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Is Salacious Content Driving E-Book Sales?

Posted by timothy on from the let-me-take-one-lust-driven-guess dept.

narramissic writes "Having already abandoned ebooks once, Barnes & Noble is jumping back into ebooks with the purchase this week of ebook seller Fictionwise. Why is the format suddenly hot? Look no further than the top 10 Fictionwise bestsellers, says blogger Peter Smith. Once again it seems like 'porn is blazing a path to a new media format. Of the top 10 bestsellers under the 'Multiformat' category, nine are tagged 'erotica' and the last is 'dark fantasy.' Need more proof that folks (let's take a leap and call them women) who read 'bodice rippers' like the privacy of ebooks? Author Samantha Lucas (who writes for publishers like Cobblestone Press and Siren Publishing) tells Smith that she sells almost all of her novels in ebook format."

6 of 215 comments (clear)

  1. alt.stories.erotica by Hatta · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I used to read alt.stories.erotica way back in the 9600 baud days. The only thing new here is that people are paying for it.

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    1. Re:alt.stories.erotica by againjj · · Score: 4, Interesting

      My father taught FORTRAN in the 80's, and one of his assignments was to write a program that printed a (text) calender for any given year, bonus points for extra features. One student turned in a program that printed an ASCII graphic for each month -- they were to be looked at sideways on the old 132 character wide fanfold paper -- and the pictures were high-quality center-fold style girls. The student got his bonus points.

  2. Nothing New by KermodeBear · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Pornography has always been at the forefront of technology. VHS, DVD, they were the first to really start using DRM on video content, too. A quick search on Google for 'porn technology' will give you lots of articles on the subject.

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  3. Selective memory by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Not the "porn is what drives adoption of all new formats and technologies" explanation again... has everyone already forgotten that HD DVD was supposed to win over Blu-Ray because of its early adoption by the porn industry? There were only, oh, a few thousand posts to that effect right here on Slashdot - right up until HD DVD died.

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    1. Re:Selective memory by meta-monkey · · Score: 3, Interesting

      You laugh, but it actually kind of has. The porn industry is hurting because of do-it-yourself porn sites like youporn.com. While some of the content is "professionally produced," most of it is homegrown stuff. People these days seem to be really getting off on releasing their homemade porn tapes on the interwebs.

      So, yes, porn is open source, too. However, I would avoid open source porn that features open sores. That's just nasty.

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  4. Does it drive kindle sells? by olddotter · · Score: 3, Interesting

    That would be interesting if the chance to read naughty lit in public drives the sales of a $350 e-book reader.

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