Writing Erotica for Money: Hustler Fantasies

WARNING: The following post contains some adult subject matter. This is not to be read by puritanical Evangelicals, fundementalist Muslims or those easily offended.

Contrary to popular belief, people are reading more than ever.

The internet has fueled people's reading. Entire newspapers can be scanned online. Novels sometimes appear on peer-to-peer before the bookshelf. Articles, blogs and news can be updated instantly, unlike newspapers.

And somebody needs to write this stuff. So the opportunities to get paid for writing are growing all the time.

Pornography is one such opportunity. Some people suggest the internet is fueled by pornography. Whether that's true or not, it has allowed more people than ever to have access to the information they need to produce articles and get paid for them.

One such opportunity is writing for Hustler Fantasies.

A spin-off from Larry Flynt's infamous Hustler magazine, Hustler Fantasies is primarily story driven and apparently filled with letters from readers. In fact, many of these are written by professional writers, who get paid £25 for each story published.

I have successfully written stories for Hustler Fantasies before and found them a lovely company to deal with. I received a colourful cheque in U.S. Dollars, a copy of the magazine containing my story and even an obscene Christmas card from the team at Hustler Fantasies.

Since Tina and I are short on money - and God forbid I have to work nights again to resolve that - I have decided to write erotica for money. And an excellent starting point should be the magazine that published me before.

In case anybody else is interested in submitting to Hustler Fantasies, I outline below their submission instructions.

HUSTLER FANTASIES: a digest-size monthly letters magazine comprised of approximately 12 letters and a fiction piece. Specific categories listed below.

Letters: Length: 3-6 typed, double-spaced pages, or 600 to 1200 words Payment: $25.00 (upon printing)

Hot, fast-paced pornographic letters written in a first-person conversational, confessional style.

Thirteen categories: group, trio, oral, anal, kink, B&D, lesbian, voyeur, exhibition, older/younger, straight, phone sex and masturbation/sex toys.

Fiction:Length: 10-14 typed, double-spaced pages, or 2000-3000 words Payment: $100 (upon printing)

Well-written short stories / "true" experiences written in any style, category or voice. At least two explicit, torrid, steamy sex scenes. Emphasis on plot/storyline.No bestiality, rape, incest, male homosexuality, sex with minors, simultaneous submissions or excessive wordiness, please!

Acceptable Manuscript Formats: We prefer to receive your manuscript saved as ASCII or text, on a 3.5 inch floppy disk formatted for Macintosh. Please include a printout. Disks will be returned to contributors. Typewritten manuscripts are acceptable, but must be double-spaced, and the ink must be dark. Handwritten manuscripts are not acceptable.

To Submit a Manuscript: Please include your name, address, social security number and a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

Mail to: Hustler Fantasies, LFP, Inc., 8484 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 900, Beverly Hills CA 90211

I find Hustler have accepted about 25% of my submissions. This is because there is heavy competition despite the high churn of stories. Make sure they adhear strictly to the guidelines above. They print one 'fiction' submission per issue, and about six 'letters.' This means you are presumably six times more likely to have your letter published than a story.

Not mentioned above, but obvious from studying their stories, is a preference for 'safe sex' in their stories. Unless dealing with husbands, wives or long term partners, sexual encounters are to include safe sex and the use of condoms.

Finally, the average waiting period for acceptence for rejection is six months. Don't expect to hear anything back any earlier.

If you do decide to submit a story, good luck. Remember to keep them short, hot and sexy.