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The other day, I updated the pricing of my latest release, a f/f romance (Any Other Love). It had previously been on sale for $0.99 and I flipped it to $3.99. This was the only change I made; the content remained the same.
Yesterday, I received an email from Draft2Digital informing me that my book had been rejected by Playster for "erotic content."
Mind you, the book had already been accepted by Playster, twice: once for pre-order, and again for final upload before release date. I was also surprised because, though the book has a steamy heat level, it's far from erotic. Furthermore, my m/f romances have the same heat level, and none have them have been rejected.
I replied to D2D via email:
I haven't heard back from D2D yet.
I'd hoped that maybe it just depended on who reviewed the content, but after talking to several other authors of LGBT+ fiction, it seems that Playster is specifically targeting LGBT+ fiction, regardless of heat level or genre. For example, I spoke with an author of LGBT+ SFF. There isn't even romance in her book, and Playster rejected it. An author of sweet LGBT+ romance was rejected, too.
Each of the authors who reached out to D2D or Playster for comment have yet to receive responses.
I've posted about it on my personal Facebook and my Twitter account, both of which are publicly shareable.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elizabethkaylene/posts/1338405346284899
Twitter: https://twitter.com/elizabethbarone/status/903305523113721856
If you are the author of LGBT+ fiction and Playster has rejected your book(s) for "erotic content," please let me know. Please also write D2D and/or Playster to complain; the more of us who push back, the better.
Playster does have content guidelines that prohibit sexual content. However, if they're going to reject my f/f romance, they should also reject my m/f romances. There's no reason to reject SFF with LGBT+ characters, though, nor is there reason to reject sweet f/f romance. It seems that Playster is rejecting fiction solely on the grounds of having LGBT+ characters, and that is not okay.
Yesterday, I received an email from Draft2Digital informing me that my book had been rejected by Playster for "erotic content."

Mind you, the book had already been accepted by Playster, twice: once for pre-order, and again for final upload before release date. I was also surprised because, though the book has a steamy heat level, it's far from erotic. Furthermore, my m/f romances have the same heat level, and none have them have been rejected.
I replied to D2D via email:

I haven't heard back from D2D yet.
I'd hoped that maybe it just depended on who reviewed the content, but after talking to several other authors of LGBT+ fiction, it seems that Playster is specifically targeting LGBT+ fiction, regardless of heat level or genre. For example, I spoke with an author of LGBT+ SFF. There isn't even romance in her book, and Playster rejected it. An author of sweet LGBT+ romance was rejected, too.
Each of the authors who reached out to D2D or Playster for comment have yet to receive responses.
I've posted about it on my personal Facebook and my Twitter account, both of which are publicly shareable.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elizabethkaylene/posts/1338405346284899
Twitter: https://twitter.com/elizabethbarone/status/903305523113721856
If you are the author of LGBT+ fiction and Playster has rejected your book(s) for "erotic content," please let me know. Please also write D2D and/or Playster to complain; the more of us who push back, the better.
Playster does have content guidelines that prohibit sexual content. However, if they're going to reject my f/f romance, they should also reject my m/f romances. There's no reason to reject SFF with LGBT+ characters, though, nor is there reason to reject sweet f/f romance. It seems that Playster is rejecting fiction solely on the grounds of having LGBT+ characters, and that is not okay.