Author auctions erotic tale to promote book

The old authorly adage, “Write what you know,” could have a corollary: “Sell what you know.” Author M.J. Rose is doing just that. To drum up interest in her new erotic novel, Lying in Bed, she’s holding an eBay auction and offering to write a piece of “customized erotic fiction” for the highest bidder. And she is sweetening the deal by promising to donate the proceeds to charity. “Imagine what the erotic imagination of M.J. Rose could do with those steamy thoughts and compelling fetishes that have been tickling your libido for years,” says the listing. “M.J. Rose will craft a 2,000-word story to your specifications and deliver it within six weeks—and will donate her writing fee to Reading Is Fundamental. That means you get the erotica you’ve been craving AND you give to a worthy cause. What could be better?” The current bid is $500. The listing includes a sample of Rose’s writing, including this sentence: “The woman’s tongue flicked down the side of Gaia’s neck in a teasing motion like a butterfly alighting and then taking off and then coming back for more nectar.” Where did Rose learn to write like that? She used to be a creative director at “a top New York ad agency.”

—Posted by Tim Nudd

June 7, 2006 | Permalink