It's a Dirty Job: Writing Porn for Fun and Profit
By Katy Terrega
Format(s): PDF (ebook)
Pages: 128
Published: 2002
Ebook Price:
$9.95
Written for both published and unpublished authors, It's a Dirty Job...The
Second Edition has been completely revised and expanded - and includes seven
brand new chapters!
Katy's book is filled with anecdotes and helpful advice, whether you're just
getting started or looking to expand your professional contacts. It will
definitely inspire the creative porn writer in you. Best of all, It's a Dirty
Job...has listings of paying markets! You get submission guidelines and
detailed current needs for books, magazines and internet markets.
This book is all you need to become a professional writer of
porn/erotica.
What
critics and readers are saying...
"If you're looking for a way to break into the erotic market, this
little e-book is all you really need..."
Lybbe of The Erotic Readers Association
"Your book gave me direction, confidence...it was wonderful!"
Keeley Lawerence, aspiring porn writer
"I wanted to thank you for putting out such a great publication...Thanks
to you, my writing has found its niche once again, I'm making money, and have
landed a montly gig with another exciting editor. Thanks for your dedication and
hard work, it's making a difference."
Reader
Table
of Contents
About
The Author
Preface
Introduction
I – Some Basics
Can You
Write Porn?
Following Your Conscience
Tools
of the Trade
Taking
Care of Business
Choosing Your Pseudonym
II – Before You Begin
Doing
Your Homework
The
Magazine Formats: Letters, Stories, Non-Fiction
Some
Additional Markets
Manuscript and Query Basics
Staying
Focused
III – The Art Of Writing PornWho, me? Write?
The
Basic How-To
But
It's All Been Done Before!
Characterization
Plotting
Ideas
The
Real Secret Behind Good Ideas
IV – Story Specifics
Letter
Basics
Anatomy
of a Three Thousand Word Story
The
Non-Fiction Article
V - Working With Editors
VI - Never, Ever Give Up
VII - Now Go For It!
VIII - Paying Porn Markets
IV - Non-Paying Markets
V - Writer's Guidelines
VI - New! Categorized Book and Magazine Listings
Acknowledgements
Bio: Katy Terrega has been writing porn and erotica full-time from the
comfort of her small, suburban living room for over six years. She has had more
than 300 letters, articles, stories, columns and essays published, and her
credits include Swank, Gallery, Playgirl, Penthouse Variations, Score and many
others. She writes a regular Column – Better Sex With Katy Terrega – for
Naughty Neighbors magazine, as well a toy review column for 30Something
magazine. In addition, she runs two sites for sex writers, Katy Terrega’s
Resources For Writers Of Porn and Erotica (http://www.katyterrega.com/newsletter.html)
and Sex-Writer.com (http://www.sex-writer.com.)
She is the author of the book It’s a Dirty Job:Writing Porn For Fun and
Profit, and she also writes a column (Porn 101) for AbsoluteWrite.com. When not
slaving over a hot computer, she enjoys communing with her husband and two
children, writing and performing acoustic rock music and quilting.
Review:
It's
a Dirty Job: Writing Porn for Fun and Profit!
- by Katy Terrega
Reviewed
by Shanna Germain
(10/11/00)
Thanks to author Katy Terrega, I have decided to quit my day job. No more office
work for me, thank you. I'm going to spend my days having sex on paper. Lots of
sex. And I'm going to get paid for it.
What The
Joy of Sex did for horny teenagers, Terrega's book It's a Dirty Job:
Writing Porn for Fun and Profit! does for porn-writers: If you're new to the
game, this book offers solid, step-by-step instruction on the basic tools and
techniques and, more importantly, convinces you that all those wild yearnings
are normal.
"It all boils down to a basic fact of life: Sex is sex; as old as life and
just as compelling. We seem to be insatiable in our need to dissect it, to
understand it, to revel in it. We like to read about it, think about it, and, as
often as possible, do it. Whatever form it takes, whatever words we choose, sex
is hot. And sex sells.
"If you're a little more experienced and already know what goes where, then
you'll find the clear, detailed advice on advanced techniques (such as
fantasizing and submitting) especially helpful.
But It's a Dirty Job goes one step further than the basic how-to book. It
also offers a look at the morality of writing sex scenes for a living. In her
introduction, Terrega tells the reader a little about herself (wife, mother of
two) and then touches upon some of her internal struggles as a porn writer. Is
it okay to be a feminist and write porn? How will she tell her children what she
does? Is there really a difference between porn and erotica?
Although Terrega doesn't offer any solid answers, she does ask thought provoking
questions about getting into the porn-writing trade and invites readers to come
to their own conclusions.
"In order to write porn, you will, at some point, have to draw your own
lines in the sand. Some of these may be obvious. Other can sometimes leave you
wondering. For me, it ends up a balancing act, although occasionally it can feel
more like a tightrope."
Then Terrega takes readers step-by-step through the porn writing process. From
"researching" magazines to crafting a sentence to proofreading,
Terrega makes it sound easy, even if your sex life is like mine (read: not half
as exciting as you imagined it would be).
"You don't need to have participated in a three-way to write about a man
and his wife having a spontaneous session in the hot tub with her best friend.
But maybe you have a hot tub and know how good the water feels. Or maybe your
friend has a hot tub and tells you about the time her friend started having sex
with her boyfriend in said hot tub. It doesn't matter that your friend was
terribly offended and told them both to leave, it only matters that a seed is
planted in your brain."
Terrega also discusses plot, characterization and word choice, all with an eye
toward creating hot-and-heavy action that readers will beg for.
"Hands moving down a body, for example, can alternately slither, slide and
slip. Or they can snake, lazily trace or massage. Or, for a different feel
altogether, they can manipulate or squeeze or pinch. Really feel what's
happening to your characters and then explain those feelings to your reader in
minute detail."
The final section of the book offers a list of markets, both paying and
non-paying, with submission guidelines, contact information and email addresses.
From Swank to Naughty Neighbor to Hustler's Leg World to Purely
18, there is sure to be a market for every writer's style and interest.
But the greatest trait of this book is Terrega's enthusiasm for what she does
and her conviction that anyone, yes, even you or I, can write porn.
"Think about it. How hard is it to imagine your wildest fantasy, embellish
it a little or a lot, write it down and get paid for it? How hard is it to
peruse lingerie sites on your home computer in the middle of the afternoon? And
how hard is it, really, to try out that taboo little sex act, the one you've
always been curious about, all in the name of research?"
After reading Terrega's book, it doesn't seem to be very hard at all.
But once I sell my first piece of porn, I bet my readers won't be able to say
the same.
©2000 by Shanna Germain
