Substack

[gordo12]

The divergence between two organizations and our need for payment. What got me started was an adult author announcing his story had been banned at Substack because it had sexual content.

Substack: We do allow depictions of nudity for artistic, journalistic, or related purposes, as well as erotic literature

Stripe: The restriction applies to any business that offers or sells pornography and other sexually explicit materials (including literature, imagery, and other media) designed for the purpose of sexual gratification. Stripe underpins Substack's payment system.

Somebody wrote here that it wasn't our problem if someone got turned on by our writing. Yeah, that's a ridiculous fine line and won't pass muster.

So, where can we build a business writing and selling and GETTING PAID for adult material?
PS Smashwords just announced it's instituting a $12 account fee. I refuse to pay it unless they get more aggressive about promoting books, rather than just passively waiting for someone to show up and buy them.

Thoughts?
Actual Solutions?

 

[BobbyBrandt]

The divergence between two organizations and our need for payment. What got me started was an adult author announcing his story had been banned at Substack because it had sexual content.

Substack: We do allow depictions of nudity for artistic, journalistic, or related purposes, as well as erotic literature

Stripe: The restriction applies to any business that offers or sells pornography and other sexually explicit materials (including literature, imagery, and other media) designed for the purpose of sexual gratification. Stripe underpins Substack's payment system.

Somebody wrote here that it wasn't our problem if someone got turned on by our writing. Yeah, that's a ridiculous fine line and won't pass muster.

So, where can we build a business writing and selling and GETTING PAID for adult material?
PS Smashwords just announced it's instituting a $12 account fee. I refuse to pay it unless they get more aggressive about promoting books, rather than just passively waiting for someone to show up and buy them.

Thoughts?
Actual Solutions?

Interesting timing. I just signed up for Substack, but for e-mailing and communications, not to use for sales of anything.

Just about anyplace that will allow you to sell your stories online is going to want a piece of the pie. From my experience, the smaller the piece they take, the more work it places on the author to promote their work there. One example is creating your own website. You can pocket a majority of any sales proceeds (depending on who processes your payments) but you have the overhead costs and maintenance burdens.

The issue isn't just with erotica, which presents challenges beyond the content. Sites like Smashwords and D2D are inundated with submissions that are becoming more and more AI-generated crap. The proposed fees are just as much intended as a deterrent to garbage submissions as they are to help cover the cost of hosting the stories.

Personally, I have my own website which links to Amazon for fulfillment, where I also have stories available. I also use D2D/Smashwords for a few stories and sell enough that the fees either get waived or don't present me with a problem if applied. I don't produce enough consistent content for a site like Patreon to be of interest.

There is no one-size-fits-all site out there. A lot depends on factors such as how long your stories are, the genre, and how much the writer is willing to put into the promotion and sales of their works.

 

[gordo12]

The own website with links to Amazon appears to be the only solution these days, although Amazon is not above acting like an entitled prick. Funny, for a company that got its start selling books online.

As far as Smash goes, perhaps a fee for submission to pay for inspecting the books would be a better solution rather than a monthly account fee that will kill a lot of small authors.

 

[HeyAll]

???

Substack has loads of erotica

Stripe doesn't ban either, they defer to platforms like Substack

 

[gordo12]

???

Substack has loads of erotica

Stripe doesn't ban either, they defer to platforms like Substack

It was an author here who wrote about the problem in a story he had. I wish I could remember which one, and I don't want to throw names out without tracking it down. Amazing how their so-called morals disappear when big money is involved.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

As far as Smash goes, perhaps a fee for submission to pay for inspecting the books would be a better solution rather than a monthly account fee that will kill a lot of small authors.

I'm sure that they considered that.

 

[gordo12]

I'm sure that they considered that.

Maybe, but I've watched a lot of industries in my lifetime where the small guys got erased by the bigger companies.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

a monthly account fee that will kill a lot of small authors.

12 bucks per month?? There goes my last hope of ever publishing anything ever. Not even for fun.

I officially quit erotica. I'm done.

 

[Rambling_Chantrix]

12 bucks per month?? There goes my last hope of ever publishing anything ever. Not even for fun.

I officially quit erotica. I'm done.

It is $12/year.
(Not to weigh in on whether or not it's fair etc. just, an order of magnitude difference in cost.)

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Those with their own website .... read the Terms and Conditions and User Agreements of your hosting account.


You may find that 'explicit' material is not permitted.

 

[gordo12]

Those with their own website .... read the Terms and Conditions and User Agreements of your hosting account.


You may find that 'explicit' material is not permitted.

Good point, although after 26 years with our host, I'm not sure they ever looked.

Still, it's an enormous amount of work, even with WP to build a good site. Not fun at all, but better than building them with a notepad, as I did before WP.