Customer Reviews

1-2-3 Be a Porn Star! A Step-By-Step Guide to the Adult Sex Industry

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I'll begin by saying I'm not in any way involved in the adult film industry, except for being a semi-regular consumer. Many reviewers poorly rate this book, arguing it isn't an accurate or effective guide. I suspect some negative reviewers have ideological problems with porn. I checked some of their other reviews and either they had written about very view sex-related books, or usually wrote about them negatively. To be fair, this wasn't the case for everyone, and some do seem genuinely well informed. That said, I bought this book primarily out or curiousity; I wanted a general understanding of what it's like to work in the porn industry.

On that level, the book seems to work for me. Loria provides fairly detailed steps for breaking into the world of adult films. She describes different types of adult films (gonzo, pro-am, etc.), legal aspects, and provides a fairly comprehensive list of contacts. She also provides detailed instructions/suggestions for making your own adult video (including legal safeguards and equipment suggestions). I didn't attempt to use any of the contacts, but as a consumer I did recognize several film company names.

What's most interesting are Loria's interviews with several porn actors. Through these interviews and personal anecdotes she's able to give the reader insight into the fiercely proctective social enclave that is the porn community. She provides a seemingly balanced perspective of what it's like to be in the porn industry, as her interviewees describe the good and bad aspects of being a porn actor. A surprising revelation is how difficult in can be for male porn actors. A common criticisism of pornography is that it exploits women, but interviews with male porn actors reveal that in some ways they are under greater pressure than their female counterparts.

Though the book is fairly balanced in dipicting both good and bad aspects of the industry, at times it does seem to gloss over the more seamy aspects of the industry. I've read in other sources that many porn filmmakers are duplicitous, untrustworthy, and selfishly manipulative (though of course it's unfair to characterize all pornographic filmmakers this way). Loria touches on this aspect of the industry somewhat, but only in a cursory manner.

1-2-3 Be a Porn Star is a great read for those thinking of entering, or anyone curious about the porn industry. Like so many other males, I casually maintained the notion of working in adult films. After reading this book and getting a more detailed understanding of the industry, I can say that it's definetly not for me. As an ocassional viewer of pornography, I found this to be an interesting and revealing look behind the scenes of adult films.

And no, it's not because I myself want to be a porn star (in case Mom is reading this!), but I've always been really curious about how the adult industry works. Everyone talks about the seedy sets and sleazy producers, but I was totally amazed at how professional this book is. I expected a lot of poor writing and unorganized details, so I was really happy to discover exactly the opposite. I now feel very confident that I know how this business works and what I would need to do in case I decided to pursue this line of work (which I haven't yet, okay!) But if I did, I would thank Ana Loria because she's taken out a lot of the difficulty and sleazy aspects, and made it a totally professional and legitimate endeavor, as it should be. FIVE STARS AND MORE.

As a writer for adult zines, I'm pretty sure I don't want to be a porn star myself... at least not full-time. But I have tons of friends and neighbors who always pester me with questions about the best way to break into the business. Well, I used to feel my answers were lame because it's kind of tricky to explain all the hoops you have to jump through to get a chance on the set. But Ana Loria's book breaks it down into three easy steps, and her advice is superb. The interviews are also fascinating and they portray life as a porn star quite realistically. Now I just need to make sure I keep enough copies on hand to give out to all the porn wannabes.

I bought and read this book when it first came out. I'm a male dancer and have always been interested in becoming a porn star. This book makes it sound very easy and claims to give you step by step instruction on how to become a porn star, but it doesn't. If someone reads this book, it has to be for personal information or curiosity only because if you're hoping to get something out of it to jump start your careers as a porn star, then forget this book! I tried every way mentioned in this book to get in touch with producers, film makers and agents, all the leads and numbers provided in this book were wrong, disconnected or people who calimed to know nothing about this book. I must say this book was very disappointing!

I am a female in the sex industry. I have been making porn films and striping for over 8 years and I laughed when I read this book. It's ok for rookies and average people who are interested in the porn industry(remember sex sells). I was disappointed in that the book mentions, you'll get up-to-date contact information for all the best talent agents, directors, and producers. that's a bunch of hogwash. The book claims that it offers a step by step guide to the porn industry, that's false. This book is lacking a lot of important information, but the average person looking in from the outside will obviously not know this. If anyone is trying to get into the porn industry, don't rely on this book for all the acurate information.

Finally we get a candid view of how to become a Porn Star. Porn is big and getting bigger, soft, hard, and in between. We expect the industry to flourish over the next ten years as more people become more at ease with sex and watching sex. The Internet is just the beginning, the growth of DVDs, interactive TV, and other forms of voyeurism is going to create multi billion dollar enterprises. You can be a part of that and make great money. And if you are thinking about doing so we suggest you read this book.

I have always been interested in how most people enter the adult porn business, but I never knew where to find the information until I read this book. The information presented in this book is presented in a very entertaining manner. the interviews made porn stars seem more down-to-earth which me realized that anyone is capable on entering this exciting, erotic professional business. Good Job miss Loria!

I've always fantasized about being nude in front of the camera, as I'm a bit of an exhibitionist and being submissive helps too :) But I'm not stupid and I don't want to take unnecessary risks or get ripped off by some sleazy adult producer, so I never felt secure enough to actually try going into porn. Then I read 1-2-3 BE A PORN STAR, and I was totally excited because Ana lays it all out for you as far as what you need to do to take precautions and make sure you get paid the right amount. This was exactly what a shy little sub girl needed to get her hands on! (And it is very well written, to my amazement.) I recommend this book if you are at all curious, because you only live once!

this book is one of the best books on the world of porn I have ever read.Very sound advice and a must read for amateur producers and actors thinking of entering the world of X.

... Anyways, here's my opinion of the book: I found itinteresting and the contact information it provided was accurate(mostof it). The only negatives about the book is that is focuses onmainstream porn and spends a great deal of time explaining how to makeyour own amateur porn movie. If you are interested in a non mainstreamsection, such as getting into fetish films, the information isprovided, but not too in depth. I'm currently working on my own pornweb site and this book did provide me with little information that Imight be able to use. For me, the rest of the book containedinformation which would be useful to people who know nothing aboutpornography. The book does feature a couple of interviews withcurrent and past porn stars who "made it big", althoughthere is limited information on web-based porn. To sum it up, Ienjoyed the book, but was a little disappointed that it didn't containmore in depth information.