While the breakneck pace by which erotica publishers turned out titles as recently as two years ago may have slowed, the category's influence on culture—and on publishing—continues apace. The demand for explicit sexual writing is as strong as ever, and readers want characters with a range of desires and experiences, and stories that push the limits of their fantasies.

Which may be why, for better and worse, other genres have turned up the heat. "Erotica is not the only place you can get that really sexy read," says St. Martin's senior editor Monique Patterson. "We have really sexy suspense, really sexy paranormal, and really sexy mass market."

Harlequin editor Susan Swinwood agrees: "I'm not seeing as big of a chasm between erotica and anything else," she says. "Other genres outside of erotica—mainstream romance and fiction—are getting sexier." That acceptance of explicit sex in more mainstream writing, they say, could have affected the demand for erotica titles.

The most recent erotica renaissance began about five years ago, when publishers like Kensington, Harlequin, Avon, and Penguin first launched erotica imprints; now many of these publishers see the slowdown as a logical result of market saturation and the recession. "There hasn't been a decline, which is fantastic," says Swinwood. "But there hasn't been a growth spurt."

Still, the category evolves. Last month gay erotic fiction publisher ManLove Romance started a new imprint for heterosexual erotica called Passion in Print. "[MLR Press] is growing each year with an audience of gay men and straight women readers," says publisher Laura Baumbach. "I knew that the same high-quality, highly charged erotic writing would translate over to the larger mainstream audience just as well."

Raelene Gorlinsky, publisher of Ellora's Cave, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this fall, says she sees the market booming. A few months ago, the company began offering short stories as audiobooks in order to find new ways to reach erotica fans. "It's another thing that can fit into an erotic lifestyle," she says. "Interest seems to be growing."

Several publishers note that increased competition has only heightened the quality of their products. "Erotica has gotten to be a much tighter category," says SMP's Patterson, "and we've had to get much more selective about what we take on."

Fast Times

While the types of erotic stories that sell best remain constant, the way readers access this writing has evolved with technology. Now they're enjoying their stories and books on Kindles, Sony Readers, and Nooks; if they're without a device, they're downloading them to their home computer. "That's one big change," says Seal Press publisher Krista Lyons.

No matter the medium, when readers do sit down with their erotica, more and more are opting for the quickie: If Twitter is changing the way we communicate, a similar abbreviated form is influencing erotica.

And while short stories have been a popular form of erotica for years, it's these very-short-shorts (anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand words) that are gaining ground. Cleis Press publisher Brenda Knight, who calls them "erotica for the ADD generation," says she first noticed the trend when Alison Tyler's Frenzy: 60 Stories of Sudden Sex (2008) sold 500 copies a week for a steady six months. Last month, during Cleis's Naked Reader Book Club—held online and in partnership with sex toys retailer Edenfantasy.com—readers were unequivocal in their appreciation for the short-short story. (Also, last month Cleis published Alison Tyler's follow-up quickie collection, Got a Minute? 60 Second Erotica.)

In March 2011, Cleis will release The Big Book of Quickies, edited by popular erotica editor (and author) Rachel Kramer Bussel, who says she received more submissions for this title than for any previous anthology: "I got a huge range of styles and perspectives." Writers may have been empowered by the 1,200-word limit, she muses, although she believes that condensing an erotic story into so few sentences is actually more challenging.

The Erotica Readers & Writers Association (erotica-readers.com) uses the quickie as a writing prompt to combat wordiness, prompting aspiring erotica writers to craft both 1,200-word and 200-word stories. For the latter, "you really have to imply things," says organization founder Adrienne Benedicks. She acknowledges that a writer's goals depend somewhat on the space he or she has to stretch out: "You can get hot and heavy really fast in a short story, whereas in a novel, it has to be within the characters and the plotline."

The quickie has long been a staple at Ellora's Cave, where readers can download stories for $1.49 to $2.49 a pop. "It's an easy way for a reader to not only try an author but a genre," says Gorlinsky. "If you don't know whether you'll like futuristic erotic romance, you can buy a single story." The success of that "try before you buy" incentive has prompted Ellora's Cave to release the entire stock of the publishing house's "Free Reads"—short stories by Ellora's Cave authors—for the Kindle, Nook, and Sony Reader. "Our authors have reported very positive results," says Gorlinsky.

Quickies, which can be devoured one at a time or savored for hours on end, are also convenient to bring into the bedroom, says Benedicks. "It's easy to read and another thing to add to your sexual repertoire," she says. "It's like a vibrator in text."

Like longer stories, novellas, and novels, quickies can cover just about any type of sexual encounter imaginable, so long as it hooks readers. "It's not really the sex that makes the story erotic, it's the characters and the setting," says Benedicks. But whether it's a steamy romp in the sauna or a supernatural connection with a creature from another time, the hands-down most important component of successful erotica is quality.

Or, in the words of Cleis's Knight: "It can be hot-hot-hot, but it has to be good."

Otherworldly Affairs

This summer's premiere of Eclipse and the success of HBO's True Blood are just two more signs that vampire fever rages on—and the hunger for paranormal erotica is just as voracious. "The authors who seem to be working best for us in erotica are those who have come up with an original idea—and original usually means paranormal," says Kensington editorial director Audrey LaFehr.

Since 1996, Kensington's Aphrodisia imprint has published Kate Douglas's Wolf Tales series; nine books and eight novellas later, the titles continue to entice. Says LaFehr: "An alternate world allows the writers the freedom to break all the rules and social taboos that they face when writing a contemporary novel set in the real world," she says. Wolf Tales 10, which hit shelves last month, revisits the world of the Chanku, an ancient race of shape-shifters; Wolf Tales 11 is due in January.

In November, Bold Strokes Books will publish Blood Sacraments: Gay Vampire Erotica, edited by Todd Gregory. The 20-story anthology visits locations ranging from New Orleans's French Quarter to the Greek islands. While united by similar subject matter, the pieces' protagonists range in age and experience—one tries out his new powers on a fraternity brother, for example, while another reflects on his long-ago conversion.

The possibilities available to writers of paranormal romance inspire innovative and often edgy decisions, says Berkley executive editor Cindy Hwang. Berkley Heat kicks off the fall with Joey Hill's Vampire Trinity (Sept.), which explores a ménage relationship in a paranormal world. Another threesome debuts with Anya Bast's Jeweled (Nov.), which details what happens when protagonist Evangeline is caught between two magic men.

Avon Red promises another sexy romance in the fourth installment of Delilah Devlin's Dark Realm series, Darkness Captured (Sept.). The racy plot concerns the chemistry between Gabriella, emissary of the vampires, and powerful warrior wolf Guntram Brandt. Seduced by Darkness, second in the series, was nominated for Romantic Times 2008 Reviewer's Choice Award for Best Paranormal/Fantasy/Sci-fi Erotic Romance.

Vampires and werewolves aren't the only critters tantalizing readers these days. Tessa Adams made her NAL Heat debut with Dark Embers (July), the first book in her Dragon's Heat series. Readers will encounter the prince of a dying race of dragon shape-shifters fighting for survival in the hot New Mexico desert.

Other types of transformations are afoot in the erotic fairy tale, which has become a perennial paranormal favorite. Harlequin Spice has profited from these racy versions of "happily ever after" since Enchanted: Erotic Bedtime Stories for Women (2006). "They're a perpetual hit, and popular whenever they're published," says Susan Swinwood. "You can't go wrong."

Last month Harlequin rolled out Allison's Wonderland, edited by Alison Tyler, whom sex product retailer Good Vibrations heralds as "a literary siren." This anthology features a variety of erotic tales based on fable and fairy tale, from the most well-known (Sleeping Beauty) to the surprising (Sisyphus). Contributing writers include Portia Da Costa, Shanna Germain, Rachel Kramer Bussel, and N.T. Morley.

Long, Long Ago

Historical erotica provides a different type of steamy fantasy, as writers anchor their plots and characters in bygone times and then let their imaginations run wild. Lately, hot historicals have incorporated elements of the paranormal, such as in Elizabeth Amber's Lords of Satyr series for Kensington's Aphrodisia, which is set in 19th-century Italy and concerns creatures who are half-man/half-satyr. Dane: The Lords of Satyr, was published in June; the series continues next May.

"Historical erotica has found a strong audience," says LaFehr, pointing to the success of Kate Pearce's Simply series, set in Regency England, including Simply Insatiable (May) and Simply Forbidden (Feb. 2011).

NAL editor Jhanteigh Kupihea has also embraced the trend, in which she says "anything can happen at a masquerade ball, and proper social mores fall by the wayside." Author Olivia Quincy debuted on the NAL Heat list last month with My Lady's Pleasure, a Victorian romp in which the daughter of an earl initiates an affair with a sexy landscape architect.

While Regency and Victorian England have been particular favorites for erotica writers, there is an increasingly popular spin on the past: erotic steampunk—fantastical writing set in the 19th century, when steam was the primary source of power. Part of what appeals to erotica writers and readers is the sci-fi slant to this historical writing: think sexed-up versions of H.G. Wells or Jules Verne. Bestselling author Katie MacAlister offered her take on the trend with Steamed: A Steampunk Romance Signet, Feb.). Red Sage released the Kindle edition of Full Steam Ahead (Mar.), a romance that unfolds during an airship race.

"Steampunk makes a lot of sense," says Cecilia Tan, editorial director of Circlet Press, in Cambridge, Mass. "So much of the erotica in the English language was passed down to us from the Victorian era"—a culture, she says, divided between the repressive and the openly explicit, and in which "some of the dirtiest books were written."

"And still in our much more open society, there's an attraction to exploring sexuality in a very repressed situation, or tightly controlled by social mores," says Tan.

Next on Circlet's list is Peter Tupper's The Innocent's Progress and Other Stories, which will expand on the piece that initially appeared in the publisher's 2008 steampunk erotica anthology, Like a Wisp of Steam. Coming this fall is Lionel Bramble's 1901: A Steam Odyssey, a turn-of-the-century take on Arthur C. Clarke's 1968 novel set 100 years later.

Modern Love

But contemporary erotica is as hot as ever, and it's appealing to an ever-growing range of ages, tastes, and even levels of adventure.

Ellora's Cave publisher Gorlinsky sees a dichotomy: "The bar has been raised on the eroticness of erotic romance—readers who have been reading for a while and who want to see the boundaries pushed and the envelope expanded," she says. "But we're also expanding to people who are new to erotic romance, and people who are at that level aren't ready for that. We have to play both ends of it."

Seal Press focuses on erotica that informs a woman's life. "I only like it if it has great acting and plot line," says Lyons. This spring Seal offers Nice Girls, Naughty Sex, a collection from the editors of erotica Web site Oysters and Chocolate. The book is divided into flavors, so that women of different "tastes" can find an ingredient that appeals. The "Vanilla" section features more mainstream erotica, for example, while the "Dirty Martini" segment is more hardcore.

Rachel Kramer Bussel marvels at the variety now available from mainstream publishers of erotica: "There are very specific fetish anthologies—gays in the military, or cross-dressing, or spanking." She herself has edited four anthologies on spanking, including last summer's Bottoms Up, from Cleis Press. Other Kramer Bussel–edited collections have focused on bondage, voyeurism, and even plane sex.

Patterson at St. Martin's notices an appetite for contemporary erotica "ranging from sweet to very sexy." St. Martin's Griffin will publish Opal Carew's Pleasure Bound (Oct.), about one woman's s&m relationship with two men. Berkley Heat editor Cindy Hwang also heralds the trend of threesomes—and moresomes. "We have more and more authors exploring committed, polygamous relationships, usually between two men and one woman," she says, "and readers really seem to respond well to these scenarios." Four Play (Oct.) features a story from Maya Banks and another from Shayla Black—both explore relationships between three men and a woman.

Still, the traditional man-meets-gal remains a popular premise. Harlequin offers Megan Hart's Naked (Aug.), in which the protagonist solicits tall, dark Alex Kennedy to model for her erotic photography book. In Control (Sept.), Kayla Perrin explores the dark plight of a wife who realizes that she has little say in her storybook marriage.

Erotic suspense is also hot this fall, with Jo Davis's third novel for NAL, I Spy a Naughty Game (Sept.), and Cheyenne McCray's latest, Kade: Armed and Dangerous (Oct.), from St. Martin's Griffin. The very contemporary premise of Subjugated, the much-anticipated e-novella from Ellora's Cave founder Jaid Black, is the mixed cultural signals and sexual tension between a 30-something American woman and her younger Saudi Arabian husband.

Not surprisingly, erotic nonfiction remains popular, with sex-technique books showing readers how to put their own fantasies into practice. Says Will Keister, publisher of Fair Winds Press, whose Quiver imprint publishes erotic books and card decks for couples: "Sex hints and tips on the Internet are mostly hearsay and often smothered by the overabundance of porn; books remain the most reliable, discreet, wholesome, and effective way to learn and have more fun in this subject." In November, Quiver will publish The Daily Sex Bible: Inspirations and Techniques for the Best Year of Sex Ever by well-known sex journalist Susan Crain Bakos.

For the more literary-minded, there's erotic memoir: what could be a hotter reading experience than as voyeur to someone's most private sexual experiences? Seal Press has experimented with erotic memoir for years, and in 2006 found great success with Joan Price's Better than I Ever Expected: Straight Talk About Sex After Sixty. "We know that women of all ages are interested in sex despite media headlines that read ‘Sex After 45 Doesn't Exist!' " says Lyons. "For them, knowing how to triumph over some of the issues they're experiencing in their sex lives is erotic because it leads them back to a fulfilling sex life."

Rae Padilla Francoeur's Free Fall: A Late in Life Love Affair (Mar.) addresses similar subject matter. And Seal will release Affection: An Erotic Memoir (Sept.), which traces the arc of author Krissy Kneen's sexual life. Lyons says Seal's premium on honest writing about raw, gutsy experiences is just as important for erotic memoir. "To be brought inside of a woman's sexual awakening, and to have someone be so vulnerable as to share their most private and personal experiences," she says. "That you're privy to this—that can make it hotter."