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The missing bit of that equation is ≠. Don’t get me wrong, I love Reddit, I’m a moderator of r/smutwriters(it’s a private subreddit so you’ll have to contact the mods to get added) started by Virginia Flowers. It’s a difficult group to market to. Make friends, get beta-reads, give beta-reads, yes, but making money off it, no.

Don’t get me wrong, some people do it. The best way to go about it is to provide some service for the community while promoting yourself. I tried it by showing a redline copy I’d gotten from an editor there, and adding a little, “Hey by the way, this is my story,” and I got little to no love. Part of that was probably timing (you want to post your shit before the US goes to work; in fact, since quitting my job, I spend a lot less time on Reddit). Make sure whatever community you’re posting in isn’t in a mood. Yeah, that’s right, you can think of Reddit like a person, and sometimes Reddit gets cranky. Hang out in a community long enough, you’ll see it shift and fragment, little groups breaking off to coalesce or be reabsorbed into the greater community.

Still want to give it a shot?

I think Aubrey Watt had one of the more successful posts there. What she provided was an excellent resource for the community with her GIMP tutorials. She did such a good job in fact, she’s earned several mentions here in my conversations about cover design, though at this point I’ve advanced beyond what she covers. They’re still a great starting point though. She’s doing well too, although if you look at her bullet list, I suspect #2 has a lot to do with it. I despaired until I read that. The reality is, if I tried to write that much, I’d be turning out smut of low to mid-range quality. I suspect Aubrey Watt’s writing is more in the mid to high range, averaging somewhere in the middle.

Of course, your Reddit marketing campaign may not be hampered by the type of social awkwardness that clings to most only children (both my siblings are 10+ years older than me, and I grew up in the middle of nowhere). You may be able to navigate a forum as socially complex a 17th century French court/contemporary high school cafeteria. My advice is your energy is better spent making friends on Reddit instead of making money.