# Gratuitous market research



## mojisu (Feb 18, 2013)

So, how is FurAffinity regarding literature? Do a lot of people read it?
What are the most popular works?
What would YOU like to read?
etc

Basically the state of lit: the thread


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## sunandshadow (Feb 18, 2013)

I read mainly erotic romance ebooks (specifically fantasy or scifi ones that are not BDSM-ish) and I also read lots of fanfic.  I don't like reading fiction on FA because I don't think their system for presenting it is very good, though it's at least better than Literotica; but AO3 and sofurry are both much better.  Delicious is something different, but interesting; I haven't completely figured it out yet.


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## mojisu (Mar 2, 2013)

I feel like erotic romance is the most popular genre on here, which also divides into sub-genres. 

The problem on FA I feel is that users are allowed to post incomprehensible text formats, like .doc. No one is going to download a word document every time. It should be plaintext and nothing else. Minimalistic bbs code at the very most, but yeah, I digress.

Point being: Is FA's lit all about porn or does the plot thicken and it actually isn't?


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## Poetigress (Mar 3, 2013)

Erotic romance, especially m/m erotica, is arguably the most popular genre in the furry fandom as a whole, so FA is not really different from any other furry site in that regard. (This is particularly worth keeping in mind should you get to the point where you expect furries to actually pay money for your work.)

That said, there are absolutely readers on FA who like other types of work, so it's certainly possible to find an audience for other things, as long as it's understood that it's likely to be a fairly small following. (In other words, no, I wouldn't say FA's lit is all about porn.) The problem is that some of those readers get so tired of seeing nothing but erotica and/or things that don't interest them, and/or stuff that's poorly written, that they give up and stop bothering to even look at fiction on FA (or in the fandom entirely) because of that.


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## SkyeLansing (Mar 7, 2013)

I'm hesitant to recommend that anyone follow market research when it comes to writing.  The problem with it mostly has to do with the fact that market research ultimately only talks about what is going on right now. Thing is, the next big trend to pop up is never happening right now simply because the thing to kick it into gear hasn't appeared.  For example, high fantasy set in a contemporary setting would have been considered rather absurd or comical before Harry Potter came onto the stage. Likewise did anyone see sparkling vampires coming?

More to the point, attempting to write specifically to an audience is pretty much destined to fail. If you don't enjoy what you are doing in your writing ultimately it will show in your work. For this reason it is more important to work on something you enjoy than to worry about hitting the current fads. By the time you are finished with your story the fad could well have moved on after all. Granted if you do happen to land the right topic at the right time that is great.

That said yes, erotic fiction is hugely popular in the fandom. M/M especially, but really any erotica will do well. As Poe said there is a market for other stuff. Sci-fi and Fantasy are both obvious. If you are looking for mass appeal then my suggestion is to target one of those genres and have a meaningful story behind it with an erotic scene or two thrown in.

As far as what I like to read? Try to stay away from erotic stuff myself, not so much because I disapprove as because I have come to the point where I would rather read a well written story about anything then a poorly written story about erotica and most of the erotic fiction is pretty sub-par.


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