How to Publish Erotica

Nothing about the writing changes. What changes is the paperwork, and the paperwork is where erotica writers lose accounts, titles and payments. This page walks through the published requirements in the order you meet them, using only what the platforms put in their own creator documentation, which is the sourcing rule for the whole of this section for writers.

Step one: find the rule that will actually be applied

The rule that matters is the one belonging to whoever takes the reader's money. If you publish through a distributor, two rule sets apply: theirs and each store's. Draft2Digital is candid about this and says most of its vendors prohibit some forms of erotica, that it cannot send erotica titles to Bookshop.org or to library systems, and that previously published delivery policies are likely out of date. If you sell through a membership platform, a third rule set applies, belonging to the payment processor, and that is the subject of payment processors and erotica.

Two of those rule sets are worth reading before you write rather than after. Each platform's prohibited list differs in detail, and the differences are not cosmetic: Ream permits incest and pseudo-incest erotica and mythical creature erotica while prohibiting several other categories outright, Draft2Digital requires six named themes to be declared during publishing, and Patreon's guidelines bar consensual non-consent entirely. A manuscript that is fine in one place is unpublishable in another, and no page will tell you after the fact.

Step two: pick the route

1. Decide the shape. A finished book goes to the stores. A serial goes to a subscription platform or a free site. A short goes wherever readers already are.
2. Check the content rule at that destination, and at every store a distributor will send you to.
3. Open the account and finish the tax and banking step, which several routes require before publication rather than before payment.
4. Classify the work in whatever system the route uses, accurately. Draft2Digital warns that misleading it about the nature of the content can close the account.
5. Set the price within the conditions that the royalty band imposes, if you are selling a book.
6. Keep your own copy of the rights position, which is usually a clause in the terms rather than anything you sign separately.

Which route suits which kind of work is set out on our page on platforms for writers, and what each pays is on how these platforms pay.

Step three: classify it the way that route wants

Every publishing route in this section has a declaration step, and they do not ask the same question. Some ask about the text, some only about the cover and the title, and one asks you to name specific themes.

The Amazon row is the one most writers misread. The question as worded covers images and title language and does not mention the text of the book, so a novel with an entirely clean cover and title is not obviously caught by it. What that means in practice is not published anywhere we read.

What classification costs you

Declaring the work honestly is the right call and it is also expensive in reach, which nobody tells you beforehand. Amazon's metadata guidelines say books containing sexually explicit images or titles will not surface in general product searches. Smashwords hides erotica until a registered reader asks to see it, and Substack's guidelines say explicit content may be kept out of its discovery features. The full list of those limits sits alongside the platforms that refuse the category outright.

The consequence is the same everywhere: an erotica writer brings the audience, and platform discovery is a bonus where it exists at all. What each platform shows you about the readers you do get is covered in what the dashboards report.

The undefined line at Amazon, and the stores that copy it

Four of the big storefronts ban a category they never define. Amazon's content guidelines list content that contains pornography among what it does not sell and define nothing, while the Kindle Store runs a Best Sellers category called Erotica. Apple's guidelines bar prohibited explicit or objectionable content with no definition. Kobo's content policy, dated October 2023, bars material with references to pornography while its help centre explains how to publish Erotica. Barnes & Noble Press treats sexual subject matter written for arousal as obscene or pornographic in a 2021 policy, while a bn.com help article describes a shopper setting for whether erotica appears in search results.

None of those gaps is resolvable from the outside, so this site does not pretend to resolve them. What a writer can take from it is the asymmetry: the discretion is entirely theirs. Amazon's terms say it decides what it accepts in its sole discretion and that it will not owe royalties on a book it decides breached the guidelines, and may recover royalties already paid. Kobo's rejection guide says failure to follow the content policy may result in account closure. Where erotica is banned sets out each line in full.

Who keeps the rights

This part is better than its reputation. On the pages we read, the writer keeps the copyright nearly everywhere, and the platform takes a licence to publish rather than ownership.

Amazon's terms say that as between the parties you retain all ownership rights in your books, with a nonexclusive licence granted for the term. Draft2Digital says it has no claim to the copyright or ownership of your works. Kobo's terms acknowledge that you own all right, title and interest and that rights not granted are reserved. Literotica grants itself only a non-exclusive right to publish your story on Literotica.com. Wattpad's terms give it a nonexclusive license to publish your content on the Wattpad Services. Patreon says Creators keep full ownership of their creations, Substack says original content remains yours and is protected by copyright, and Ream says you retain ownership and may publish elsewhere. GoodNovel's terms reserve to you all rights not expressly granted, although the per-story contract is not public.

Two blanks are worth knowing about. Apple's rights and licence terms sit inside the Paid Books Agreement, which we did not read, and the agreement that governs ebook publishing at Barnes & Noble Press returned a server error on the day it was checked, so neither position is confirmed here.

The money set-up is a gate, not a formality

Several routes will not let you publish until the payment side is finished. Draft2Digital requires a tax form before publishing even if you intend to list a book for free, plus a one-time activation fee. Google Play Books requires a local business address and a local bank account in a supported country, and US tax information for sales in the US or in US dollars. Apple's sign-up warns of a few days to verify details with the IRS, and pen names need a separate request after approval. GoodNovel locks your payment details for 90 days once they are set. The full cost of each route is on what it costs a writer to get paid.