What's the difference between an acceptable sex scene and erotica?

I have found that many authors have trouble drawing a line between what is expected of their genre and erotica.

The key is the answer to the question: how much sex is contributing to the story? People who sell books have to classify your work, somehow. When they look at it, they are going to want to put it into a certain section of their book store (unless you self-publish but more about that in a minute). When you include a bunch of sex for the shock value alone, you have made it difficult to classify your book. Chances are good, a traditional publisher or agent is going to ask you to get rid of some of it.

You may think if you self-publish you can avoid someone chopping apart your art-form. However, you are not thinking about the people who will be buying your book. If you say, "this is a science fiction" and then you fill it with numerous sex scenes that do not contribute to the plot, you are only going to attract those who enjoy both science fiction and erotica. You have reduced your audience. Sometimes you can combine genres and it works out okay, but erotica is one of those genres that is still very taboo. If you combine anything with erotica, it is still erotica.

One final note. If you want to publish to a Christian audience, you need to get rid of all the sex in your novel. I have actually read a book that was published trying to attract a Christian audience and it contained a hot and heavy scene. Even if this occurs between non-Christians or married people, no Christian organization will promote it. Its a dog-eat-dog world when it comes to publishing. Why cut out any of your options just to make a point?

The week of indescision

Another person contacted me and said she really wanted to work with me but she wasn't sure if I would work with her since my profile states "I have the right to refuse a job that I deem ethically wrong even after accepting the award for it."

When I applied for her job, it stated there was sex and graphic violence in the book that need to be edited. Okay - I can handle graphic violence and sex. However, in her message she described the book as if it were erotica. Which I do not do. I also would not write a book like this. I have the full ability to write something filled with graphic details, but I choose not to. Editing, well, I have read some pretty bad trash in my time, so nothing much can phase me reading wise.

However, there is a fine line between erotica and a novel with sex in it. In her initial post, she did not say "graphic sex," just "sex". But perhaps she meant to combine the two? A novel written as erotica is written specifically to ...hmmm ... how shall I put this - excite people... or perhaps make them throw up. I vaguely remember reading a bit of Anne Rice's In the Claiming of Sleeping Beauty years ago - or at lest an excerpt from it. That book seemed to only have the goal of, uh, exciting people and I obviously did not continue reading it. However, I have also read Dangerous Liasons, and that is what this book seemed along the lines of. Similarly, most romance novels also have some pretty spicy parts interwoven in among other parts. The key is - what is the goal of this book. Is is solely to get people going? Then you can have as much sex in it as you want - just call it erotica. If it is to depict a crime and sex is an integral part of it, such as Basic Instinct, sorry, its not really erotica. If your goal is to show how a man and woman end up living happily ever after - its a romance and although you can put spicy sex in it, most romances still have a limited amount of sex and there are certain things you do not usually describe even in spicy romances.

This woman must have thought hers was more on the erotica side because she stopped corresponding. That' is fine with me. I really hate taking a job and then ending up having to turn it down.

I've awarded you this job... Wait no I changed my mind.

Friday, a potential employer sent me an email alerting me that she had awarded me a job at 3:00PM. Now, some days, I keep my email open all day long, but I am running short on my online allotment (actually I am way over right now, but who is counting?).

I got on my account at 4:45 PM, only to see her email announcement, see that she had in fact awarded me the job, and then see that she had rescinded that award. (Rescinded is my spelling word of the week since she did this to me.)

What provokes someone to award a job and then cancel it an hour and forty five minutes later?  I don't know. Although there is a place for the employer to leave a message, she chose not to tell me why she made her rather flighty decision.

However, in some aspects I am relieved. I really do not work for someone who can't decide what she wants...