Help regarding adding trigger warning to blurbs

[Alexis]

Hi everyone.

I have two very sensitive scenes in my novel. One is a very brutal cross-examination of a rape victim and the other is a suicide attempt by a supporting character. I might cut them out or I might not. I'm thinking about how to proceed. But if I do, IF I decide to keep them should I add trigger warnings? I feel like trigger warnings sometimes act as spoilers, but I understand their importance as well.

I'd appreciate your thoughts/advice on this.
ETA: It fits under the Romance subgenre Erotic contemporary suspense

[Amy]

That's a tricky one isn't it. Years ago I remember reading similar things and there were no warnings. I was reading horror and felt short changed if it wasn't a horrific read. What genre are you putting it into?

[Alexis]

Amy wrote: "That's a tricky one isn't it. Years ago I remember reading similar things and there were no warnings. I was reading horror and felt short changed if it wasn't a horrific read. What genre are you pu..."

I'm thinking: Erotic contemporary suspense

[Aislinn]

I think I would be unpleasantly surprised to find such scenes in an erotic romance (or erotica) without a warning. I might expect them more in a thriller, or even a romantic suspense, but even then the scene you describe with the rape victim would be upsetting for me regardless of genre. (Not saying I wouldn't read it, but I'd want to be prepared).

I'm a big fan of trigger warnings. So, I that having a note at the bottom of the blurb saying something along the lines of:

Please note this book contains brief scenes that may be uncomfortable or triggering for some people. Anyone with sensitivity to verbal mistreatment of rape victims or suicide attempts should proceed with caution

Or however you want to phrase it. I think it's a really nice thing to do, and don't really think it's spoilery. You saying those two things above give me no context about them. I have no idea how they fit into the book, so I don't feel like they are a spoiler. But I know that they are there, so I should be in the correct mood before reading the book.

If that makes sense?

So, I guess my answer is a vote for a yes for trigger warnings if you keep the scenes in.

[Amy]

Alexis wrote: "I'm thinking: Erotic contemporary suspense "

That makes even trickier. I know from experience that the erotic publishers won't go anywhere near rape or dubious consent. Self publishing takes their rules out of the equation. Although I did still rewrite a dubious consent scene at the beginning of Modified and make it that he could absolutely escape if he wanted to just to be sure.

I would be more concerned about the cross examination of a rape victim in a book that's going into an erotic category. Although I have seen guidelines out there that state as long as it's not used as part of an erotic scene it may be OK.

Oddly I wouldn't be too concerned about a suicide attempt, I'm not taking that lightly, it's just that rape is more of a no go area for whatever reason.

If it was me I'd go with the warning of "Readers may find some scenes disturbing." Or however a warning is worded.

I even felt the need to include "contains explicit sex scenes" on a book that was primarily in the erotica category! Yet going back to reading books published by Black Lace 20 years ago-no such rules applied.

[Flavio]

It could be that I'm accustomed to it, but I don't see either as particularly upsetting things, especially if we're talking about a book, where there's no visual representation.

I would say that I am a strong proponent of not censoring yourself for the sake of what *some* readers *might* potentially feel when exposed to your work. The choice on whether you put in such scenes or not should only be yours.

As for trigger warnings. Meh. I know there are people who think differently, but, for a book, I think it's just unnecessary spoiler. Again, I can see the use for them when we are talking about visual media (whether its comicbooks, movies, or videogames), but for a book? It just seems excessive.
Unless you're doing something like advertising your work as a happy-sunshine adventure for little kids and then put explicit gore and sex inside, I don't see the problem.

If the novel is targeted to adults or people in their late teens, I don't think there's the need for trigger warnings.

[Alexis]

Aislinn wrote: "I think I would be unpleasantly surprised to find such scenes in an erotic romance (or erotica) without a warning. I might expect them more in a thriller, or even a romantic suspense, but even then..."

Very helpful Aislinn, thank you!

[Alexis]

Amy wrote: "Alexis wrote: "I'm thinking: Erotic contemporary suspense "

That makes even trickier. I know from experience that the erotic publishers won't go anywhere near rape or dubious consent. Self publish..."

Amy wrote: "Alexis wrote: "I'm thinking: Erotic contemporary suspense "

That makes even trickier. I know from experience that the erotic publishers won't go anywhere near rape or dubious consent. Self publish..."

Well, I'm going to self publish so that's not an issue.

But you're completely right about even mentioning rape in a book that is meant to be erotic. That is actually one of the reasons I've been struggling so much with this particular scene. I feel it's necessary for character development and for the plot but I know, I KNOW it would have to be done almost perfectly to not mess up the whole book. So yeah, tricky thing.

Thank you for the advice, I appreciate it.

[Alexis]

Sìlfae wrote: "It could be that I'm accustomed to it, but I don't see either as particularly upsetting things, especially if we're talking about a book, where there's no visual representation.

I would say that I..."


Thanks for the feedback Silfae. A part of me feels the same way, which explains why I'm so torn on this lol.

[T.L.]

I agree with Aislinn; put them on there.
If you were a victim of something like rape you wouldn't be expecting it in a romance/erotica book and could be disturbing.

One of my books centres on a girl who was sexually abused. I slapped trigger warnings all over it (feel free to look; it's the one with b&w cover).

[Aislinn]

It's hard to make a judgement without reading it, of course. I'm just happy that you're thinking of the potential issue, regardless of what decision you make. It shows that you're sensitive to the possible effects.

This might be the occasion when a second opinion might really help. Just to get some perspective on the potential of the scenes, you know?

[Amy]

Does the interrogation lead directly into an erotic scene between the same characters?

[Alexis]

Amy wrote: "Does the interrogation lead directly into an erotic scene between the same characters?"

Oh God no, no. No. That'd be all kinds of wrong!

The cross examination of the rape victim is at the beginning, chapter 2 I think. It serves to illustrate the kind of criminals my heroine represents and how that sometimes results in her having to go to bat for those that do indefensible things in a way that could rub others the wrong way or be considered callous. (And the rape victim shows up a bit later in the story.)

My hero and my heroine live very different lives and that shows in the way the book is written. Every dark, cynical chapter of hers is offset by a light one of his until they fall in love and a sort of balance is achieved (middle part of the book). Then of course I mess it up for them for a bit. :p

[Nat]

Alexis wrote: "Hi everyone.

I have two very sensitive scenes in my novel. One is a very brutal cross-examination of a rape victim and the other is a suicide attempt by a supporting character. I might cut them ou..."

My opinion: The BIGS (aka trad publishing) do not warn for anything on their blurbs. I don't think we have to. BUT, it's a nice thing if you wanted to do it. (I chose not to because I think it is a little unprofessional - aka, not like the BIGS.)

If I see some trigger warning on a blurb, I automatically know it's self-published.

[Alexis]

Nat wrote: "Alexis wrote: "Hi everyone.

I have two very sensitive scenes in my novel. One is a very brutal cross-examination of a rape victim and the other is a suicide attempt by a supporting character. I mi..."

Hmmm. Interesting. Maybe instead of a trigger warning, I should make sure that some of the darkness comes across in the blurb.

[Flavio]

Nat wrote: "Alexis wrote: "Hi everyone.

I have two very sensitive scenes in my novel. One is a very brutal cross-examination of a rape victim and the other is a suicide attempt by a supporting character. I mi..."

I hadn't thought of that; that is actually an interesting, practical point to also make against inserting the warning.

[Amy]

Alexis wrote: "Amy wrote: "Does the interrogation lead directly into an erotic scene between the same characters?"

Oh God no, no. No. That'd be all kinds of wrong!

The cross examination of the rape victim is at..."

Then I'd say you're OK then. But I read horror. And some of the horror I've read has had some pretty dark sex scenes in it passed off as erotic. And none of that had any kind of warning on it.

[Dawn]

Personally, I would just label the book as a "dark erotica suspense" or something along those lines. I think most readers (myself included) know that anything labeled "dark" will have possibly triggering themes. This way, you don't give too much away.

I'm actually on the other side of the aisle from Amy. I've seen and come to expect a trigger warning for self-harm (suicide) more often than one for rape. But that's just my own experience.

However, I will gently suggest that you NOT remove those scenes simply because you are worried about triggers. No one would want you to compromise your story by trying to clean it up for a certain portion of your audience. There is definitely an audience for the darker themed erotica books.

[Alexis]

Thank you Dawn (and everyone else). You've given me lots to think about, even some aspects that I hadn't considered re. professionalism.

I guess ultimately, Aislinn is right, I won't know how it comes across until I start getting it into the hands of readers.

[Amy]

I like the use of the term "dark erotica suspense" or something similar. Question though-where do you physically put those words?

[Alexis]

I'm not sure it falls under dark erotica though. I've read some of that stuff and my sex scenes and the relationship between my characters are way too normal to qualify. Dark erotica example: Siren

The suspense part of my book is dark, but the erotica part is quite sexy and fun actually.

(I know, it should be the other way around lol. Bangs head against wall.)

[Amy]

We should all just be able to create our own genres using our own names. Mine is an Amy book. Yours is an Alexis book. And it should instantly be blatantly obvious to anyone what that means :-)

If the blurb can include the words "traumatic experiences" or something in some form or another that's another way around it.

Or just write it. To be honest in the last few years I've got so bogged down in rules of what can and can't be written trying to keep publishers happy and still didn't get it right. So anything I say is warped by a sense of "ooh no you can't do that" because that's my experience.

[Marie Silk]

Alexis wrote: " IF I decide to keep them should I add trigger warnings? I feel like trigger warnings sometimes act as spoilers, but I understand their importance as well."

Yes it should have a warning imo. Something simple like "contains references to rape and suicide that may be disturbing to some readers" should do the trick.

[Christina]

I agree with Marie. I do not see this as unprofessional and more and more, content warnings are showing up on everything (wording it as content warning seems to be the accepted format for most advisories I've seen).

[Alexis]

Thanks ladies, I appreciate your input. I've been thinking about it all day and that seems like the right way to go. I'll add a trigger content warning.

[D.]

The blurb should give a clue to the content, but I also appreciate trigger warnings. If someone reads a book that sideswipes them in a traumatic way, that's not only awful, but can lead to an unhappy reader and a potentially bad review. Lose/lose.

[P.D.]

I prefer to clearly indicate expected content in the blurb, rather than give a trigger warning.

eg. "But she couldn’t please her mother and the parade of stepfathers. It seemed like the harder she tried, the worse the abuse got." (rape and abuse)

"...knowing he is only one step from despair and self-destruction." (suicide)

But I do have a trigger warning on one which contains more graphic violence than my other books.

[Warning - contains disturbing scenes of abuse]

[Alexis]

P.D. Workman (Pamela) wrote: "I prefer to clearly indicate expected content in the blurb, rather than give a trigger warning.

eg. "But she couldn’t please her mother and the parade of stepfathers. It seemed like the harder sh..."

Yes. I agree. I'm going to take another shot at the blurb as well.

[Amanda]

I like when I see trigger warnings. I think it would be very helpful to have one if you feel the scenes are that graphic. Everyone gave such great advice. Trigger warnings do help me with whether I'm gonna read the story or not. I have passed based on some trigger warnings because it wasn't something I wanted to read at the time.

[Owen]

This is a tricky question, and I don't think is a correct way to answer it. We started out with content warnings for our books. Initially they appeared to be beneficial, but we removed them later because from the feedback we got indicated they were counterproductive.

The issue was that we put ourselves in the position of making assumptions about how our prospective readers might feel. Those assumptions can lead (and did in our case) to making loaded statements that people will interpret in all manner of ways. So we were, in effect, biasing potential readers right from the start with our interpretation of their possible interpretation of what we decided to say in a content notice that was based on assumptions we could not validate.

We decided it was better not to bias the reader. The theme of our stories is pretty obvious and there is the sample, as well. Readers can read those and, in our opinion, get a decent idea of whether they want to read our books or not. So I agree there can be better ways to acquaint people with the nature of the content than a warning.

That said, people have different expectations, as this thread demonstrates. It's the expectations of your potential readers that matter. The question I would ask in your position is how far afield are those scenes from the content found in other books in your genre or that you deem to be similar to yours? Do these scenes come out of the blue and suddenly change the direction and/or tone of the story?

If they fall into either of these circumstances, a content notice might be a good idea. But if they fall within, or close to, the "mainstream" of books like yours, a content notice risks misleading people about the nature of the content in the books.

[Alexis]

Owen wrote: "This is a tricky question, and I don't think is a correct way to answer it. We started out with content warnings for our books. Initially they appeared to be beneficial, but we removed them later b..."

Thanks Owen for the feedback. I've never read a book like mine which is why it's hard to find a genre/category for it. Most erotic romances are fairly simple when it comes to the plot and with regards to to the external conflict that the characters have to deal with it. Mine isn't like that. It's also the reason why it's giving me such a headache because I can't compare it to anything. I WILL figure it out though.

[Owen]

Alexis wrote: "I've never read a book like mine which is why it's hard to find a genre/category for it. ..."

You mentioned a categorization of "Romance subgenre Erotic contemporary suspense". I think you are right that erotic romance has a different focus than your book may have. The question your comment raises for me is what theme is central to your book? Explicit sex is common in romance of all types these days, but the presence of explicit sex does not define a story as "erotic" all by itself. Our sci-fi has a good deal of explicit sex in it, too.

So maybe it comes down to what readership are you trying attract? Erotica readers tend to have different expectations than romantic suspense reader or erotic suspense readers. My feeling is that when a book is labeled as "erotic" the central conflict revolves the MCs' sexual relationship[s] and is resolved on those terms.

Or the central conflict and it's resolution could something else, and the sexual elements of the story fulfill another and/or support the story while remaining subsidiary. When you say, that "The suspense part of my book is dark, but the erotica part is quite sexy and fun actually", I'm going to guess that one of the elements drives the central plot, and the other supports it.

If the suspense part of the book is what drives the central plot, that ought to be clear in the sample and the blurb (as well as key words and categories) and in that case, my guess would be a warning isn't needed since what you describe is probably not that unusual for a book labeled "suspense"? [I don't read suspense, so I'm not the best judge.] If the erotica part is the main emphasis, and the book is going to be directed to those readers, a content warning might be warranted?

A suggestion: once you figure out the keywords for your book (if you haven't already), search Amazon for those keywords and see what comes up. Check the categories you think your book best fits into. Gauge their content and see if they include content warnings, and what the reviewers say. Consider how likely you think it is that those reader would be interested in your book. That should give you additional insight into where your books fits, and if a content warning in warranted or not.

BTW: you mention Chapter 2, and that's probably within the first 10% of the book? If so, it's there for anyone to read.

[P.D.]

I agree that finding other books that are similar to yours is important. Looking to see what the categories are, how the blurbs are written, etc.

[Alexis]

Janet wrote: "I wouldn't expect a romance to contain such scenes. Study the different genres. If your book doesn't fit in any of them, find the nearest and rewrite if necessary. Readers get very disappointed or ..."

Nora Roberts writes romance novels like that all the time. As do Maya Banks, Julie Garwood, J.D. Robb and many others. My scenes are actually quite brief and tame compared to what gets written in the suspense subgenre of romance.

ETA: My issue is not with the scenes and whether they fit under romance. It's with regard to how erotic/sexy even funny the rest of the book is and whether or not the scenes described above fit in it and if so, if I should add the trigger warnings. But yeah, I've read more intense stuff than this in other romance novels.

[Ember-Raine]

My romance deals a lot with domestic violence and PTSD. The only warning I put on it was a warning 18+ contains violence somewhat sexually explicit and contains foul language. There are several flashbacks the h has that deal with her and her ex when he was physically violent with her. It is categorized as a suspense. I don't think you need to get into too much detail about the graphic nature of the scenes in your warning especially if you put it in certain categories because most people who read those categories are expecting some angst and possible violence.