I've been writing a book...

[Guest S****r]

I have been writing a book about my life as an escort. Tonight I attended a session on how to get published. Working through some steps, I have to determine who the target market is for this book. Who do you think the people would be that would actually buy a book about the life of an escort?

men?

women?

men over a certain age?

women over a certain age?

etc. etc.

 

It is important for me to answer this so I can determine how to best market it.

 

Who do you think would be the people likely to pick up such a book and

buy it?

 

Please don't say "anyone" or "everyone" would be interested, because that is not accurate. And remember--not only who would find it interesting, but who would actually spend money to read it. Those are the people I need to target and market it to.

 

What do you think?

 

Comments greatly appreciated.

Thank you!!!

[50 Shades Raven 31380]

I, for one, would definitely read something like this.

I think it would be exciting to see someone's perspective of the lifestyle.

 

People have all these misconceptions of what this lifestyle is. Some believe we are pulled in against our means, others think we 'need' the money.

 

Having it all out there in black and white would be a great read.

 

Count me in to buy a copy when it comes to fruition!

[Guest Miss Jane TG]

Mature separated men.

[Guest D***el B***e]

Mature separated men.

 

Totally agree!

 

I would be very interested in reading the book but would not be able to buy it, maybe not even the electronic version for the simple fact I have a SO and it wouldn't bode too well if I suddenly started to get interested in the life of an escort.

 

Great idea though.

[Helena D'Orville 33237]

I would say that it depends on the angle you took when you wrote your book. In fact, you might be the only one to know which category of readers are primarily targeted. Hope it helps ;-)

[blue_eyes56 2010]

Mature separated men.

 

Unhappy married men - pretty big market!

[Phaedrus 209521]

It depends who's playing you in the TV adaption.

[Guest S****r]

Totally agree!

 

I would be very interested in reading the book but would not be able to buy it, maybe not even the electronic version for the simple fact I have a SO and it wouldn't bode too well if I suddenly started to get interested in the life of an escort.

 

Yes, I have begun to think that the primary delivery should be electronic and not paper, for that very reason.

[CristyCurves 169032]

I think a lot of women would buy it, young and old. I think many would be curious, many would be titillated and some would hate read. I too have thought about writing one, in time perhaps. I think your audience would be bigger than you may suspect, best of luck and much success with it.

[Midnite-Energies 110563]

I think your target would be the 35 -50 demographic. These would be the people interested in the topic from whatever angle, have the interest in reading and be open to a new topic. In would think the younger demographic may have sine intetest but it would be hit or miss. If they were readers generally and had an interest. Most others are into other genres and interests.

 

As was mentioned it also depends on the pov you took in the book.

 

Good luck and excited to hear what happens. Publishing digitally is such a great option now.

[Guest D***el B***e]

Yes, I have begun to think that the primary delivery should be electronic and not paper, for that very reason.

 

I'm not saying I don't want to read the book, I would really would loooove to but, again, I'd have a bit of a hard time explaining what I'm doing looking at my computer screen, or ipad screen for hours on end. But that's just me, I really think you'd have a market for your book. I may just have to hide in the closet and read it! Wait, wait, this whole life of mine is in the closet, what am I saying? of course I'll find a way to read it ...

[Eric Northman 16522]

I think there might be a large female market for it. I was meeting women on Ashley Madison for a while and had a 100% honesty policy so often the subject of escorts came up. I was quite surprised by how fascinated all of them were with the whole subject. One even started speculating about doing it herself, picking my brain about getting started and stuff. I had to point her to Lyla because I didn't want to pretend to be an expert but it was quite interesting to see how intrigued they were.

[Nicolette Vaughn 294340]

I would have to say your readership may be women in their mid 20's to early 30's. Sometimes life circumstances ( college students etc) as well as a curiosity while comfortable with themselves may draw women in to read books like this because they want to get into the business. This was me many years ago. Lol.</p>

 

I would also suggest to keep it as realistic as possible. There was an author who published a book about being an escort which was a "Sex and the City" Manhattan escort. It turns out this author wasn't an escort to begin with. People who have no idea about this industry need to also get past the glamorous side and it and realize the nitty gritty as well. Its not all fun and games and buying handbags and living in a nice condo with businessmen spending thousands of dollars for one night.</p>

 

There are a lot of young impressionable women out there who will be reading these types of books because they want to get start in the business and need to know there are risks and dangers mentally, physically and emotionally. It can be a tough business to be in if a person isn't prepared for it or doesn't understand it completely.

[Eric Northman 16522]

There are a lot of young impressionable women out there who will be reading these types of books because they want to get start in the business and need to know there are risks and dangers mentally, physically and emotionally. It can be a tough business to be in if a person isn't prepared for it or doesn't understand it completely.

 

This! I imagine if you put a fair bit of technical information about best practices for things like screening and other business matters, it might save someone having to figure it all out on their own. Like the lady I mentioned above. I told her that there were a number of 'new to the business' type threads here on Lyla but if your book had a bit of getting started advice, it might be a big attraction.

 

I wonder. Controversy sells. If your book was on some level a howto guide to getting started with escorting, would that be scandalous? Would people potentially criticize it as encouraging young women to become escorts? If you want to sell a million copies, having a bunch of people angry with your book is potentially a really good start.

[MightyPen 67414]

I would say that it depends on the angle you took when you wrote your book. In fact, you might be the only one to know which category of readers are primarily targeted. Hope it helps ;-)

Although there are many good comments in the thread, I think this one is the most important. I can't really tell you how "a book about my life as an escort" will sell, because that doesn't narrow down what the book really is enough to define the interested market.

 

A book much like Belle du Jour is sexy, exciting, sex-celebratory, deliciously frank and scandalous, and has young, brilliant, gorgeous, and well-off people being young, gorgeous and well-off while having sex. Who doesn't read that? This is why Belle du Jour was such a best seller.

 

I don't know what approach your book takes, so I'll just invent a hypothetical book that may or may not resemble the one you are writing. It's a thinly fictionalized account of a mature escort finding her way through the world of sex work.

 

a) it will draw as directly as possible from her own real experience, which would be a primary strength for the book. It's a personal story.

 

b) It will comment on her own self-assessment as she incorporates sex work into her own life: the tension between that and who she was previously; and the tension between that and who she is during the rest of the time when she's not doing her new job (comparing and contrasting with the other roles and relationships in her life). This is the primary, personal story in the book.

 

c) It will comment on the reality of sex work versus i) the public perception of sex workers and what they do, and ii) her own perception of those things before she started doing it. This includes both "wow, most of these clients aren't bad guys after all!", some "wow, a lot of men really are the immature jerks you'd expect." It has some "wow, this is way less glamorous than it sounded in Belle du Jour," and quite a bit of "omigod this is really a lot of hard work and it takes an incredible amount of time just to manage, advertise, prepare, and execute."

 

Because she's challenging social conventions, this is the social and political commentary in the book.

 

d) It will possibly have some sexytimes stories. "He slid his fingers gently along the inside of my thigh..." kind of stuff. This stuff is very, very, very hard to get right and easy to get wrong. But if she does get it right, this is the sexy story in the book.

 

e) It will examine the clients she has seen, what they have in common and what makes them unique, the relationships she has struck up with them, how they differ from popular expectations of who sees escorts. It will also confront the issue of married men seeing escorts, probably concluding that this has its regrettable side but in the end is more constructive and healing than destructive, and better than many of the alternatives. In the course of that it will examine the role of sex in our modern lives and relationships, how sex and intimacy can be neglected, and the sex worker's role in helping with that.

 

This is once again social commentary.

 

For such a book:

 

a) is a strength that gives fundamental value to the book, but doesn't predict any particular market.

 

b) skews heavily toward a female market of 25-50, who are interested in identity, the larger role of sex in a woman's life beyond sexyfuntimes, and contemplating their own futures or reflecting on the lives they have lived so far and the personal conventions they're questioning.

 

c) will interest a few men interested in social issues, but mostly women in that same 25-50 age group, informed about sex and ready to explore and challenge conventional views about it.

 

d) well, women 25+ and men 40+; the men segment depends on how it's written but mostly the younger men aren't inclined to read about mature people's sex.

 

e) strong with men who will identify with the clients (age 40+?); very weak with men who don't want to identify with those clients; moderate with women 25+; strong with women 40+ who are, or were, married to men just like those clients.

 

So this book scores best with women 25-50, and strongest with those 40+; and moderately with men 40+.

 

The sex itself isn't the selling point. The personal story is the selling point, and interest in this story is supported by the social commentary and the sexy story.

 

Interest in the political commentary will be incidental. A small segment of people will be interested in this aspect, but mostly it's something that's just delivered alongside the rest, like vitamins in a loaf of bread.

[Mikeyboy 27133]

Well put Mighty Pen.

 

My initial instinct is also that you are looking at a mature female demographic. I was going to say late 20's to late 40's. Women who are interested in reading about female sexuality in general, not just women who are looking to get into the industry. There is a huge demographic there of women who like to explore their own sexuality and imagination from the safety of a book. Just ask the author of 50 Shades of Grey ;) . (I'm not suggesting that this is the type of book you are writing of course, just that the target demographic may be similar, and for similar reasons.)

[Guest S****r]

Omg Mighty Pen. I swear you have been reading my book!

:-)

 

Further information, for those who are interested: The book is not written as a "how-to" guide at all. For one reason, there are already several of those around. For another, because I still feel like a newbie myself, and don't feel I have the history to write such a text. On the other hand, my own errors and mistakes will be included, and others could certainly infer some guidance from it in that way.

 

It is written more in order to entertain, to make some political commentary, and to educate about the reality of the escort world from my experience--to perhaps put some cracks into the stereotype of sex workers.

 

Actually, there is no real hard-core agenda with it. I just enjoy writing. Some of the entries in my online blog will be included. If you are interested in reading any of those, PM me and I will send you the link. It will give you a sense of the style, tone and register it will be.

 

I am sure other ladies on here must be writing a book, also. Would any of you care to share about yours here, too?

 

I really appreciate all the feedback here, as well as the PMs. I am taking it ALL into consideration.

xo

[Nicolette Vaughn 294340]

This! I imagine if you put a fair bit of technical information about best practices for things like screening and other business matters, it might save someone having to figure it all out on their own. Like the lady I mentioned above. I told her that there were a number of 'new to the business' type threads here on Lyla but if your book had a bit of getting started advice, it might be a big attraction.

 

I wonder. Controversy sells. If your book was on some level a howto guide to getting started with escorting, would that be scandalous? Would people potentially criticize it as encouraging young women to become escorts? If you want to sell a million copies, having a bunch of people angry with your book is potentially a really good start.

 

I think you misunderstood what I meant. A lot of women ages 20-35 will specifically go searching for books about this business because they may be interested into getting into it and may have a skewed vision of what they think it is all about. Others may read this type of book on the beach somewhere as just something interesting to read.

 

I wasn't suggesting a "how to" book rather a book that is real and not depicting this business as very glamorous because a lot of times it isn't.

 

Women who aren't in this business may be blind sighted by all the fluffy type books that are sold on Amazon that focus on dream type clients and lots of money. It doesn't work that way. They need an accurate version from someone who has witnessed and experienced it firsthand.

 

If someone in the above demographics gains of idea of what is real, they then can make an informed decision IF they want to get into the business and only IF that's why they are reading the book in the first place. Other women may fantasize about this business, buy the books and continue about their regular life. IMO that age demographic will probably be the most popular.

 

I once read a book 10 years ago about a woman who was a Harvard Professor by day and an escort by night. She had her own share of trials and tribulations which made the book that much better.

 

Keep the book pointed in a "real" direction and you will have multiple demographics as your audience.

Posted via Mobile Device

[Guest S****r]

I appreciate your advice and insight, Nicolette. Thank you.

[loopie 15358]

I read one sex trade worker memoir called 'Rent Girl' by Michelle Tea. It was good in that it reflected the sex trade in that middle zone that is neither some fantasy about making millions of dollars romancing hunks on dream dates, nor was it some gritty sad streetwalker's tale of despair. However I disliked everything else about the book. I found Tea to be way too much of a bratty slacker to stand. And the writing is terrible. I'm not a stickler for grammar and spelling, but this book was full of mistakes a first grader wouldn't make. Still, I'd say it felt like a fair representation of the life.

 

One I found really entertaining was 'Candy Girl' by Diablo Cody. She later became a screenwriter who wrote movies like 'Juno', but this book is a memoir of her time as a stripper. She brings a lot of humour and insight that makes for a good read.

 

Maybe reading those two will help give you some ideas of how you're going to approach the subject.

[CasinoMing 1967]

I think it is awesome that someone in the industry is willing to put pen to paper (or the 21st century equivalent) and write about her experiences. If you ask a hundred people about the industry, you'll get one hundred different views.

 

Most of us are familar with the stereotypes, have seen the Hollywood movies, or watched the latest news on human trafficking, etc. The women I've visited with are intelligent, warm-hearted individuals who are in this industry because they want to be. They are in control of their lives and for the most part, take on life's challenges with a level head and sound reasoning. But we all know (either first hand or otherwise) of the less fortunate in this industry. No one "view" is correct or more accurate than another.

 

Personally, I would love to read about someone's experiences - especially from a person who is from the Ottawa area - and see their challenges, their worries, their prospectives, their triumphs, their adventures. And yes, I think there would be a market for this book... perhaps not a "Harry Potter" in term of copies sold, but a popular read nonetheless.

 

Keep well, keep safe.

 

CM

[VedaSloan 119179]

I read one sex trade worker memoir called 'Rent Girl' by Michelle Tea. It was good in that it reflected the sex trade in that middle zone that is neither some fantasy about making millions of dollars romancing hunks on dream dates, nor was it some gritty sad streetwalker's tale of despair. However I disliked everything else about the book. I found Tea to be way too much of a bratty slacker to stand. And the writing is terrible. I'm not a stickler for grammar and spelling, but this book was full of mistakes a first grader wouldn't make. Still, I'd say it felt like a fair representation of the life.

 

One I found really entertaining was 'Candy Girl' by Diablo Cody. She later became a screenwriter who wrote movies like 'Juno', but this book is a memoir of her time as a stripper. She brings a lot of humour and insight that makes for a good read.

 

Maybe reading those two will help give you some ideas of how you're going to approach the subject.

 

 

I had the exact opposite reaction to both of those books. I loved Michelle Tea's graphic novel of her time doing sex work. I thought it was honest and interesting.

 

Diablo Cody's work felt more...I'm not sure. Sex-work tourist? She only stripped for a year. I'm not trying to say she didn't know what she was talking about, but it felt more like someone who got into stripping so they could write a book about it.

 

The best sex work memoirs are the stories published by Prose and Lore, IMO. http://redumbrellaproject.org/create/proseandlore/

[loopie 15358]

I did say that I thought Tea's book was a fair representation of her life in the business. I just didn't like her personality, or her writing. She just seemed very lazy; her inability to work towards even her own very modest goals was frustrating to read. She also complained way too much for my tastes. I can't stand people endlessly complain about choices they made.

 

As for Cody, I do agree with you that she was probably collecting life experiences on which to draw for her planned career as a writer. But that doesn't really bother me. If anything it probably made her more observant.

 

Both books were informative, I just enjoyed one way more than the other.

[peacectryguy 12547]

I can only speak about myself but I would likely read this, Summer. Probably as much because of being part of communities like this and getting to understand better how you ladies view this life and all the things you have to deal with along the way. I think if the story is written well and gives people an honest open look at the "other" side of this industry, it could attract a fairly large audience. I will say this, though. I would have to buy the actual book. (Cover, pages that may or may not give me a paper cut, ink on said paper, the real deal. ). I have never been able to read novels on-line or on Kindle or whatever. Honestly, I sometimes struggle with overly long posts, lol, jk. At any rate, I wish you well in this endeavor and admire your courage in doing this.