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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Erotica One Of Hottest Sellers In Publishing World

Robert Dominguez New York Daily News

Turn the last page, roll over with a satisfied smile and light a cigarette.

Curling up with a good book may never take the place of a good man, but with erotic literature now one of the hottest-selling categories in publishing, plenty of women are slipping under the covers with the kind of steamy stuff that would make Henry Miller blush.

“Women buy more books, and erotica is very appealing to them,” says editor Janet Goldstein of Broadway Books, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell.

“They want literature on their own sexuality with stories and characters and emotions they can respond to, that have a great mix of storytelling and sexiness that works as entertainment and as literature.”

But today’s erotic literature is not to be confused with your mother’s romance novel bodice-rippers or the smut once found on Times Square shelves.

“There’s a more upscale approach to erotica these days,” says Dan Seitler of A Different Light bookstore in Manhattan, who’s seen the category grow over the past 10 years.

“It’s more literary, there’s better writing, and it’s taken more seriously. There’s been a conscious effort to awaken women’s sexuality, and it’s paid off.”

“We wanted writing that was arousing, only we wanted it to be more reflective of our values - that all women were not sex-slave bimbos being caught by surprise or raped for the reader’s amusement,” says Lily Pond, editor of “Seven Hundred Kisses,” an anthology of erotic stories from Yellow Silk magazine.

This summer, temperatures rose with the publication of several sexually charged books, such as “Eat Me” by Australian author Linda Jaivan, which give new meaning to bedtime stories.

With the sale of erotic novels, short-story collections and poetry booming - an increase of more than 300 percent, according to the Subject Guide to Books in Print - many mainstream publishers who would have shunned these books in the past are desperately seeking new works to meet the demand.

“It’s becoming more popular now, and consumer demand makes it one category that we’re watching closely,” says Trigg Robinson, publicity director of Broadway Books, publishers of “Eat Me.”

“The examples so far are pretty sophisticated and appeal to a pretty wide audience of both men and women.”

But even if male readers are also avid erotica fans, the majority of books are being written for women by women for one simple reason.

“Women write much better erotica than men,” says John Heidenry, a former editor of Penthouse Forum and author of “What Wild Ecstasy,” a history of the sexual revolution.

“Above all, women write much more honestly. They bring more imagination to it, enhancing the sex act with a lot of atmosphere - the buildup, what’s going on at the subliminal level.

“And women readers are obviously wanting more explicit details of sex. It used to be men only wanted to read it as an aid to masturbation. But it’s developed into a legitimate genre.”

And one that’s branching out into other mediums. One of the more popular online sites is Nerve, a literary magazine featuring erotic works by such big name writers as Norman Mailer. And for folks who are into aural sex, erotic books are being offered on tape.

It’s one reason Pond believes erotic literature is not a trend that will be cooling off anytime soon.

“What I hope to see happen is that as time goes on, (erotic literature) will be more and more incorporated into the mainstream culture, with the unexpected effect being that people say, ‘Oh, this is not designed to get me aroused, this is literature,’ and gates will open in that person’s mind,” says Pond.

“Erotic literature is not necessarily designed to get you hot, but to do what all literature does, which is to enrich your life.”