An Erotic Author’s Publishing Journey — The Ability to Adapt
It isn’t about what you write but about your ability to stay fluid in the process …
With the ever-changing landscape in indie publishing, I am sure that we have all encountered the hiccups that places like Amazon or Stripe are presenting to us. Some days it feels as if we, indie authors, are on an uphill battle that will never be conquered. When you have been doing this for as long as I have, you notice the trends. When you’re fresh out of the gate, it’s easy to get caught up in the current trend of writing on demand that you miss the larger trend, censorship.
It starts small, random, accidental even, that your book has been blocked. But trust me, it then grows.
I’ve been writing books of some kind since 2011. I was first published by a small press publishing company in 2012 and then again by two others in 2013. By 2014, all of them had gone under and I was left to decide of where to take my career. I tell you this to give you a clear understanding that if there was a mistake to be made; I MADE IT.
“Skylar Quinn” has only been around since March 2023 and already I feel as if “Skylar” is way more successful than anything else I did in the past. And that’s because I learned the most important rule: check your ego at the door.
Dropping the Ego …
When you’re writing for fun, you have that luxury to do whatever you want. But when you’re looking for success in the way of monetary gains, brand recognition and sustainability, there is no room for your ego.
There are literally hundreds of opinions about what success is and what it takes to be successful. So, if you read this and think, ‘Skylar is wrong, that’s not what I did,’ that’s okay. Your path may not be my path. But maybe, someone reads this and thinks, ‘I can try this out,’ and it works for them, then this article was worth it.
What makes me stay as an ‘indie author’ and not seek a traditional publishing route? The ability to adapt. Being my own publisher allows me to go with the flow of whatever is happening in the industry.
Take the growing trend right now of Amazon and its antics. We all know about books being locked in the dungeon. January through April, my Cheating Husband series was selling great. Every day I had at least 5 sales! Then, Amazon decided these books were not appropriate to show up in search results. The Dungeon made my sales plummet. It is very easy to say “This is Amazon’s fault, nothing I can do,” and just complain and move on.
But not if I want to be successful.
After my fights with Amazon to get them released, I decided it was time to research other avenues to get the kindle version of my books out to my kindle readers. Sunny and I spent weeks searching for platforms. It was on our long-term CRUSH Publication plans anyway we were just speeding the timeline up.
And then, she got an email from an author she followed Amazon deleted their account. Now, Sunny and I knew this was happening, we have a friend that had this happen in May. But now, it was a larger name Erotic author who has 100’s and 100’s of books.
If it can happen to them, it can happen to anyone.
Taking that Leap of Faith …
Suddenly, it was time to act on all the research we had done. You don’t always have to reinvent the wheel to be a success. Sometimes it is as simple as asking for help. I reached out to Bookfunnel and asked if they integrated with SquareSpace. That was who Sunny and I thought would be a good fit for our company’s goals. They told me no. BUT, they told us WHO they work with.
In walks Payhip. This site truly impressed us. And now, my goal to Amazon independence is one step closer. Today I’ve announced the site publicly for the first time with a link to our books. We hope readers will be receptive. We know our products are of good quality and our fans do like to have access to our books.
But it is more than that. It’s about not falling victim to the growing trend of censorship.
Erotica has been around forever. The celebration of our sexuality as a species is something to rejoice and not look down on. Being successful in this field is about maintaining the ability to adapt and not let our EGOS get in the way.
I am sure there are people who will scoff at the idea of buying a book directly from an indie author’s website, because they may not think it is legitimate. But that’s their issue, not mine. It isn’t about the prestige of being on Amazon’s site, or Barnes & Noble, or Apple, etc. It’s about writing a quality product and pushing it out into the world. That’s what matters most. My words have meaning, my worlds have value and YOU, the reader, will always have access to them.
As an erotic community, we would do ourselves a favor to remember the saying. A rising tide raises all ships. We are all on this ocean together, especially those who travel in the same circle. We MUST support one another and encourage cross promotion, newsletter swaps, new release promotions, all of it. Because it just takes ONE SPARK, just one, for you to catch.
Do I know if this direct sales website will take off? Nope, it is a leap of faith. But, so is writing that first sentence in a new story. It is a leap of faith that my readers will love it as much as the last one. It is a leap of faith that I will be here tomorrow, still able to write and give you all the content you crave.
Life is a leap of faith.
As I announce this new site that Sunny and I have been working on, keep in mind, this isn’t about CRUSH Publications, Sunny or myself. This is about our community. Everyone is part of this, readers, authors, editors, everyone. It is up to us to dictate what our future has in store, and not the Amazon’s of the world.
Remember, if we depend on THEM for our money, they have the control. Grab the reins with us, make your own destiny. This is for readers and authors. Because as a reader, now I can’t access these books I loved. It takes a community to show the need for change.
All that being said … remember, PRIDE gets you nowhere … CHANGE takes you everywhere.
For more “Skylar” you can find me at:
To purchase my stories click the link below:
Crush Publications
CRUSH Publications is here to give you high quality products at reasonable prices. Delivering to you hot new erotic…payhip.com
Best of luck, Skylar!