Hard Won: Top Ten Erotic Author Pitfalls and Mistakes to Avoid, by DK Masters and Jenny Raven

A few days ago I posted an interview as pat of my authors series, with author DK Masters. Such a brilliant read. She shared the mistakes she made in her career and what to do about them in the original interview, but I broke them out here. Here are her top five, and mine to make it ten! 

What mistakes have you made in your career?

So, so, SO many. And honestly, I’m STILL learning. But here’s some big lessons I’ve learned, that’ll maybe hopefully help other writers just beginning their careers:

1. Keep it fun. The only way you’ll succeed long-term is if you’re enjoying what you’re doing. Don’t chase trends or write what you think will sell – write what you personally enjoy, want to read, and wish existed in the world. And whether you make a ton of money or none at all, always write for you, and for fun, first and foremost. Life’s too short to be miserable doing something you don’t actually enjoy.
2. If possible, don’t quit your day job too soon. Book sales fluctuate. Most of your revenue will come during the first 30-90 days while it’s a “new release”. Don’t assume that what you’re making in your first 30 days is what you will continue to make from that book every month thereafter. Also, some books will sell amazingly well; others will totally flop – and you won’t always know why. That’s just part of this business. There’ll be some big winners, some total losers, and a bunch in the middle that just do “okay”. If possible, have multiple sources of income (whether that’s a part-time or full-time job or some other side gig you’re doing). So if your latest book happens to flop, you’re not stressing about food or rent. You’ll still have time to write your NEXT book – and hopefully that one will sell better. If nothing else: budget yourself very well. This isn’t like a normal paycheck. Income changes month to month.
3. Start an email list. Invite all your readers to subscribe. (I usually put it at the end of the book, figuring if they got that far, they’re probably a fan.) Whenever you release a new book, let them know and include a direct link. These people subscribed voluntarily. They WANT to hear from you and read your new stories.
4. Remember that not everyone will like your work. You simply can’t please everyone. I know we all “understand” and know this, but really, really integrate it and believe that. Even the best, greatest, most talented, most financially successful artists in the world still have their haters and critics. You are no exception. Ignore the haters. They are not your audience. As artists, we tend to be extra sensitive to things in general. Bad reviews and criticisms hurt. If you can learn from them and improve, great – you’re ahead in the game. But also, if you feel you’re too sensitive and a bad review would just crush you, you don’t have to EVER read any of the comments or reviews either. Find some other way to grow and improve your writing.
5. Print out any fan mail or positive reviews you receive. Keep all those in a binder that’s convenient and nearby. On days you’re feeling insecure or after a disappointing book launch, open that binder and re-read those positive letters and reviews. Sometimes, you need the reminder you ARE talented and people DO enjoy your work. Even after you been doing this for 10+ years. You’re still human and may occasionally experience some self-doubt or imposter syndrome, no matter how much external success you have. That’s more common than you know.

1. Be contactable. I would say about 1 in 20 authors can be contacted easily. I understand we want anonymity, but I would argue that we don’t want that at the cost of being invisible. You never know what possibilities might bubble up in the future, so open  a Gmail account, bury it somewhere, your book blurb, website, amazon page etc. and check it once a month. As DK Masters says, getting fan mail is amazing and if they can’t contact you, you will never get it.
2. Start social media accounts. If all you do is post the book covers of your latest books, this will become a habit and over time, you will increase traction. You may find over time you enjoy it more and more. If you don’t, ditch it. At the very least, get a LinkTree or similar tool so fans can find and interact with you. 
3. Backup. Get orderly about saving your files somewhere safe. I use Dropbox and external drives as a secondary backup.
4. Enjoy the sensual. It’s OK, no, it’s required that the act of writing stimulates the erotic energy within. It may get in the way of your daily writing goals as getting too turned on too quickly may end your writing sprint in a glorious orgasm. If it does, celebrate! Your story is sexy as hell! You can carry on again tomorrow. If you are not turned on, I would argue you need to do something else or your story is just not ‘hitting the spot’. The arousal of the writer can be read on the page by the reader. So make it honest, intense and personal.
5. Start now. This is one that has come from so many of the interviews I carried out. Don’t wait. Start writing now. You can read the interviews HERE.