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Publishers find erotica is good for business
Long an underground phenomenon, major houses, large retailers adding it
NEW YORK - For years, Tina Engler was just another frustrated erotica writer, shunned by publishers and literary agents who told her that women would not buy her stories of female sexual desire.
Engler, however, wasn't convinced. She figured that if she liked sensual reads, there had to be other women who did as well.
So the single mother of two daughters started to write erotica novels. She managed to write six under three different pen names — Jaid Black being her best known — while still going to college and in 2000, she started the Web site Ellora's Cave, which sold her books and those of other authors on demand and eventually in e-book form.
Until recently Engler never advertised her site, but readers found her and her publishing business grew. By 2004, she had about $1 million in sales. Now, the Borders Group and Barnes & Noble distribute her books.
"Erotica legitimizes the female sexual experience," Engler says. "Women read these books and it makes them feel normal about their own fantasies."
Much of the genre's popularity is rooted in the fact that the books are often written by women with female heroes, therefore making it easy for women to relate to them.
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Nevertheless, it's hard to ignore sales figures like Engler's and the emerging popularity of other publishers, such as Red Sage Publishers, which also started as an online business. Mainstream publishers have taken notice. In June, Avon Books will begin a line called Avon Red, catering to the steamier side of romance. Harlequin Books also plans a line called Harlequin Spice, debuting in May.
The stories are hot, and the difference between erotica and pornography is a fine one, says May Chen, an editor at Avon Red. Chen says that the most important difference is that there's a definite plot and story line in erotica. It's not just episodic sex.
"Erotica writers can tell a story," Chen says. "There is a definite hero or heroine. You might have a few sex scenes in there, but it's not gratuitous."
Lynn LaFleur's story, "Victim of Deception," in Avon's anthology, "If This Bed Could Talk," takes place in a haunted Victorian house in Texas. The house is inherited by a woman named Karessa, who senses the presence of spirits once she moves in. The spirits are ghosts of murder victims, who were killed in one of the bedrooms. At the same time, Karessa's ex-boyfriend turns up as one of the workmen hired to renovate the house. The tension between the former lovers is palpable, but also complex.
"Unrequited" by Kimberly Dean is a sexy tale about a recently divorced woman named Trista who deals with the complicated emotions that arise after she becomes involved with her ex-husband's brother, Ty. The love scenes between Trista and Ty are explicit, offering play-by-play details.
Editors at Avon noticed that sales of erotica from smaller presses were growing, Chen says. Avon editors then looked around the Internet and tried to find writers who were putting out good stories and then approached them with offers to write for Avon.
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