Summary

An author known as Mr. Smith shares their personal journey and growth from writing and publishing 35 erotic stories under a pen name in 30 days, emphasizing the unexpected community and self-improvement rather than financial success.

Abstract

Mr. Smith, a writer on Medium, embarked on a 30-day challenge to publish an erotic story each day under a secret pen name, aiming to break away from the marketing and business writing crowd. Despite not achieving the $5k goal, the author earned$ 134.06 and gained a significant following, with over 4,787 views and 3,104 reads. The experience led to a 64% average read ratio and four top writer tags, surpassing initial expectations. Mr. Smith highlights the importance of community engagement over curation and credits the supportive erotica readers for their encouragement. The process also resulted in creative freedom and improved storytelling skills, prompting the author to continue writing and possibly start an erotic publication on Medium.

Opinions

The author values the sense of community and personal growth over financial gain from writing erotica.
Mr. Smith believes that curation is not essential for success on Medium, contrary to popular belief.
Engaging with readers by replying to comments and interacting with their content is crucial for building a loyal audience.
Writing daily and exploring personal kinks led to increased creativity and better writing skills for the author.
The author is committed to continuing their writing journey, prioritizing storytelling quality and community engagement.

What Happens When You Publish 35 Sexy Stories In 30 Days Using A Secret Pen Name

Hint: I didn’t make $5k, but something better happened

Let’s start with the obvious. Mr. Smith is a pen name. Under it, I write about sex, but this story isn’t about erotica and whether you agree with it or not. It’s about a journey and growing as a person.

How did I get here? Well, tired of trying to find my way amongst the thousands of marketing and business writers, I decided I needed a change.

So, I gave myself 30 days to fail.

You see, I’ve always written short-form erotica. I’d published it a few times across the internet but never pursued it. That was until about 30 days ago.

Mr. Smith was my New Year’s resolution. The goal was simple. Remove the stigma of writing dirty things from my mind and write or publish a story a day for 30 days. My expectations were low, and in my wildest dreams, I would have never thought things would work out as well as they did.

I’m glad I threw caution to the wind because, after these 30 days, I’m a better person and a better writer for doing it.

Data porn because I know you want the stats

The TL;DR is I ended up publishing 35 stories in 30 days, and every single story I wrote was published in a publication.

I did not make $5K. Not even close. What did I make? As of this moment, I earned $134.06 for January. When Medium does their payout for the month, I might get close to $145 since I published two stories a day or so ago that are performing well.

So for those who are thinking sex sells, it doesn’t. Maybe in the future, but not when you first start.

Money aside, my views and reads weren’t horrible for a brand new account. In 30 days, I had 4,787 views and 3,104 reads. I also had 597 fans, and I went from zero followers to 171.

I know it’s not amazing when you compare it to the work of the big fish here on Medium. Some of them have these stats on a single story, but I can’t complain. I did the math, and my average read ratio was 64%. That is a stat I am proud of.

I will tell you my best story had almost 1k reads. My shortest story was 1 minute long and my longest was 9 minutes. Not one of my stories received curation, but I did receive four top writer tags.

Thoughts on curation

Medium is a strange platform when it comes to writing erotica and naughty stories. Because my niche is so small when compared to something like marketing, curation would have been helpful. But Medium refuses to curate things tagged erotica or stories with naughty language. Did this hurt me in the end? No, I don’t think it did.

My experiment is proof you don’t need curation to find success on the platform. Finding a community is way more important.

Community

Those who like erotica, myself included, are a diverse bunch. We come from all walks of life. Some are mothers, fathers, or they might be your neighbor. But the thing that binds us together is how we are aware of what turns us on, and we are happy to seek it out.

Finding such a welcoming and loving community was a surprise I wasn’t expecting. My readers are a huge boost to my ability to be productive. Knowing they are out there waiting to read my next piece is a major comfort when doubt sets in.

I think a large part of my small success came from my willingness to engage with my readers. I replied to every comment. I read and commented on other stories as well. I made sure to tell people when I liked something or when something hit me hard.

Being real and talking with people showed me that writing dirty things is not about money it’s about building a stronger community.

Freedom of expression

Writing about sex, or writing dirty things, can be a challenge at times. I had not established a daily writing routine until 2021. Sure, I wrote a little each week but never religiously like I do now. I average about 1.5k words a day, in case you’re wondering.

Daily writing and exploring my kinks while writing led to an expression of creative freedom I’ve never felt in my life. Ideas started to flow out of me by the 5th day. During my morning walk with my dog, I found myself dictating ideas to my phone because they wouldn’t stop forming in my head.

It is true the more you write, the more ideas you have.

I also got better at writing. It’s hard not to improve when you take it seriously. I learned how to construct a better story. Yes, good erotica has a story. It’s not just about the nasty bits. I learned how to excite my readers, and I also learned good dialogue is hard to write. I still struggle with that.

Next steps

So my 30-day challenge is over. What’s next? Well, I plan to abandon my old account and make Mr. Smith is my only Medium account. I love this community too much to leave it, and I am happier writing today than I have ever been. I might be a little hornier too, but that’s a different story.

I plan to keep writing every day. I may back off of publishing on the weekends moving forward, but chances are I will have too many ideas and will keep publishing daily. I may start a publication as well. I found an under-represented niche that deserves further exploration inside the erotic world of Medium. I would love to break ground on that.

Ultimately, I will fine-tune my craft and keep pushing myself to tell a better story. I’ll engage with my readers and keep pushing them to be better storytellers as well.

After all that, who knows what’s next. Maybe in six months from now, I may hit that elusive $5k month. Wouldn’t that be a surprise?

But, truthfully, I’d rather have fans tell me how much they loved my next story.

Follow me on Twitter, and don’t forget I’m open for commissions.