#151 — DEAD OR ALIVE | May More Mentions #2

Ignite Your Desires on Medium Day

Just because a story is erotic does NOT mean it can’t be of a high quality…

Let’s talk about erotica… First we need to drag it out of the Medium basement. Or should we say dungeon? Then I will move on to the publication I want to mention today.

First, let’s talk about me!

When I first came to medium, I would say 40% of my writing was classed as erotic. However, as time has gone on I have explored so many other areas, from transgressive fiction to personal opinion posts. Memoirs too. This has altered my smut output dramatically — in the last four months, my erotic work counts for only 5% of my output.

There are two main reasons for this.

First, my erotic stories were often very plot based with only a small amount of sex anyhow — I was always heading for story telling rather than a quick sexy fix. Often I would add a little satire and humour. And to be honest, I literally found it hard work penning a completely kinky tale. It is not easy being an erotic writer. You can’t fake it with AI!

Second, Medium like to put erotica on the naughty step. I found on occasions I could earn far more for a fiction piece or a memoir, which didn’t need an erotic tag.

Some writers separate their erotic stories from vanilla posts by having more than one profile. I understand why this would work, as a writer’s audience may be different, but I enjoy having all my varied stories in one area. I am multi faceted and so is the work I publish on Medium. Like life! My readers learn more about me as a person because my stories are all together. If they don’t like a topic I’ve written about, they can skip it and move on.

One thing I want to add is erotica writers are some of the most supportive people I have come across on Medium. They do have a great sense of community.

Let’s talk about the paywall update

With the new paywall change, some erotica only writers may be hit badly. This is because an erotica reader will do just that — read — but may not be your follower, decide to follow you, or leave a comment, highlight and clap.

At the end of a given day, a writer is paid extra if members of their community spend time reading/listening and engaging with the story.

I suspect a goodly portion of medium members are erotica readers. They pay their fee and so deserve to find good quality erotica. I also think erotica readers are prolific in their reading habits, and I wonder if this actually waters down how much a writer will get for one of their views? I know they would want the erotic writers to get paid — which means this type of reader may need to adjust the way they read… If they stayed on one story rather than flitting quickly to another for the erotic fix, and use both hands 😇😉 on the keyboard, ready to clap and comment, the writer will be rewarded.

Medium say:

Long, thoughtful, reads are encouraged!

A few days ago, I posted a poll on Twitter asking the erotica writers in what way they had been affected by the Medium changes. Here are the results:

You can check the thread if you want to read what the writers said.

Thank you to Lacey Cross, J.D. Masterly, Evie Dawn, Skylar Quinn, Sunny A Morgan, Dianne Herbert, Ariel Bruhl, Daizy Dennis, Lucy and more, for your interesting input. (Please let me know if you want your name removed).

I will let you form your own opinion from the graph, as I know how easy it is to manipulate using statistics.

What I found interesting is the writers, who are doing better than they were — financially, are penning very short (erotic) fiction as part of a community prompt. Many people, including me, have noticed that the changes support short tales when they have been engaged with by followers, as mostly the story will also receive a complete read. Sounds good right? But surely longer stories should be what Medium are all about? Quality stories to get your teeth into rather than a quick “in and out” tale?

Let me repeat what Medium say:

Long, thoughtful, reads are encouraged!

Hmm… perhaps not!

Let’s talk about Medium and erotica

Medium as a platform do not treat erotica well. I appreciate perhaps this genre shouldn’t be distributed outside of followers and subscribers of the erotic writers or publications— in case it offends the sensitive, or people underage get access. (Although, to be honest, youngsters can find whatever they want online at any hour of the day.)

However, I do think Medium need to address how to highlight this area of writing properly, rather than continually treating it as if sex is not part of life.

Why not have an X-rated section, and within that area of the platform the best erotic writers and stories get promoted further?

Medium say the pay changes are to make sure quality stories win. Well, the definition of quality tales should not be limited to only non-erotic content. Just because a story is erotic, this does not mean it can’t be of a high quality.

The best erotic writers are skilled in their craft. Why shouldn’t they be showcased in some way?

Bearing all the above in mind, we can finally get onto the publication I want to share with you today — a place where a reader can find varied and well written erotic tales.

Let’s talk about MyErotica

This publication is owned/curated by Rose. It is one of the most established on Medium — having been regularly publishing stories since 2016, and has over 23K followers.

Rose only publishes up to two well crafted stories a day and always highlights, claps and promotes. I have written many times when Posy and I started Tantalizing Tales, we followed the model Rose created regarding letting every story have their moment in the spotlight, as well as engaging and tweeting.

I think there are a few other distinguished publications on Medium who could benefit by following the MyErotica example too!

I am sure this platform receives a good portion of money from members who come to the site for erotic stories. If the CEO does not address the drop in pay for many erotic writers soon, then the best authors will leave, taking their readers with them. If that happens, Medium may have to rename themselves… Small.

I want to finish by saying there are other quality erotic magazines on Medium — I have promoted a few of them before and will again, but I think even they would agree MyErotica is the best.

Check out my first May More Mentions Post:

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