WTF? Amazon makes sure that being socially inclusive in your writing hurts an author's sales.
Via 1_mad_squirrel
http://community.livejournal.com/meta_writer/11369.html
Amazon has ripped the rankings from all the their books that has 'gay adult content' because, and I quote: In consideration of our entire customer base, we exclude "adult" material from appearing in some searches and best seller lists. Since these lists are generated using sales ranks, adult materials must also be excluded from that feature.
At least one of these books was YA, so I presume that merely having a gay person in your story is enough to make your story 'adult'. Way to be socially inclusive, guys.
No love, me.
P.S.: does this mean they're going to strip the ratings from the Doctor Who and Torchwood books, too; how about DVD sales? Or is Amazon not quite stupid enough to go that far.
ETA: Oh sh@t, it's worse than I thought. New link, via cherylmmorgan's LJ.
http://community.livejournal.com/meta_writer/11992.html
They're even stripping the rankings from non-fiction and academic books, dealing with gay rights and history. This is definitely beyond the pale.
ETA again: From the smart bitches themselves... a GoogleBomb of Amazon Rank
Making this the top result, which is also dependent upon algorithms and shit, requires help from you savvy folks. I’ve created a page with the definition for “amazon rank.”
LINK TO http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/amazonrank with “Amazon Rank” as the anchor text. The link should look like this:
Amazon Rank. This is known as Google-bombing.
And the petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/in-protest-at-amazons-new-adult-policy
http://community.livejournal.com/meta_writer/11369.html
Amazon has ripped the rankings from all the their books that has 'gay adult content' because, and I quote: In consideration of our entire customer base, we exclude "adult" material from appearing in some searches and best seller lists. Since these lists are generated using sales ranks, adult materials must also be excluded from that feature.
At least one of these books was YA, so I presume that merely having a gay person in your story is enough to make your story 'adult'. Way to be socially inclusive, guys.
No love, me.
P.S.: does this mean they're going to strip the ratings from the Doctor Who and Torchwood books, too; how about DVD sales? Or is Amazon not quite stupid enough to go that far.
ETA: Oh sh@t, it's worse than I thought. New link, via cherylmmorgan's LJ.
http://community.livejournal.com/meta_writer/11992.html
They're even stripping the rankings from non-fiction and academic books, dealing with gay rights and history. This is definitely beyond the pale.
ETA again: From the smart bitches themselves... a GoogleBomb of Amazon Rank
Making this the top result, which is also dependent upon algorithms and shit, requires help from you savvy folks. I’ve created a page with the definition for “amazon rank.”
LINK TO http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/amazonrank with “Amazon Rank” as the anchor text. The link should look like this:
Amazon Rank. This is known as Google-bombing.
And the petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/in-protest-at-amazons-new-adult-policy