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Where else can you get paid to look at porn all day in the form of images and movies then, at night, sit down and read through about 100 erotic stories to get them categorized by niche?
Whoever said porn is bad couldnt be further from the truth, i really do love this job sometimes :thumbsup:
Regards,
Lee
urgh more power to you Lee.
I've gotten so sick at looking at dick anymore I could lick a twat.
well....
maybe not THAT sick of looking at dick. but close.
Haha wait till you've been doing this for almost 6 years, then you'll know porn boredom ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by JustMe
Regards,
Lee
i'm sick of dick and pussy - i wanna make sites of people in fucking parkas and ski pants, i get so sick of porn *LOL*
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Originally Posted by JustMe
This job is really nice:thumbsup:
yeah - when i'm in the mood. after doing this 9 1/2 years, after a couple more years making phone sex ads, it can get a little stale ;)
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Originally Posted by Kicker
I totally agree, this is a great job (even doing the boring techie stuff behind the scenes).
cheers,
Luke
Well, think about what it might be like having to WRITE about it all the time... There are really only so many ways you can say "Hey, here's a fun new gay adult site!" You mean there's ANOTHER affiliate site with a 50/50 revshare program, ANOTHER site with all-exclusive content? Who ever heard of such a thing? Hehe
Yes, sometimes I really struggle with coming up with fun ways to say the same thing, which I would assume would be the same for many of you folks when shooting your own content and putting your sites together. I think any job can get a little "routine" (I've been in adult for over four years now, and there are days when I just don't want to write about dick, ass, affiliate programs or exclusive content), but for the most part, I have to say, there's nothing quite like being in this business. When I'm on the set of a porn film, and you're sitting five feet away from Tag Adams getting his butt plowed by Gus Mattox, life is truly good! :)
And then, of course, there is the added pressure of having to deal with disgruntled webmasters... and that is certainly NO walk in the park on my end. LOL!
Then again, with very few exceptions, webmasters, directors and porn stars realize they need to be nice to me if they want me to say nice things about them. I love how that (usually) works in my favor. :)
Sometimes it's really good to be me.
XXXWriterDude - i DO write about it, every single day. i do reviews for two different review sites, have written site text for maybe 50 or more, i write stories, text ads, and press releases. in fact, right now i am finishing a writing job for a new site (great site, btw) and am doing all the text for a new paysite tomorrow. plus reviews that pop up - and i'll be doing a blog for a large gay site.
and i'm always so excited when i get to write about a site that is either
1. exceptionally good - or
2. has an unusual or interesting niche - or
3. has an interesting take on a common niche
as opposed to writing exciting text about an amateur site made with the exact same 25 videos as the last site i wrote text for, or writing niche-specific text about a site that doesn't actually match the niche...
and as far as reviews go, being nice to me won't help at all. i call it like i see it, and i feel that if my friends wanted better reviews, they'd make better paysites ;)
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Originally Posted by basschick
I will definitely agree with you on this! When I come across a site that I am excited about, I truly can't wait to write about it, and personally, I think it comes across in my writing. Then again, I'm also a pretty darn good writer, so I can also fake it when I need to. :)
Actually, I agree with you on this as well. As far as reviews, I ALWAYS bow to journalistic integrity and 100% honesty, because as a journalist, that's all I have to offer. But I also make it a point to at least say something nice about someone before I then systematically tear them down... Bwuahahahahahah! :)Quote:
and as far as reviews go, being nice to me won't help at all. i call it like i see it, and i feel that if my friends wanted better reviews, they'd make better paysites ;)
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Originally Posted by basschick
As a sidenote to this, I have actually begun to turn down offers to do reviews for a few magazines who told me, in no uncertain terms, that ALL reviews had to be positive to stroke the egos of their advertisers. Being in the publishing business is quite hard sometimes (as I'm sure you've found, basschick, if you've ever written for any magazines), b/cuz your conscious dictates that you should always be honest at all costs, yet practicality tells you that you need to "lie creatively" (i.e.: stroke someone) in order to keep a magazine in business.
It's even harder here at AVN, where we are a trade-based publication rather than a consumer-driven one. The majority of AVN's revenue comes from advertising, so that would seem to dictate that we must bow to our advertisers' every wish, right? (Trust me, some of you wouldn't believe the calls we get here, with porn directors and site owners threatening to pull all their advertising and ripping us new assholes as if the fact that they advertise with us entitles them to treat us like their servants. Personally, as I see it, they wouldn't even have a place to advertise if the magazine didn't exist in the first place, but that's a chicken-and-egg debate best left to another thread--and preferably one that I don't want to be a part of lest it gets me fired. LOL!)
Is it possible to retain journalistic integrity in such a scenario? Sometimes I honestly don't know. I mean, I've gotten the art of feature and entertainment writing down to a science, and I know the right key words and the right things to say to make people happy, but sometimes my heart is just not in it. Which is when you tell yourself, "OK, dude, this is your bread and butter, so shut up and do the job you're paid to do." :)
I guess the question this raises is: What do webmasters expect from a magazine they advertise in? Honesty, or simply bought publicity?
the points you bring up are complex. i mean, even a trade journal's readers are consumers of something. and making money is the function of any trade magazine. getting exposure - in as positive a light as possible - is the goal of the advertisers. being entertained and being informed are the goals of the readers. all of those things have to be balanced - and the writers play a big part in that.
should the readers be informed? in my opinion, absolutely. however some of the interviewees and advertisers aren't really as useful, honest or interesting as the magazine would like them to be portrayed. sometimes ya gotta ... not exactly lie, but find and discuss the parts that work for the site or magazine. after all, if you are too honest in all your work, the magazine won't be as effective for advertisers - and of course, it does them no good to build resentment in the industry.
i no longer make a habit of reading webmaster or any trade magazines and expect the truth. arie reads his trade magazines, and what a load of bullshit they are *LOL*
i am extremely fortunate. i have done writing for some people who were extremely appreciative - they never fail to use my services again, and i get a lot of referals from them. this means that i can turn down jobs that aren't to my taste. i have a couple writers i can refer the webmasters i turn down to - because i'm codependant and hate to see an unfulfilled need ;)
a lot of what i do isn't writing, as well. i develop sites, work as a supervisor for designers for people who have time, and i critique galleries and paysites for people. while i in NO way consider myself an "expert", i have spent a lotta time inside a lot of successful and unsuccessful sites. ya learn a lot through simple observation - and writing reviews has allowed me to see a lot of member areas.
magazine work isn't for me unless the rates went up per word since the last time i did any - which was a loooong time ago. web work suits me - which makes sense after more than 9 years. the web has allowed me to flourish and grow as a writer and as a person. i consider myself pretty lucky in how it all worked out.
Great points, basschick. It was actually such a great experience the other day to turn down an editor who wanted me to write reviews for a certain magazine, b/cuz I simply do not want to get into something where I am compromising my artistic and journalistic integrity simply so that I can blow smoke up someone's ass.
I just had a book published, and the majority of the reviews have been overwhelmingly positive, but there have been 2 or 3 that I've found so far that have had negative things to say. Nobody actually LIKES to hear negative things said about something they put a lot of effort in to, so I totally understand why people get miffed when they read negative press, but personally, I have ALWAYS appreciated honest and constructive criticism. But, even when someone is less than constructive, I always try to keep in mind that it's just one person's opinion, and that person just happens to have a forum in which to spread it. It doesn't make him/her right. It just means that's their opinion. And hopefully, independently-minded people who don't follow the words of critics as gospel will decide for themselves what they want to see and look at.
HamiltonSteele said it best in another thread, when he said that 95% of the people in the adult business have monstrous egos. I have seen the ugliest side of this, and I'm quite simply shocked by the actions of some people when it comes to the criticism of their work, or at the way they see fit to toss their weight around and bully people simply b/cuz they can't get over themselves. I've had one of the biggest personalities in porn call me up one time and--while ranting and raving and being thoroughly condescending--threaten to never again talk to AVN if I moved forward with a story I was writing. Luckily, I was very quick to diffuse that situation immediately by pointing out to them the importance of the story in the long run, and they relented. But I remember sitting there thinking, "How dare you. I'm a reporter doing my JOB, a professional in my field just like you--AND I'm giving you press by writing about YOUR movies. On top of that, you aren't even advertising with us. Who the hell do you think you are talking down to me like I'm a 5-year-old?"
That's probably a little off-topic, but in a way, it's not. B/cuz THOSE are the times when I DON'T love my job--when I'm faced with the people whose heads are so far up their own asses they're tasting their own intenstines. And in this business, you're bound to come across A LOT of those people. And that's actually kinda sad. Luckily, I have a healthy outlook on not only the industry and the place of sexuality in my life, but I am also pretty fucking humble when it comes to how I view myself in the grand scheme of things. When I meet the porn stars and players who are truly modest and humble and gracious, THAT'S when I truly love my job. B/cuz NOTHING is sexier than someone who understands the value of a little humility and modesty. :)
i guess i'm lucky. i'm usually a very dry person, so people run out of steam with me pretty fast when they try to throw their issues in my face. i'm not impressed, and how mad can i be when i realize what a sad and stunted ego i'm truly dealing with *shrug*
and you're sooooooo right - there are some amazing egos out there *LOL* the world is full of jerks and bullies who would use their time a lot better to listen to people rather than try to bulldoze them but i say fuck 'em. if they want us to write well of them, let them try treating others well and having good products! call me crazy, but that could just work ;)
some day, maybe the writers will all go crazy and write ALL the truth - wouldn't THAT turn the adult internet inside out :D
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Originally Posted by XXXWriterDude
I like the way you think on this one, basschick. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by basschick
Right with ya Leee. I love my job as well... just wish lube came in bigger bottles.. sigh :)
I love the freedom, challenges, controling every aspect of the business and talking and meeting other webmasters. I love the fact that competitors are more likely to give you a hand with something rather than trying to steal your customers etc. I hate some of the attitude though especially with the straight side. It has come a long long way since 1996 with many constant bumps in the road for everyone with more to come for sure. I can not think of anything I would like to do more.
Mark