Nine column inches of hot throbbing opinions
Welcome back to the Feldspar Column, fellow smutters, erotica enthusiasts, and readers of finely-hewn raunch. This year I was lucky enough to get my erotic barbarian story, The Beast of Balduun, published by Uruk Press. Based in the UK, it offers multiple lines of quality erotica, from more mainstream-leaning stories to full-on filthy raunch-fests. Check them out!
The genesis of the novella came about because I saw a call for submissions for an Uruk Press short story anthology. I had submitted a short story called “The Beast of Balduun.” Unfortunately, I didn’t make the anthology, but on the positive side, Uruk Press wanted me to turn the short story into a novella. (Note: The original short story was 8000 words; the novella 40,000 words.) An intimidating prospect, but also an opportunity to expand the world of the short story and allow for character development, world-building, and bigger sex scenes.
Getting published meant working with an editor. In this case with Philippa Martinez. My other stories have been self-published, so I was incredibly happy to have an extra set of eyes looking at my work. Overall, my experience was positive. I didn’t feel like my “artistic vision” was compromised or I had to sacrifice things to make it more “marketable.” Philippa’s main objective remained making The Beast of Balduun a high-quality product. This involved polishing and sharpening the writing.
Throughout the editing process, Philippa and I collaborated on making the novella the best it could be possibly be. This involved focusing on three specific things:
- Grammar and Writing
The first aspect was the most crucial and the most challenging … at least to me, the author. Despite having an advanced degree from an established university, it was not in English. I can be a stickler for correct usage, but I am not an expert in the field. The appropriate times to use “that” and “which” always trip me up. Computer programs help with grammar and usage, but they are also not perfect. When self-publishing my smutty tales, I usually had to double- and triple-check them myself, hoping I didn’t miss anything. This is especially difficult after writing a piece, since it’s been written and revised and polished by me. Even in the best circumstances, a word could be dropped or a homonym missed (there, their; two, too, to) because I am too familiar with the story.
Self-publishing Pro Tip: After you’ve completed your story, put it away. At minimum for a day, preferably longer. Then you can come back to it fresh. When you see it with fresh eyes, the obvious errors are easier to pick up.
In any case, Philippa aided me in spotting those tricky grammatical flubs and goofs. In the end, it made the piece – despite its unmitigated raunchiness – a professional product.
Self-publishing Pro Tip: Once you put your story out there for the public, all your errors and goofs are there for the public to nit-pick and criticize. So make sure someone else looks at it. Find a First Reader and/or Beta Reader, or look for a creative writing group. (For smutty, adult-oriented stories, I would highly suggest the Erotica Readers and Writers Association, aka ERWA.)
With grammar, the smallest things stand out. A grammatically incorrect phrasing or misspelling will be a major distraction. Especially when you want your reader to really get into your story. Nothing can kill arousal quicker than bad grammar. Irregardless …
- Continuity
Philippa was a great help with story continuity. Since The Beast of Balduun was a sword and sorcery tale, an added layer of continuity involved geography, magic systems, and fantastic beasts. Since the eBook lacked a map and glossary, we had to make things clear for the reader. During the drafting stage, my main goal was to finish the damn thing. I also revised it along the way before handing it over to Philippa.
In terms of continuity, we made additions and cuts. Because I, the author, wrote the story, it all made sense in my head. (Lord knows, I had the thing knocking around my skull for over a year. Thinking and re-thinking, story-breaking, etc.) Unfortunately, what seems obvious to me might be confusing, contradictory, or nonsensical to a new reader. One of the many challenges of writing is translating what’s in your imagination to what’s on on the page. No Self-Publishing Pro Tip for that, just: Good luck with that.
During the editorial process, Philippa caught some geographical errors and assisted me in having my exotic locales make sense. Sometimes things needed to be underlined for the reader. At other times, I would drop lengthy exposition in order to communicate the same point with a throwaway line of dialogue.
- Upping the sexiness
Having self-published three short stories (which you should totally read!), I thought I had a handle on how erotic to make things. Philippa worked to up the ante with the erotic scenes. “Make it sexier!” to adapt the saying by Ezra Pound (“Make it new.”)
Despite my preconception that I thought my earlier draft was as erotic as possible, Philippa’s editorial eye found places where the smuttiness was amplified. It was a criticism I wasn’t expecting, since the novella was pretty raunchy to begin with.
Yet another reason to have another reader look over your work before releasing it to the public.
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In addition to these points, Philippa was generous in terms of what to achieve by what deadline. As I was writing the novella, she kept the due date open-ended. Since Uruk Press is a small operation, I had some waiting periods, since she had other tasks involving the press.
the lloyd feldspar experience 