I'm currently writing a new adult romance novel with elements of erotica (so far), and I'm looking for young women between 18 and 29 to read the first 13 pages or so and tell me what they thought about it. It's basically about a guy telling his story about how he came from a distant planet where women ruled the society and men were slaves. The narrator came from a special class of young men who were raised to be sex slaves in the society, to help perpetuate the species and give women pleasure. He tells about the day he met a young woman and lost his virginity at the "sex center," and they decided to escape and come to Earth so they could be together (which isn't allowed there). But he also talks a lot about his life after having arrived too, and how he's adapting to life on Earth, where men and women are free to express themselves with one another. If you're interested in reading, reply to this thread or shoot me a private message, and we can work something out. Also, if you have something in the works, I'd be willing to read the first 7,000 words of it or so, too.
Why are you putting an age/gender limit on this? If there is a reason, why not let us know what it is? Otherwise your request sounds a tad creepy, in a 'come up and see my etchings' kind of way. You'll be delighted to know that I'm WAY outwith that age group, but if I was within it, I wouldn't touch this with a barge pole. Unless, of course, you can give us a non-creepy reason for the requirement.
Oh, you're too cute, @jannert. Don't be jealous just because a young, handsome guy doesn't want your opinion on something this time around. Maybe my next novel won't be a New Adult (which, if you don't know, is 18-29). But with your meddlesome attitude, I'm not sure I would be interested anyway.
If New Adult is between those ages of 18 and 29 (and all are women) and everybody but me knows that's what you meant, I apologise. However, I still think you'd be more apt to get volunteers if you are upfront about why your requirements are so specific. I didn't see the words "New Adult" in your OP anywhere. I still don't. It's worded rather like a sleazy come-on. You might want to readjust your wording so your needs are clear.
She asked a question. Meddling implies that she contravened your intent, but... with your snark attitude I'm not sure we would be interested in humoring you too much longer.
Wow, the mods on this forum are apparently super-sensitive (as if @jannert couldn't fend for herself), and my original post was deleted, even though it was "nice." *tsk tsk* So again ... @jannert, your post wasn't helpful. I'm happy with the amount of people who have messaged me to read my novel. Your advice isn't required, nor was it asked for. This isn't a critique thread, after all. It's a request thread. Now, watch. The overly-sensitive mods will probably delete this, too... and then ban me for good measure, because apparently acting like a man here is frowned upon.
??? I'm still seeing your original post, so it doesn't appear to have been deleted? Mind you, I picked this up from my 'alerts' section, so maybe it's still there for some reason. Anyway, I'm sorry if I picked you up wrongly, but my point was that the thread COULD be picked up wrongly. However, this meddlesome old crone who has been dismissed from critiquing a handsome young man has obviously done you no harm, since you appear to have been swamped with 18-29 year old women wanting to read your erotic sci-fi novel—so best of luck with all the helpful feedback you'll be getting from them.
Nah, it was the one where my last post is now ... they completely deleted it. Why do they treat women like they can't fend for themselves on this forum ... and treat men like they can't speak their mind. Is it just me, or are the mods highly sexist, with regard to BOTH genders?
I did see that. And I also saw the way you acted which got you temporarily banned prior to this little tissy. I'll retain my argument that seeing the mods as "highly sexist, with regard to BOTH genders" is a symptom of user error rather than that of a system malfunction. I said it in another thread, something about common denominators, and I think it applies here, too. We've all made this mistake (I know I have). We bring certain attitudes to places we frequent. Sometimes work, school, forums, social media, etc., and those attitudes are not received well. And it pisses me off too when someone rags on me for my attitude when (surely!) I don't think I have one. But when that happens, the problem is rarely all of the other people are actually insufferable twats and I'm just misunderstood. Usually, the problem is me. I sometimes lack the ability to step back and subjectively look at a situation and assess which actions of mine led to my beliefs about how others are acting. Now, go ahead and call me an insufferable twat. I'm okay with that. But I don't think you want to be banned from this forum. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here. But I'd be willing to bet if you continue down this road, you'll be permanently banned. Food for thought.
I'll tell you myself. No member in this forum may tell another member in this forum where and when they may or may not participate. This thread does not belong to you. There is only one owner here and his name is Daniel. In telling another member to leave "your thread" (not your thread), you also took another snidely snarky swipe at her. That is what got your disingenuously "nice" whinge deleted. No marks for effort on that one. As regards my "sexist" behavior toward both genders (makes zero sense), none of you have a gender. You are all genderless photons on a screen. I do not engage any of you based on your reproductive equipment or the gender with which you identify because there is literally no way for me to know the actual gender of anyone here. It's an internet forum. We don't ask for ID when members register. Anyone can say they are anything, and they often do for reasons of their own. So, whatever stake you have in the gender war, kindly leave me out of it. It is actually possible for other humans to engage the world for reasons, wants, wishes, desires, and with batteries of knowledge other than the ones you bring to bear. Apprehension of this fact is technically called Theory of Mind. It's a handy thing to have. ETA: And in regard to this: As soon as I see some behavior from you that I would categorize as digno de un verdadero hombre, we'll bring this topic back onto the table. Until then, none has been in evidence from you; thus, none can have been under attack.
How truly condescending of you. But look, I get it. You felt attacked, so you lashed out. Fine. It happens to the best of us. But you also have to realize that when you lash out, it's not Jannert's fault. It's yours. Because only you control your emotions and how you handle situations. If what she said bothered you so badly, it's your responsibility to report it and inform the mods, who, in my experience, have always been fair in their judgement. But if you decide not to go the reporting route and try to deal with it on your own, then you have to accept the consequences and not blame them or the "instigator," as it were. You're not the only person this has happened to. I hated a member here for a while. Felt like he was bullying me. Did I report it? No! I decided to take it upon myself and lash out, like you did. Did I get in trouble? Absolutely! Was I pissed? Of course! I tried to blame the member for driving me to that point. I tried to blame the mods for not intervening. But they said the same thing I told you -- report it. They aren't omniscient. So they won't know unless it's reported. So really, that situation was my fault. I realize that now (though at the time I didn't). And guess what? Me and that member I lashed out at are cool now. And I love this place. And I also have very little tolerance for people who insult the staff, because they work their asses off to make this a great place for us. So please, stop pushing blame around and take responsibility for yourself. Because the only person you can control is you.
But your flawless courtesy will certainly have people flocking to help you, yep. Sheesh. Don't insult men like that.
Look, this whole debacle started because @jannert tried to shame me for asking for readers in my demographic, and I didn't like that very much. I thought it was pretty rude and uncalled for. My target audience is women between 18-29, so that's what I asked for. And there's absolutely nothing "creepy" or "sleazy" about asking for readers in my market, like she insinuated. But maybe next time I should just ignore any unsolicited advice or misplaced critiques I get.
She didn't try to shame you. She explained how your post could sound, and how that could be counterproductive to your goal. Your misinterpretation of her helpful post is your problem.
She wasn't trying to shame you. She was trying to help you. You're going to lose a lot of readers if you focus solely on your "target audience." The best books reach a large demographic. I'm 28, but I read almost exclusively YA - books targeted towards ages under 18. I think Jannert was trying to tell you she may have been interested in helping, but since you excluded her based on her age, it turned her away. And the last thing you want to do as a writer is turn away readers.
@Lea`Brooks - If only you were a guy like me, you might just see some things others don't in regard to the subject. And yes, if I was selling my book, I would agree with you. But since I'm not, I had a different goal in mind when asking for readers.
You giving the book away then? In my mind all you need to say is, 'do you want to read some erotica?' no age no gender.
