On Kindle Free Promotion and Romantica (AKA a Little Bit of Whining)

So I finally took the plunge and took Nothing Wagered, Nothing Gained‘s original draft off Literotica, where it had been sitting for several years. This is because, a) it wasn’t very popular on LE, largely due to the fact that it’s a little too tame for the general demographic there, and b) I decided to finally commit to Kindle Select, since it hadn’t been downloaded in months and I was hoping the free promotions would give it a boost.

So far, the setup for the Free Promotion has been easy-breezy. My hopes were high as I set out to somehow inform the internet that my book would be free. Naively, I thought it would be easy to find people willing to share this information. Who doesn’t want a book for $0.00, after all?! But sadly, I quickly realized that nearly all sites that post free books either cost money, don’t share erotica, or both.

This is where the whiny “Whyyyyyyyy?” comes in. Many of the explanations for why erotica won’t be shared include fun phrases like “we refuse to share pornographic, obscene, or graphic and excessive sexual content.” Wow. That’s a fun load of sex shaming, right there. But I think the most frustrating part was that I don’t feel any of those descriptors apply to my book, even though it technically falls under the erotica genre.

I find myself wanting a distinction between raw, graphic ‘sex for the sake of sex’ erotica and books like mine. (Not that sex for the sake of sex is wrong, by any means. I think reading it is fun and certainly has its place.) But when I wrote NWNG, I did write it because reading about steamy things is fun, but I also wrote it because I wanted to see a really positive, female-empowering voice out among the literary depictions of sex. Sure, I explicitly describe sex acts–but I wouldn’t describe it as pornographic, obscene, or excessive. These sex acts move the plot forward, they are an essential element of the emotional development of Rachel, the main character, and most of all, I wrote them with the intent that they be educational and help open the minds of women who feel uncomfortable with the idea of self-pleasure. I think at least the first two also apply to any good erotica.

So to continue whining, (and yes, I would love some cheese to go with it) whyyyyyy can’t the broader literary world see any distinctions within books that depict sex acts? I mean, I understand wanting a family friendly eBook promotion site (although I’ve seen a few where you can select or deselect a ‘safe’ filter, which seems most logical to me), but I also wish people could look beyond the big glowing SEX that they plaster across all erotica. Sure, within the genre we distinguish between romantica and other subgenres, but no one else seems to. I think the broader world would be a happier place if the general population acknowledged that depictions of sex can sometimes make a story far better and more impactful. Wahhh.

And now, to the blatant self-promotion part: if you want to see why I’m whining and evaluate things for yourself, if you’re a woman who struggles with being comfortable with self-pleasure, or if you simply want to add a little more passion to your day, Nothing Wagered, Nothing Gained will be FREE in the Kindle store on February 13th and 14th, just in time for Valentine’s Day! (And you can always read it for free with Kindle Unlimited, or otherwise for the low price of $2.99.)  If you do read it, I’d love to hear your thoughts here and especially within the reviews section on Amazon. 😉

Oh, and if you’re having trouble sharing your own romantica or erotica free promotion, here are a few sites I’ve found that do allow it:

• Korner Kafe eXposed Facebook page (promote any erotica book for free)
• What to Read After Fifty Shades of Grey Facebook page (promote any book, whether free or not, at no charge)
• KBoards forum post (post once a month in the correct board)
• World Literary Cafe forum (post in correctly dated forum thread)
• Awesomegang eBook promotion (free, but paid option available for better visibility)

In the meantime, I think I’ll be whining to a real bottle of wine. That pink moscato in the fridge is calling my name…