niche relationship styles, publishing, etc, may contain adult themes

[sashamerideth]

OK, I am going to try to tone this down a bit, mods, move or delete, as this is a bit more adult than I have spotted in my short time here.

I am a polyamorous, bisexuality woman, and I know that puts me in a severe minority, and I have had more than my fair share of abuse and attempts at exploitation.

This has started to play a major part in my work, I have a new husband/wife pair trying to get my MC in their relationship as another partner for the wife. Who also has a female partner and her own respective husband. Is this sort of relationship dynamic going to get my book put with the LGBTQ specific section or would I get away with mainstream publishing?

It will be a source of a lot of conflict but is not too late to tone down. They are still a polyandrious civilization, my main character though is from a strictly monogamous, heterosexual society.
Problem is, these stresses are a primary source of my character's downfall, starts him on the path to villany and if I tone it back, I will need more conflict that I haven't planned in my overview.

 

[Ophiucha]

Though it probably won't be hitting the NYT Bestseller's List any time soon, it isn't too niche to avoid being put in the fantasy section. Even if there is some erotica, it may still have a chance at staying on the fantasy shelves. There have been authors that explored sexuality in various facets in otherworld settings, though it is far more common in science fiction. I would direct you towards good ol' Robert Heinlein for more on that subject. I think you will be fine... at least, I hope you'd be. My main project has a lot to do with polyamory, and there is a large subplot about how magic effects women with multiple partners when she has children (the word 'superfecundation' is used abnormally often).

Anyway, China Mieville wrote about someone having sex with a hideous cockroach alien in far more detail than anybody desired and he's considered a modern master of the genre. I wouldn't worry too much about it; if it's what you want to write, write it.

 

[J. Rosemary Moss]

Hi SashaMerideth!

Have you considered marketing this among more than one niche? I write mostly M/M and F/F stories. The book my writing partner and I are working on now will work primarily for the M/M crowd, but judging by what some straight readers have told me, it will work with some of the fantasy crowd too. So I say write it with the erotic and polyamorous relationships and then see if you can market it for multiple niches.

(Is there a polyamorous niche, by the way? There's certainly a polyamorous community. And I know M/M readers are often willing to read M/M/M or M/F/M. I'd be willing to bet that the polyamorous market is larger than the F/F market--which, sadly, seems to be the smallest as far as I can tell! Probably because while the M/M has a big following among straight women, the F/F doesn't. But now I'm just kvetching!)

 

[sashamerideth]

I don't actually want to wind up in a niche or erotica, rather be more mainstream. Think I can get away with my relationships in mainstream publishing?

 

[Dante Sawyer]

sashamerideth,
I actually do think you can use those relationships in mainstream publishing as long as the dynamic of the relationship isn't the main focus point of the novel. Being as, I think at least, you want to publish this in the fantasy genre, the main point of the novel should still be focused on the quest and character developement. The relationships could be more of sub-plots. But I do think that using the relationships is completely possible; that's the great thing about fantasy, no one can tell you what you're writing is wrong.

 

[Kaellpae]

It would be an interesting read. As Dante said, don't make the relationship the center of the story. Maybe one of the conflicts you'd want to include? I'm personally very vanilla when it comes to my love life, and that might be a bit too much information.. But that doesn't mean I don't like reading about I like reading stuff that contrasts to my tastes in the real world. It makes me feel more into the characters.

 

[sashamerideth]

It would be an interesting read. As Dante said, don't make the relationship the center of the story. Maybe one of the conflicts you'd want to include? I'm personally very vanilla when it comes to my love life, and that might be a bit too much information.. But that doesn't mean I don't like reading about I like reading stuff that contrasts to my tastes in the real world. It makes me feel more into the characters.

I don't do erotica, and am not good at writing sensual romance, so I won't be making readers uncomfortable with TMI on purpose. I am not writing this really to make a point about sexual diversity, it is a story about redemption through your friends and family.

I also didn't set out to have any f/f relationships, it just sort of happened when my characters were under a lot of pressure. My matriarch turned to another woman for help, and they just had a fling. The polyandry idea came after hearing about the Mormon pioneers from a friend, and I wanted to do a story like that, but with a strong matriarical society instead. They are still a small group very unlike the rest of their world.

 

[Kaellpae]

Well. I would read that. It sounds like an interesting story.

 

[TWErvin2]

Sashamerideth,

What you should do is go the local bookstore and/or library and check out the selections of fantasy available. Bookstores will have mainly what's relatively new out there on the market by major publishers and libraries will have some new, but a lot of works that have been around 1-7 or so years, maybe a few longer. Again, most of these will likely be more mainstream publishers than niche or erotica.

This will give you a good idea of what is selling (or sold a year or two ago, since it takes at least that long to get through the process to reach the bookshelves).

If you don't find much of anything it may be that library and/or bookstore manager that might shy away from such, but it's a start--it would also give you a clue if there was resistance, at least in your area, to what you hope to include in your work. You could also search authors and works on the internet and see if you can find any by major publishers. This will also give you a clue as to the niche markets as well. I cannot say, but the smaller markets, at least at first, may be what you're work is destined to. Build up enough of an audience and well, the sky is the limit.

It depends on your goals and the reason you want to include the relationship in your novel. All authors have to make such decisions. The type of language an author includes in their novels (such as foul or vulgar language) has an impact on what markets will accept such a work, and will also affect the readership if the work finds a publisher. If an author wants to reach a certain market they may have to tone down or alter the language used in the novel, for example. In romance, my understanding is that certain imprints have guidelines as to content and story endings, otherwise they will not consider a piece.

Whatever direction you take and pursue, hope it all works out.

 

[Eliazar]

I agree with the general notion - it depends on what you put your emphasis and/or how you market you book. If it just happens that there is polyamory in the book, even as the driving force behind some of the characers' emotions etc., I don't see why anyone "mainstream" would have a problem with it as long as it's a good fantasy story. I think it would rather enhance the experience and add something new and special in contrast to vanilla stuff. The same goes for bisexuality, if not even more so. I quite enjoy some F/F stuff, so if I'm any indication, it will work

Also, if it reflects personal experience, this might finally a chance to read some good erotic parts in a fantasy novel Most that I've read so far were rather blunt and did seem as if the writer learned all about sexuality from 70s porn movies.

 

[Dante Sawyer]

Also, if it reflects personal experience, this might finally a chance to read some good erotic parts in a fantasy novel Most that I've read so far were rather blunt and did seem as if the writer learned all about sexuality from 70s porn movies.

Haha, funny. But Eliazar makes a pretty good point. You said you don't write erotica, and that's all well and good (this is a fantasy forum after all...), but that doesn't mean that, should you wish to, you could not go slightly more in depth with the romances. Drawing from personal experiences (be it lessons, people I know, my love life and so on) is a great way to add life to your writing. I think it's great you'd use that relationship in your novel, and I'd love to read something you've written in print someday.
Best of luck, hope I've been at least somewhat helpful. Chamos.
-Dante

 

[Caged Maiden]

I think there's a huge question of how detailed the characters' sexuality is in the story. I write some pretty raw things, because I like to make my characters experience life as I see it, and that goes for all their interaction, whether it's a fight or in the bedroom. HOWEVER, I have also read books which made me roll my eyes because they were so trashy and completely filled with unnecessary details and language I found distasteful (that's saying a lot, because I'm anything but a prude).
Some of my favorite novels have had same-sex relationships, and I can't imagine anyone would get horribly offended by that alone, I think it is in how the relationships are portrayed in the story, and what details an author wants to write.
If it were me, I'd ask, "Do I want to go there?"
I've got all kinds of things I've written about that some might find controversial, but in the end, all I can say is that I like to write about things that people do and feel and go through, and in the end, I decided to go there.
You should write about the things you want to write about, and if that relationship is important to you, I think you should write it the way you want to see it, and think about editing it later if it feels too heavy or graphic or whatever. I've toned things down in editing before so it fit better.