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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

A friends book

31 replies

Nosquit · 30/06/2019 23:51

New user, (literally just signed up) but used to have an account a while back which I’ve lost all details of!

So.... a friend of mine is a self published author and is writing a new book which I am not totally comfortable with and would like to garner opinion from mumsnet if I was right to advise her against it or not. (This is not market research - I got onto an argument with her tonight over it and I’m now thinking maybe I was U)

So.. so far her books have been mainly aimed at the 12-16 year old market with the main protagonists being of a similar age to that.
However her latest book is aimed at the adult market and has been billed as a “sexual romance with harem influences and some ‘bully boy’ sexual fantasies” - nothing wrong with that if she wants to branch out, after all JK Rowling and other kids authorised have done it. BUT today I found out that the main protagonists are all 16 year olds and some of them are in school. The main female character in the story, who is the centre of attention for about 6 guys she is having sex with, starts the book at 15 but the main action takes place when she is 16.

It just doesn’t sit right with me as 16 seems very young for main characters for that type of story. I mean 16 year olds have sex, but there’s sex and sex if you know what I mean. What if kids who read her other books get hold of a copy?

AIBU to advise her against writing it, or at least changing the age of the characters to 18 plus? Or at the very least to advise her to use a Pen name for it that is different to her name she uses for her kids books? I have been told that sort of stuff sells but I don’t know. I think of myself as very liberal, but it makes me uncomfortable to be honest.

I’m fully aware I might be being unreasonable here, but my DH agrees with me. I want to be a good friend and support her venture but not sure how I can right now.

OP posts:
Original poster
Nosquit · 30/06/2019 23:52

Should say “Other kids authors - autocorrect hates me!

OP posts:
bingbongnoise · 30/06/2019 23:54

@Nosquit

Is this a reverse???

Original poster
Nosquit · 30/06/2019 23:56

bingbongnoise 100% not a reverse.

OP posts:
Speakercube · 30/06/2019 23:58

Am with you. People/ dcs often read books by a fav author so might buy this thinking its the same kind of book. It would then seem like this behaviour is accepted at that age. Seems a bit off to me to writing about that age behaving that way. I know teens are having sex earlier but still... I can't see this having a good outcome and could ruin her career if it ever gets through the publishers...

Smellbowpenisbeaker · 01/07/2019 00:02

I understand your point but if she’s self published in all likelihood she’ll have a really limited reader base.

ShirleyPhallus · 01/07/2019 00:03

If she’s self published likely not many actually read her books. I’d stay out of it, she will only be offended

DisputedChair · 01/07/2019 00:05

JK Rowling writes well-regarded crime novels under a pen name, not ‘sexual romances with some harem influence and bully-boy fantasies’, leaving aside entirely the characters’ ages. Hmm

user1473878824 · 01/07/2019 00:07

Well written, OP, but I wouldn’t publish your next book, no.

NoSquirrels · 01/07/2019 00:09

ABSOLUTELY use a pseudonym & make the main players consenting adults 28+.

Eurgh. If your friend has any ambitions to be a legitimate YA or teen author this would be a complete no-no for any reputable publisher. Reputation is everything!

I know some genre writers who also do erotica alongside their other books but their main genre would be e.g crime fiction, traditional romance or science-fi.

Erotica and children’s books is obviously bloody awful.

Bookworm4 · 01/07/2019 00:09

I can see why this dross is self published 🙄

NoSquirrels · 01/07/2019 00:10

consenting adults 28+.
Grin
18+, obviously.
My phone is extremely Puritanical!

HarrietSchulenberg · 01/07/2019 00:21

A book by a children's author, aimed at an adult market, with a sexual theme but with teenage characters will kill her career. She'll be dead in the water.
She needs to either not do it, increase the age of her characters or use a pen name and be solidly prepared for the fallout.
If it was aimed at a teenage audience and had some kind of "moral" to it then she might get away with it but what you've described will appeal to a niche market that she'd be best to avoid if she hopes to continue sales of her previous books.

Original poster
Nosquit · 01/07/2019 00:22

Not me writing it. I’m not that creative.

OP posts:
Original poster
Nosquit · 01/07/2019 00:29

user1473878824 not my book!

DisputedChair - I quite agree.

NoSquirrels - I’m not sure what serious ambitions she has, but I’m guessing she would ideally make a career out of writing if she could.

Thanks for all replies so far. It’s a difficult one for me - I have been beta reader for her kids books and my husband has helped proof read them and I agreed to do the same for this one when I thought it was about adults so it’s hard to stay out of it as I’ve had to tell her I can’t do the same for this one as I don’t agree with it.

OP posts:
ReanimatedSGB · 01/07/2019 00:32

It would be general good writing advice to tell her that a departure from her usual genre should be done under a pen name. That's what most authors do.
Other than that, keep your beak out. Most self-published authors sell about three copies of their books anyway.

BurningTheToast · 01/07/2019 00:35

Writer here: she needs to make the characters older and to use a pen-name. Cannot emphasise the latter enough. So much potential for career-ruining fallout otherwise. It's not about being puritanical, it's recognising that she's writing for two very different markets that do not overlap.

ReanimatedSGB · 01/07/2019 00:37

Oh, you're a beta reader? I hate the whole concept of beta readers In that case, it's reasonable to give her more detail about your opinion - that you think the book is not on-brand for what she has been doing so far, and why. You are also not unreasonable to say you don't want to be involved any further.
But if she wants to persist in writing it, step back and leave her to it. She may have any number of reasons for wanting to write such a thing, but it's not your problem.

Original poster
Nosquit · 01/07/2019 00:42

ReanimatedSGB Thanks. I’m not a great one for ‘beta reader’ either - but my grammar etc is not good enough for me to be any type of proof reader (I leave that up to DH) but she wants my opinion to whether the story is enjoyable or not and about characters etc. I have however emphasised to her that what I have said to her about it is my opinion and nothing more. She knows I’ll be there for her whatever and would not try to stop her writing it. But she asks for my opinion and I feel I have to give it honestly or it’s not worth it.

Burningthetoast Thanks.

OP posts:
zonoverlords · 01/07/2019 00:50

Some authors are raking it in with reverse harem bully academy romance right now but I don’t know the age range of the protagonists.

Your friend may lose her self publishing account with Amazon if a reader reports her books for containing underage sex (depending on what state they’re in) written in an erotic/romance setting. She’d be better off making the characters 18 years old +

A different pen name for more adult books is just common sense too.

ReanimatedSGB · 01/07/2019 00:52

Is she a good enough friend for you to talk to her about what she is aiming for with this story? I mean: does she think that writing 'edgy' erotica is a way to make more money? (Answer: No, it isn't.) Or is she going for harrowing gritty realism about teenage behaviour?
If she wants to write and market an erotic story as erotica then the characters need to be over 18 or Amazon and other platforms will pull the book. If her aim is to move from children's fiction towards YA then it still might be better to put it out under a different name and the 'sexual bullying' bits would need to be not very explicit, though it's not completely out of line for YA fiction to address sensitive subjects.

SleepingStandingUp · 01/07/2019 01:12

I'd tell her honestly that reading erotoc fiction about children having sex makes you feelcomfortable and unable to finish the book.

What kind of adults want to read about kids having sex in an "erotoc fiction" setting? And does she really want them as her target audience

Gingerkittykat · 01/07/2019 01:15

There are loads of books with questionable adult themes on Amazon (I used to search the free Kindle books top 100 and loads of them ended up in there)

There will be a market for the 16 year old sex story, but if she is aiming at anyone with any kind of ethics then she needs to up the age.

Also she needs to write under a pen name, people will quite rightly judge someone writing a book like this. Actually scrub that, maybe she should write under her real name so people can see who she really is.

BummyKnocker · 01/07/2019 01:18

Erotic fiction featuring one 16yr old protagonist and six men? Is that right, yet previously writing for teenagers? WTAF?

Smellbowpenisbeaker · 01/07/2019 07:25

I mean, based on the fact that she’s
your friend it wouldn’t hurt to speak to her. The only people that will read it are probably friends and family but they’ll probably be a bit horrified and embarrassed for her which isn’t very nice. But then I suppose she knows what she’s letting herself in for.

Smellbowpenisbeaker · 01/07/2019 07:26

Also, just FYI, anything involving a 15 year old girl and older man even prior to anything illegal is considered grooming.