Does writing 18+ fiction give you a bigger market? On posting platforms, 18+ works often get several times the views of general-audience works, and at conventions, 18+ fan works for the same pairing usually sell better. But if you aim to publish in print, Utsudo recommends general-audience works because the readership is broader. To balance both, keep the main story general-audience and lock mature content behind paid chapters, or write 18+ side stories based on your own IP. It’s a survival strategy—see which approach suits you.

Translated from Utsudo’s original Chinese column.

The view counts of 18+ works

On the same posting platform, you may notice that works tagged 18+ often get several times—sometimes absurdly more—views than general-audience works. Yet when it comes to publishing, general-audience works seem to find buyers more easily.

So today let’s discuss whether 18+ content expands your market or limits it.

I think quite a few authors write 18+ works online to make money. They may never publish in print, but they might actually earn more than published authors.

If you want to publish in print, general audience is better

If you’re an author aiming for print, apart from BL or special genres, I’d still recommend writing general-audience works, because I think they’re easier to sell to publishers.

If we look at self-published books, for fan works of the same pairing, the 18+ ones usually sell better than general-audience ones. After all, they tap into one of human desires, so naturally more readers are willing to pay.

Wanting to see “the hidden side” of someone (a character) you love is only human. No wonder fujoshi doujinshi sell so well—I couldn’t help buying a few more myself (huh?

You might think: if 18+ sells better, just write all 18+ and make big money! But strangely, it’s general-audience works that cross over to wider audiences. I think that’s because they suit all ages and genders, so the audience is larger.

How to balance general-audience and 18+ content

So if you want both approaches (general audience and 18+) in the same work, you could try this:

Keep the main plot general-audience and lock the risqué parts, so paying readers get some extras while free readers can still follow the story. Not paying won’t affect the reading experience, and some may even become paying readers.

Another way is to keep the whole book general-audience and write steamy 18+ side stories for your characters—in other words, writing fan fiction of your own IP, which you can later print and sell.

With the side-story approach, your main work stays general-audience while the side stories bring in extra income. Wonderful—but the prerequisite is that one of your works has a certain level of fame, so devoted fans will buy your fan works.

Put that way, doesn’t it suddenly seem a bit hard XD?

If you enjoy writing it, why not?

Some people may sneer at writing 18+ works, but it’s still a survival strategy. It depends on what approach suits you. Let others say what they want; what matters is forging your own path in a way that fits your personality.

So whether you write general-audience works or 18+, as long as you enjoy writing, why not?

FAQ

Further reading

• Previous: Hey! I Heard You’re a Writer on Ghost Island #178: These Kinds of Novels Are Easier to Adapt for Screen
• Start from the beginning: Hey! I Heard You’re a Writer on Ghost Island #01: Utsudo’s Debut — A Road to the Dream Covered in Frost
• Utsudo’s books

About the author

Utsudo is a Taiwanese light novelist and novelist VTuber with more than ten years in the industry and 40 commercially published print books. Her novel 《遺失的情書》 received a 2022 Ministry of Culture youth creative award. The 《嘿！聽說妳在鬼島當作家》 series records her experiences as a novelist in Taiwan.