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You are here: Home / Archives for BDSM fiction

Saturday Spankings — 02/14/14

February 14, 2014 By Trent Evans

saturday-spankings

 

 

Hello Fellow Spankos,

I love that this week’s Sat Spanks falls right on V-day! I’m continuing with more from the upcoming full-length D/s novel “The Change”.

In this week’s clip we follow Kiehl on another visit to his friend Tom’s house. Kiehl’s friend wants to show him how deep D/s can really go between a man and wife …

* * * *

“Hello, Sir.” Sharon said. Her voice sounded … off.

Kiehl thought he’d braced himself, been ready for what he’d find inside that house. He was wrong.

The first thing Kiehl saw when they walked into the living room was Sharon’s naked ass. Her voice was muffled, bent as she was over the back of an overstuffed couch. Her slim ankles were bound in leather, the manacles clipped closely together with a very short, silver chain.

“That’s my good girl,” Tom murmured, stroking the curve of Sharon’s bottom. She wriggled at his touch. “Kiehl is here with us. I want to show him … how we do things.”

He heard the slightest intake of breath, saw a frisson of movement in her sleek thighs.

Tom looked back at him, and walked over to Kiehl, who’d frozen in place at the threshold to the living room.

“Have a seat. Look, not touch, right Kiehl?”

* * * *

I hope you liked this week’s installment! Before you go, please take some time to visit the other stops in this week’s hop. There are a lot of great writers there , and some uber-hot excerpts!

More to come next week:)

Trent

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Filed Under: Saturday Spankings Tagged With: BDSM erotic romance, BDSM fiction, D/s marriage, Dominance and submission, erotic pregnancy, Saturday Spankings Blog Hop, spanking, The Change, Trent Evans

Cover Fail, and Thoughts On The State of Indie Erotica

January 20, 2013 By Trent Evans

Hello all,

So, I don’t normally talk about the writing/publishing biz here on the blog — this is supposed to be for the readers — but I wanted to write this for any of my readers who also might happen to be smut slingers like me:) This post covers a few things I’ve learned as I’ve gone along, as well as a handful of observations on the erotica genre in general.

1. Don’t do this (unless you don’t care about sales)

My fourth release, a novella titled Night Beach initially had a cover that I thought was sexy, but still within the boundaries (as well as anyone can guess — but that’s another story) of Amazon’s content guidelines. That initial cover is shown below:

Night Beach - Trent Evans - Updated Amazon - Smash

At first, all seemed well. The book was selling, a few readers said they loved the cover — so we’re rollin’, right?

Wrong.

The dreaded Adult filter was applied to the book’s listing on Amazon within a few days of release. This filter normally spells the death of sales for a title on Amazon, for a couple of reasons:

– First, the book is difficult, if not impossible, to find in general search — even if you search for the book’s title and the author’s name.

– The second, and much more insidious (and damaging) reason, is that the book will no longer be shown as an also-bought for any other non-Adult filtered titles. So, rather than have at least the chance for your book to show up as an also-bought for “50 Blinds of Bestseller”, you show up as an also-bought only for other Adult filtered titles.

I contacted ‘Zon customer service about it, and they confirmed that the book cover did indeed violate their content guidelines. They were very nice (as usual) and understanding of my plight, but they were firm that the Adult filter would remain until a new cover was added. Now, me being me, I shrugged my shoulders, muttered a “Whisky Tango Foxtrot”, and just went on with my business of writing the next book.

This was a serious mistake. Within about two weeks after release of Night Beach, my third book, a novelette titled Maintenance Night, took off, going from selling 5-6 copies a day to 20-30 copies per day. I still have no idea why. That part was RAD (and to those readers who bought the book, I can’t thank you enough), but the problem was that there was no new release that built upon that sales momentum. You see, since Night Beach was languishing under the The Scarlet Adult Filter, readers who bought and loved Maintenance Night wouldn’t see that others had picked up Night Beach. It was as if it didn’t exist.

Now, all this being said, Night Beach did still sell … some. In November, Night Beach sold 80 copies, more than 75% of that number selling at the mighty ‘Zon. But it’s likely that it would have sold significantly more, had it had the much improved visibility it would have enjoyed sans Adult filter. Is there any way to know for sure how many sales were lost? Of course not. BUT, one thing I’ve learned is this: make your books as convenient as possible to buy. Always give your reader an uber-easy way to spend money on you.

To bastardize a quote from Sun Tzu:

“Build your reader a golden bridge to your books.”

2. What can I take away from this?

My experience actually calls for being somewhat conservative with the content of covers. There is a price for pushing the envelope (though really, I don’t think the first cover was that edgy), and when you do, sometimes that price is going to cost you sales/money. Be prepared for that eventuality.

Now, with regard to this specific instance, there is one aspect to this that I think really might help another writer who reads this. What follows are the commonly understood “no-no’s” vis-a-vis cover content:

– No female nipples or areolas

– No male or female genitalia or pubic hair

– No fully naked buttocks — there has to be at least a dental floss bikini or thong (this one appears to be sporadically enforced, as some do get through the review process with bare nekkid asses:)

– No profanity (this one appears to be only sporadically enforced as there have actually been erotica bestsellers that had f-bombs … in the title!!)

– No excessive gore (very subjective, so err on the side of caution)

Here is one that I got nailed on — and one that has snagged other authors too:

– No grabbing/squeezing/clutching of the naked breast(s) or even covering of the naked breast with a hand. 

Now, a case could be made that there wasn’t a thing wrong with the original cover for Night Beach, BUT it’s Amazon’s site, and they can do what they want.  I’m not going to sit here and tell them how they should run their business, nor what content they can or can’t accept on the covers. I can take it or leave it, and if I want to sell ebooks, I’m going to be taking it:)

That said, I really do wish that they would release a short list of definitive no-no’s, rather than leaving us poor authors/publishers to stumble around in the dark. I know why they don’t release any specifics — they want to keep their options open, and want to be flexible in case of any changes to the legal or regulatory environment. It’s smart business, but it is a bit of a pain.

But oh well — what the mighty ‘Zon wants, the mighty ‘Zon gets:)

Other Erotica Observations

There is a flood-tide of erotica on the market right now, presumably due to authors seeking to ride the (already rapidly receding) 50 Shades wave, and it’s only going to get worse. For those new erotica writers who are wondering why their sales are not those of the Land of (Breast)Milk and (Alien Pussy)Honey that the erotica genre is purported to exist, you can blame an excess of product for this … mostly.

One of the things I’ve observed is a large number of low word count, slapped- together titles in almost every conceivable sub-genre of erotica (I know a lot of them — yeah I’m a perv, I read a lot of smut). I render no judgement on those writers that are following the “quantity is king” philosophy. It works, and it will make you money — for now.

But for those new erotica readers just coming online now, I implore you to do one thing: think long term. At some point, the wheat does get separated from the chaff, and no matter how many titles you have published, if the quality of the writing is shoddy, if the story isn’t compelling, and the packaging is unappealing (read: unprofessional covers and flat, lifeless blurbs), those books will cease to sell. Why is this?

Word of mouth.

This is the single most effective way to sell books and to build a career. Word of mouth trumps everything, and will buoy a book no matter what. This is very, very important because in this new era of publishing, the traditional gatekeepers (editors, agents, publishers) are steadily being replaced … by readers.

This fact should feel both freeing and terrifying. To those erotica writers who concentrate on releasing well-written, edited, attractively packaged books on a regular basis (e.g. not less than once per quarter, and preferably more frequently), you will succeed. It may take 5 books, 20 books, or more, but eventually, if you put out quality, the readers will find you — and reward you.

To those erotica writers out there who are only concentrating on publishing as much product as you can, as fast as you can, you should be terrified. If your product is shoddy, readers will call you on it — and they’ll do more than leave you bad reviews on Amazon.

They’ll tell their friends.

The gold rush of 2009-2011 is absolutely over, and the days of being able to throw up any old cover and first draft of a smut book are long gone. Many, many readers have been burned over and over by just plain shitty indie smut books. If your product is rushed out, haphazard, sloppy, readers will notice it — and run the other way. Please, please don’t be that writer!

Whichever type of erotica writer you are, your challenge, above and beyond continuing to publish good books, will be discoverability. The volume of erotica is incredible, and as many others have pointed out, discoverability is going to be the irreducible problem faced by all authors, especially in a genre overwhelmed with a tsunami of new content every month. Worse, traditional publishers have (by and large) awakened from their comas and are changing their tactics. They are lowering prices, targeting sub-genres with more narrowly focused story lines,  and greatly speeding up things like submission response times and time to publication. Contrary to what you hear some self-pub evangelists say, trad publishing is not stupid, and it’s not going away. Not by a long shot.

What does this mean for the lowly indie smut slinger like me? It means things are going to get much, much harder. It means in order to survive, and increase your visibility/discoverability, you will need to make your product the best quality you possibly can. Keep writing, but do take the time needed to make the book a good quality book. You need to acknowledge that a significant portion of your potential readership is likely to look askance at anything written by an Indie. Accept that, then set out to prove them wrong. Sloppy indie authors have hurt the rest of us, of this there can be no doubt, so for those of us that are in this for the long-haul, who will be making careers of this, our job is to win those readers back, one by one. I’m still working on this myself, and my own products aren’t yet where I want them to be, so I’m constantly improving them where and when I can. You should too!

Make your product as indistinguishable from trad products as you possibly can (this is where great covers, blurbs that snap, and professional-looking, clean formatting comes in). Don’t give these skeptical readers any reason to pass over your book at a mere glance. Make them “pick it up” and read those first lines. That’s where your quality writing will get the chance to do its work. And this is how you win back those burned-by-indies readers.

Yes, taste is 100% subjective, but that’s beside the point; a quality product needs to be noticed, and read (which will increasingly become the most difficult hurdle to jump) before taste even figures into the equation. THEN, if it’s well-written, compelling, at least some of those readers will tell their friends, who in turn will tell their friends. Again, word of mouth.

But you need to give them a reason to look at your book. More important than this: don’t give the reader a reason NOT to look at your book.

Smut readers are voracious, the demand never-ending (and we LOVE you for that), and if you push their buttons, and if the books you have for sale are fairly priced, they’ll snap up everything you have on the market. And they’ll keep coming back for more, as long as you keep publishing good books.

Contrary to all the doom and gloom you are seeing of late in indie circles, I think this is only the beginning … for those indies who are willing to put in the work, and to fight for every one of those readers. Those readers will take a chance on a new author, but increasingly they will demand quality — and they deserve nothing less.

Best,

Trent

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Filed Under: On Writing, Trent's Thoughts Tagged With: 50 Shades of Grey, 50 Shades wave, backlash against indies, BDSM, bdsm erotica, BDSM fiction, books, content guidelines for Amazon, cover fail, cover images, edgy covers, formatting, literature, Maintenance Night, Night Beach, On Writing-, professionalism, quantity vs quality, smut, state of erotica, strategic thinking, Sun Tzu, tips for new erotica writers, traditional publishing, Trent Evans, whisky tango foxtrot, writing

30 Days of Kink – Day 14

September 9, 2012 By Trent Evans

Day 14: How would you say real life BDSM/kink varies from fantasy BDSM/kink? If you haven’t experienced real life BDSM/kink how do you think it might differ?

The disconnect between the fantasy and the reality of BDSM can be slight, or it can be vast. There are so many facets of BDSM that answering this question comprehensively is, really, not possible. So, with that in mind, I will cite an example that is relevant to me.

I think all of us have central themes or persistent imagery that we keep coming back to in our sexual fantasies; it would be human nature to keep doing what “works” 🙂 One of the central fantasy themes for me is the idea of consensual non-consent. Essentially what this means is that a sub or slave gives her Dom or Master an initial blanket consent which from that point onward allows him to do whatever he likes, whenever he likes — whether she wants to at the time or not.

Why does this appeal to me? To be blunt, I think it’s a “safer” way to play with the fantasy of force. It’s extremely difficult for me to say this, but if I’m going to be intellectually honest, I think this is the unadulterated core of the consensual non-consent kink.

For men especially, the idea that forcing someone sexually is culturally, morally, and legally ingrained into us as being wrong—and outside of a consensual non-consent sexual relationship it IS wrong. But fantasy, which (I believe) is just a way for the mind to process and integrate lower, baser urges into our individual moral consciousness, doesn’t stay within those sensible boundaries . . . nor should it.

(I need to reiterate here that just because a man may be turned on by the idea of consensual non-consent, it DOES NOT mean in any way whatsoever that he is turned on by forcible rape. Please note the word ‘consensual’— it makes a world of difference. There, equivocation over.)

Humans evolved in a harsh, unforgiving world, and like the animal kingdom as a whole, humans survived by adapting. It coarsened us, this requirement to follow baser urges and instincts in order to survive. After all, early man likely saw little use for pondering why the sky was blue as he was being chased up a tree by a smilodon. Early man learned to harness, to mold, to conquer, and those instincts, those urges, are still with us today — whether we want to admit it or not.

Thankfully modern society, and the evolution of our own brains have helped us tame the beast inside us all. Well, most of us anyway. But the fantasy of force is a common one and I believe this is one of the reasons why BDSM is as popular as it is.

(As an aside, I believe the core concepts of BDSM have always been popular — witness the corporal punishment and degradation themes commonly found in Victorian-era smut, or going back much farther, crack open Suetonius to get a glimpse at a society quite open about the baser urges of man. Coming back to the modern era, look at the popularity of “bodice rippers” in the 70s-80s. Though many devotees of that particular form of romance fiction would be loathe to admit it, the themes in those works are indeed close cousins to contemporary expressions of BDSM.)

But circling back to the disconnect between fantasy and reality, there are certainly problems with the nuts and bolts of consensual non-consent. Chief among those problems is that it would be tiring. What, you say? Tiring? Well, yes, it would be. Personally, I very much enjoy women, and find them interesting to talk to, live life with, love. I would not be able to sustain the constant formality such a framework demands. In modern society, it would take an incredible amount of effort, and literally rearranging ALL aspects of both the Master’s and slave’s lives. Anneke Jacob tackles these day to day challenges in a truly fascinating way in her masterpiece As She’s Told. In that story, it quickly becomes apparent that no matter how much two people really want full 24/7 TPE, modern society is built in such a way as to make it practically impossible (and if we can take a step back from our kinks, we will see that this is in fact a very good thing.)

While 24/7 TPE consensual non-consent is indeed an incredibly powerful fantasy, the logistics of it just make it something that really couldn’t be done in modern society. In Jacob’s book, the compromise becomes instituting it whenever and wherever possible, but allowing for those times when it’s just not possible. The result is a constant undercurrent of excitement, fear, anticipation and most of all, lust. Such is the stuff fantasy is made of, no?

What is missing though are those small, quiet moments in life. The ones that we’ll remember on our death beds. The feel of her hand in yours as you walk through the chill night air, her brimming eyes as she catches first sight of her newborn child, the comfort of her embrace on a sleepy weekend morning. These are the things of day to day life that are just as important as the fulfillment of our fantasies. So, in effect what I am saying is that I think the reality is that you can have a 24/7 TPE relationship framework but that the actual execution of it would need to be flexible enough to meet the exigencies of our hectic, modern lives.

Again, this is a question that deserves a much longer, more in-depth answer, but since I am approaching a thousand words of flapping my gums, I will just leave it here;)

Until Day 15!

Best,

Trent

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Filed Under: Trent's Thoughts Tagged With: 24/7, 30 Days of Kink, Anneke Jacob, As She's Told, base sexual urges, bdsm erotica, BDSM fiction, BDSM society, bodice ripper, consensual non-consent, D/s, Dom Hatred, Dominance and submission, fantasy themes, fantasy vs reality, kink in daily life, life bdsm, modern BDSM, moral consciousness, morality of BDSM, non-con roleplaying, Thoughts on consent, total power exchange, TPE, trent's thoughts, Victorian smut

30 Days of Kink – Day 11

August 2, 2012 By Trent Evans

Day 11: What are your views on the ethics of kink?

This is much too broad a topic to write about here in a blog post, so I will address one aspect of  “kink ethics” that has been bothering me of late: the soft tyranny of Safe Sane and Consensual (SSC). Uh oh,  now I’ve stepped in it. I’m off the reservation. There, got my mixed metaphors out of the way:)

SSC as a concept is a great thing, but there is a problem with it. It’s morphed from something that was formerly a rallying cry, a call for rational, clear thinking to a thing resembling a cudgel to be used to keep the pervy riff raff in line.

Everybody wants everyone to be safe; I think that should go without saying for 99% of us. However, some people who practice BDSM don’t want to be “safe”. I’ll use extreme breathplay as an example. Some normal, awesome people enjoy it. I don’t, but you sure as hell won’t hear me tell someone else that their kink doesn’t fall within the lines (read: prison bars) of SSC, and thus is wrong. This is where SSC becomes kink shaming – which drives me bat poop crazy.

SSC is one way to keep people safe, a set of guidelines perhaps. But it’s not the be all and end all of kink (yes, I realize nobody is saying it is – I loathe strawmen). SSC should absolutely NOT be a way for fellow pervs to deem other pervs beyond the pale.

So why am I writing about this? For those of you who’ve been following along with me, you know I am not a pro Dom. I don’t do clubs. I don’t scene. I am a relationship Dom (mostly). Is that even a term? Doesn’t matter. Why does SSC get under my skin so much? Because I am also a writer of BDSM erotica (and eventually erotic romance).

I am not here to call anybody out…but I have seen some things that disturb me vis-à-vis SSC and BDSM fiction.

I’m going to be blunt here. Fiction is fiction – it is not kink prosletyzing.

If someone wants to write about unsupervised body suspension, mummification, extreme breathplay, texting while driving, whatever it is that causes the SSC acolytes to fall to the ground in grand mal seizures, then they should be able to do so. Fiction is not real life – it’s shit the author made up. That’s it.

An author wants to tell a story – something that makes the reader feel. A writer wants to craft something that connects with the reader as a human being. You don’t tell a story by hitting all your marks in SSC dogma. If you try that then you end up writing a how-to manual. How-to manuals are great for what they are. But they aren’t the same thing as a story manufactured out of whole cloth. When I see someone tear down an author’s work because something occurs in their story that doesn’t conform to SSC, I scratch my head.

Do we berate someone like thriller writer Chelsea Cain? She depicts absolutely ghastly things in her books. But they’re great books, great fiction. Her books are not a how-to for serial killers, or profilers, or cops. They’re fiction; shit she made up. Do we wag our finger at her for depicting something that violates all laws, morals, and basic human decency? No, we see her books for what they are:  great, gripping yarns. The end.

(BTW – if you haven’t checked out Chelsea’s Gretchen Lowell series, you must do so. Like yesterday. Incredible characters, incredible voice. You will not regret it. Sorry, I can’t help it – I am a Chelsea Cain fan.)

But, in BDSM fiction we are seeing just that. It’s happening by inches, but it’s as relentless and unstoppable as the grind of a glacier. BDSM is being normalized, mainstreamed. Is it due to 50 Shades of Grey? I don’t know. I suppose it could be part of it. I think it’s actually more of a function of the commercial success of erotic romance in general.

What particular sub-genre of erotic romance sells the most books?

Paranormal? Maybe in 2010.

Menage? Nope.

Yes, you guessed it – it’s BDSM. I think it’s a GREAT thing. I really do. But, I wonder if the attention currently focused on BDSM is going to turn it into something many of us no longer recognize? Only time will tell.

I’ve seen other writers struggle with their erotica being lumped in with erotic romance, and suffering the ire of erotic romance readers because the story doesn’t include an HEA or strays into areas (such as non-con themes) deemed to be too dark. It’s not fair, but it’s happening.

I’m rambling here, so I am going to wrap this up. I guess what I am getting at here is that the very thing that differentiates kinky people from others – the “forbidden” nature of our orientations – is undergoing some change. How is it possible that BDSM is being both normalized/regulated (SSC dogma) and sanitized (the mainstreaming of BDSM in fiction and the popular consciousness)? I don’t know, but it’s happening.

What does this mean? My guess is that it means one of two things: either the spotlight will eventually move on to something else (and us sickos can get back to the business of being regular sickos), or it doesn’t move on – and it really becomes a new world for kink. Things might get even more interesting!

This post morphed into a mini-rant about a single topic, so maybe I will just call this Day 11 part I  🙂

Until next time.

Trent

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Filed Under: Trent's Thoughts Tagged With: 30 Days of Kink, 50 Shades of Grey, bdsm erotica, BDSM fiction, BDSM safety, breathplay, ethics of kink, extreme kinks, gretchen lowell, kink normalization, kink shaming, mixed metaphors, riff raff, safe sane and consensual, SSC, thrillers, writing

30 Days of Kink – Day 8

July 4, 2012 By Trent Evans

Day 8: Post a kinky image you find erotic.

So let me start off by saying…I’m a nerd. I actually like BDSM art more than I like the photography. That’s not to say I don’t appreciate photos (I love them), but I have always been drawn :::groan::: to BDSM art. So, rather than get myself into trouble by posting an image that’s still under copyright, I will just post some links here to stuff that I like. Maybe the readers of this blog will discover something they like too!

Paolo Eleuteri Serpieri Ahh Serpieri, the master. While he does comparatively little BDSM per se (only a few of his paintings and the occasional scene in his comics depict it), one look at his famous heroine will tell you why he is beloved by spankos and pervs like me the world over. Druuna Oh Druuna! We love her, and thank the sweet Lord, Serpieri shares her with us:) This man knows what the terms ‘voluptuous’, ‘hourglass figure’ and ‘well-endowed’ actually mean. His art speaks to men who like to spank. I can’t put it more clearly than that! I’ve linked to what IMO is his best work (Creatura), but there is a lot more of it out there – some of it even more hardcore. Pick it up while you can because it seems to go in and out of print.

Loic Dubigeon

Quite simply the most evocative, erotic BDSM art I’ve ever seen. Have you ever read The Story Of O? Well, his art is one vision of what that story might look like. His work is full of dominance and submission; pain and pleasure; Masters and slaves; and tearful surrender. Oh, and it’s got plenty of whipping, caning, cropping and fucking too! Dubigeon was incredible. His works are mostly out of print, but can still be found in the used markets. If you find them, snap them up, for they are destined to be classics. I’ve linked to one of the few still available on Amazon.

 

Michael Manning

Supremely talented, visionary artist. I’m not even sure he’s human:) He loves to push buttons, and there is enough in his works to offend just about anybody and everyone. I don’t even know how to describe it. All I can say is…it’s rad.

 

Rebecca

Known primarily for her Housewives at Play comix series. Her work is mainly F/F, but she also does quite a bit of M/F work too.  Rebecca is amazing. If you like lesbians, some diabolical F/F BDSM, and MILFS, you can do no better than Rebecca. She does mostly black and white, but her Hot Moms stuff (shown above) is in full color – and it’s smoking hot. Very talented, very profific, very perverted. What’s not to love? Her graphic albums and comix published through Eros Comix are of high quality (I own several of them). Her website is one of the best deals on the internet for depraved art. I highly recommend it.

 

Hanz Kovacq (aka Bernard Duffossé) – http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beautes-Dociles-Kovacq/dp/2917456078/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1341435989&sr=8-4) Now, before some of you freak, let me be very clear here. I am not advocating everything in this man’s work (some of the themes he occasionally explores happen to be ince$t and some “monster sex”, neither of which are my thing). What I AM saying is that he is a mad genius of an artist;  a man with a compelling, one-of-a kind style,  impressive technical skills and most of all, a very, very dirty mind. I love him. Lots of whips, chains, ropes, gags, blindfolds and some breathtakingly amoral characters. Oh and his work is chock full of hardcore sex. Sadly, it appears all of his stuff is out of print, but if you stumble across any of it on Ebay, BUY it. You won’t regret it – even if you don’t speak French.

Dave Annis

I’ve never encountered an artist that was so fucking funny. You’ll be turned on and laughing out loud as you peruse his art. Some of his ongoing themes are pure genius! He’s an artist who understands the difference between titillation and eroticism – and knows how to use both. On top of that, the guy is a good writer with a twisted and wicked sense of humor. There is NOBODY else out there like him. His website is very easy to navigate, and is an outstanding value for the money.

***

I’m sure I am leaving out some great artists, and if so, I will post them as they come to me. I hope this has been at least interesting and informative. What do you think? Who are your favorite BDSM artists? If you have other artists you like, please feel free to let me know in the comments or send me an e-mail. Always looking to peep new stuff!

Until Day 9!

Trent

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Filed Under: Trent's Thoughts Tagged With: BDSM fiction, bondage art, Caning, Dave Annis, Dominance and submission, Druuna, erotic art, Hanz Kovacq, Hilda, humor, hyper-realistic pencil drawings, Lesbian BDSM, Master/slave, Michael Manning, MILF, pony girl, Rebecca, Riding Crop, rope bondage, Serpieri, slave girl, SM, spanking art, Whipping

Trent’s Thoughts on 50 Shades of Grey

May 7, 2012 By Trent Evans

“50 Shades of Dom hatred”

I read this in a posting over on Kitty Thomas‘ blog a while back.  I think it might be a perfect summation of what the success of the 50 Shades of Grey erotic trilogy means for the BDSM community in the short term. If you haven’t read, please click on over and have a look. Well worth your time.

Ironically enough, the success of E.L. James’ series is not a black or white, good or bad thing for BDSM practitioners (I don’t really like ‘kinksters’ as a descriptor). In the short run, there are both positives and negatives, while in the long run I think it will be almost uniformly helpful to BDSM – but not for the reasons you may think. In fact, in an odd way, the success may help push BDSM back into the “underground” somewhat. I will explain why in a bit.

Here are some of the short term benefits as I see them:

  1. “normalizing” of BDSM (i.e. people will realize that a whole lot of other people are interested in this stuff)
  2. sparks discussion in an honest manner not littered with snickering and general snark (I can’t tell you what kind of damage farces such as Exit to Eden do to BDSM; luckily nodody saw that movie, so it could have been a lot worse)
  3. more people will try it or talk about it with their significant others – this is only a good thing IMO
  4. will be a boon to erotica and erotic romance writers in a general sense ( a rising tide lifts all boats)

Short term detriments:

  1. kink tourists – people will “join in” as more of a lark than any real urge to explore their sexuality
  2. people will develop an unrealistic idea of BDSM based on the novels; by all accounts the novels are at best sugar-kink and at worst vanilla with a thin kink veneer.
  3. 50 Shades “clones” pushed by publishers
  4. PC police descend on the community – you thought it was bad when SSC was used as a cudgel to keep us unruly pervs in line? Now, comes “mainstream” kink – a contradiction in terms – that we’ll have to fall in line behind (or argue against).

In the long term though, I think 50 Shades could do for BDSM fiction what Twilight or the Harry Potter trilogy did for young adult and fantasy fiction, respectively. Like those books, the literary merit of the story or authorial talent ceases to matter – it’s the activity and the conversations sparked that matter.

How long has BDSM been whispered about, snickered about, or outright ridiculed? You can still be fired for being kinky, and quite legally at that. But it is NOT legal to be fired for being gay or lesbian. Now, the 50 Shades phenomenon is getting “regular” people talking about BDSM in :::shock::: a serious manner.

Now, many of the readers will be truly shocked and/or repelled by what those of us regard as “real” BDSM. That’s OK with me; it by default restores the “forbidden” to BDSM that may have been part of its initial appeal to many of us. That being said, we do need more honesty and openness about sexuality, and even if it results in a tsunami of kink tourists, this will encourage such openness. Maybe only 5% of these tourists decide to explore more deeply, and tap into something within themselves that speaks to needs far beyond the confines of the 50 Shades storyline? Is that ultimately a good thing? Hell yes, it is.

There are many of us who consider ourselves more or less “kinky” and actually regard being different as a badge of honor. However, the success of the series shows that there is a vast cohort of people who are at least intrigued by BDSM. As Kitty Thomas has stated many times on her blog, these readers may not be as vanilla as they think they are. The suppression of  the (at one time) very popular “bodice ripper” storylines in the Romance genre by the PC police doesn’t mean readers aren’t still interested in it. That to me is the most fascinating subtext to the 50 Shades phenomenon: readers want to read this stuff – a LOT of this stuff. If they can’t get it in the more “acceptable” Romance forms, then they will get it somewhere else.

Maybe 50 Shades helps revive the “bodice ripper” in the same way self-publishing is starting to revive the moribund gothic romance genre? My guess is that it continues to benefit erotic romance (which has seen more and more successes that embrace some rather dark storylines) and to a lesser extent, erotica.  It’s way too early to tell, but more genres mean more choices. This is always a good thing for readers and authors both.

What do you think? What is your take on the 50 Shades phenomenon?

 

Trent

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Filed Under: Trent's Thoughts Tagged With: 50 Shades of Grey, BDSM fiction, bodice ripper, Dom Hatred, erotic romance, kink tourists, mainstream kink, random thoughts, safe sane and consensual, sugar kink, Twilight

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