So, are we practicing CENSORSHIP, Amazon???
I just found out through my friends and fellow readers/writers on the Interracial Multicultural Romance Readers site, Amazon.com seems to have gone stark raving dumbshit.
Apparently, the "geniuses" have decided to strip all so-called 'adult' material of their sales rankings and search capabilities. This not only includes erotica, erotic romance and EVERYTHING in the GLBTQ category (whether explicit or not), but self-help books on sexuality, such as the classic 'Our Bodies, Our Selves' by the Boston Women's Health Collective. Even classic authors like James Baldwin and Edmund White--both considered literary--are suffering the same fate.
Why is this such a big deal? Well, outside of the obvious censorhip aspect--something a company which sells books should NEVER even contemplate--there are quite a few of us in the slash world have channeled our love of m/m romance into print, isn't it nice to know that the fucktards at Amazon have decided to be the morality police by making it IMPOSSIBLE for customers to locate? I'm not naming names here, but ladies YOU know who you are and your books--all the hard work and effort you put into creating them--are being treated like trash. Without ranks, these books will not turn up in a search.
Of course, Amazon claims it was a "glitch", but no one in the blogsphere is buying it.
Outside of hitting Amazon in the old pocketbook, here's a link to a petition protesting this nonsense:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/in-protest-at-amazons-new-adult-policy
You can read more about this issue here:
http://markprobst.livejournal.com/15293.html?view=62653#t62653
Here is another alternative action as well: http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/index.php/weblog/comments/amazon-rank/#com
Between the $75.00 a year I pay for the Amazon Prime service and the thousands of dollars I spend every year on books, I am the type of customer Amazon really can't afford to piss off, especially in this economic climate.
Apparently, the "geniuses" have decided to strip all so-called 'adult' material of their sales rankings and search capabilities. This not only includes erotica, erotic romance and EVERYTHING in the GLBTQ category (whether explicit or not), but self-help books on sexuality, such as the classic 'Our Bodies, Our Selves' by the Boston Women's Health Collective. Even classic authors like James Baldwin and Edmund White--both considered literary--are suffering the same fate.
Why is this such a big deal? Well, outside of the obvious censorhip aspect--something a company which sells books should NEVER even contemplate--there are quite a few of us in the slash world have channeled our love of m/m romance into print, isn't it nice to know that the fucktards at Amazon have decided to be the morality police by making it IMPOSSIBLE for customers to locate? I'm not naming names here, but ladies YOU know who you are and your books--all the hard work and effort you put into creating them--are being treated like trash. Without ranks, these books will not turn up in a search.
Of course, Amazon claims it was a "glitch", but no one in the blogsphere is buying it.
Outside of hitting Amazon in the old pocketbook, here's a link to a petition protesting this nonsense:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/in-protest-at-amazons-new-adult-policy
You can read more about this issue here:
http://markprobst.livejournal.com/15293.html?view=62653#t62653
Here is another alternative action as well: http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/index.php/weblog/comments/amazon-rank/#com
Between the $75.00 a year I pay for the Amazon Prime service and the thousands of dollars I spend every year on books, I am the type of customer Amazon really can't afford to piss off, especially in this economic climate.