I’d venture to guess that there are subsections, off-shoots, niche areas that writers of all genres explore with various levels of success, might see financial gain from, or get mired in. I know mixing genres as I often do—marrying smut with satire, science-fiction with kink—has brought me as much forward momentum as it has rejection. I’d think the further down the rabbit hole a writer explores; whether he or she tickles forth scenes of noir westerns, tries their facility at parody romance, or steps the way many an erotic writer like me has, ever fine-tuning BDSM short fiction; the more one can either find a rabid audience who will gobble up your specific unusual scribblings, as much as a broad population who won’t give a rat’s ass to follow where it is you might be going.
I dare say, though, writing erotica as I do and being involved in the business of, I see many a publisher and reader thoroughly enjoying niche material. Why is this so of naughty in erotica, more than other kinds of writing? And is it actually so? I’m not so sure. I just know lots of my fellow smut writers are very comfortable delving into what is considered niche content.
Defined as a NOUN: “a specialized segment of the market for a particular kink of product or service, as an ADJECTIVE: “denoting or relating to products, services or interests (my emphasis) that appeal to a small, specialized section of the population.” And it just might be because we naked apes can think up a veritable plethora of stuff (and really, have you ever experienced a plethora that wasn’t veritable?) to satisfy our lusts, erotica, the artistic expression of those lusts, is ripe for niche exploration. There is bound to be somebody out there with some of the same sexual interests, or close to them, that you have, no matter how ‘niche’/kinky/non-vanilla they are.
I know that I have made my way very well in niche erotica. For instance, I just placed this story at the House of Denial male chastity retailer (and am working on more for them right now). Chastity is undoubtedly a niche kink, but I found a place for my work at this site, was in fact, prompted to write this story because I followed some instinct to delve a little deeper into teasing, fem dom, a power-play dynamic.
Will writing niche erotica, hell, niche anything, work for you? Who knows? All we can ever do is try. But I can tell you, although there might be a smaller, more specific population for niche content, if you manage to lock-in with people who have a particular penchant for something, you might find yourself a rabid audience who might tickle your coffers.
And really, who doesn’t want their coffers tickled?
