Multiple orgasms...

I’ve started reading the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series by Laurell K Hamilton. I’ve just finished book 4. What I find interesting about the series is the heroine, kick-arse, strong, in control, deadly Anita, isn’t into pre-marital sex – sex has to mean something – it’s a commitment.  I find her an intriguing character in a book where sex doesn’t sell the story. It made me think about heroines in ebooks. It’s no secret that sex sells ebooks and in many cases fills in for plot when the author can’t think of a plot other than the hero/heroes (depends what the current trend is and how hungry you are for a contract) protects the heroine while indulging in mutual shagging two minutes after meeting her and oh yeah, there’s something about a bad guy but back to the multiple orgasms. You don’t seem to get that in paperbacks, except for E.L's Shades of Monotonous Tedium but then that’s just a rip off of Nine and a Half Weeks and while kudos to the author for making a shite-load of money, it’s still just two tedious people having ho-hum-gosh-gee-blink-gasp-he wouldn’t-giggle-snore-stupid slapper-sex.

Is sex in ebooks easier and vitally necessary to write in because most writers don’t go past the 50k mark and sex adds to the word count? If you can write past this word count, does it mean you have the ability to write a plot and therefore while sex is important, the characters don’t have to fuck like bunnies – an ebook writer expression – to get a contract and therefore should consider writing for real publishers?  Am I being hard on ebook writers lacking wordage and plot? Yes. But I can be. I’m one of them. I have first hand experience of the industry. This Anita Blake series has me thinking about what women want, about writers and publishers and I’m thinking ebooks = cheap sex and paperbacks = plot.