[CoraBuhlert]

Well, it is the Daily Mail, which has a reputation for manufacturing outrage. As for that Kernel site the Daily Mail linked to, which is even more outraged, I've never heard of them. So I did a bit of digging and found this, this and this. As for Jeremy Duns, he writes spy fiction and has broken the Q.R. Markham plagiarism case. I never really pegged him for the moral outrage type, but then he only made a single tweet that set off the Kernel and the Daily Mail.

 

[Skye Hunter]

The Daily Mail is possibly the worst "news" organization.

 

[Honeybun]

Okay, need some help folks.  I received an email from Amzn banning a bunch of my stories and this time they did include some direction as to where the problems were (which I'm very glad about!).

So, they are objecting to this title:  Bad Grade (A Jock & his Teacher, an erotic romance)

Can anyone shed some light as to the offensive part of that title?  Could it be "erotic"?  I need some help with this one, folks.  I'm shaking my head in puzzlement.  


Just an fyi, they also banned it due to the cover which can be seen in my signature line below. I'm sharing this just as a head's up about what they are considering not ok.

 

[Honeybun]

The Daily Mail is possibly the worst "news" organization.

Skye -- I LOVE your Suckle cover!

 

[Daizie]

Okay, need some help folks. I received an email from Amzn banning a bunch of my stories and this time they did include some direction as to where the problems were (which I'm very glad about!).

So, they are objecting to this title: Bad Grade (A Jock & his Teacher, an erotic romance)

Can anyone shed some light as to the offensive part of that title? Could it be "erotic"? I need some help with this one, folks. I'm shaking my head in puzzlement.

Just an fyi, they also banned it due to the cover which can be seen in my signature line below. I'm sharing this just as a head's up about what they are considering not ok.

Even if it's not the case, the title suggests that the jock could be underage, so that's probably their issue. You might just have to call it Bad Grade.

 

[Paranormal Piper]

Anyone planning on doing any monster erotica now that we're around Halloween, and seeing if it gets past the review process?

I just released Taken for a Ride by a Werewolf, and it went through the review process without any problems. It didn't even get hit by the Adult filter.

 

[Duane Gundrum]

I looked through a couple of pages of this thread but couldn't find it. Does anyone have the link to the page where you can check to see if a work has been put into the adult dungeon?

 

[Nihilist]

I looked through a couple of pages of this thread but couldn't find it. Does anyone have the link to the page where you can check to see if a work has been put into the adult dungeon?

http://www.salesrankexpress.com/

 

[Duane Gundrum]

Thank you.

 

[Amy Morrel]

Can anyone shed some light as to the offensive part of that title? Could it be "erotic"? I need some help with this one, folks. I'm shaking my head in puzzlement.

I doubt it is the word erotic. I use a subtitle of 'an erotic tale', or the same with additions for the specific story, on lots of my books. So far I haven't been hit by the bans, yet anyhow... *fingers crossed*

A.Morrel

 

[Honeybun]

For the cover, they are cutting WAY back on any nudity. My recommendation would be to either crop the pic closer to their faces, or choose another image. But since he's a jock, can you find a hot football player, or find a hot (clothed) teacher. I know there are hot teacher images out there.

For the title, it might be "erotic" and it might be "Jock". I like Daizie's suggestion of going with "Bad Grade". That's a hot title.

Thank you about the title compliment!!! ... And, I might try finding a sexy teacher and then change the name to something like Falling for the Jock as a series name, letting the sexy teacher cover provide the implication that it's the teacher falling for him.

 

[Lydniz]

Has anyone seen this? The Daily Mail likes to get on its moral high horse every so often but it's pretty powerful.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2456651/WHSmiths-vile-trade-online-rape-porn-Bookseller-apologises-sales-sick-ebooks-revealed.html

 

[Guest]

The biggest GATEKEEPER of book publishing?
It's now Amazon.

 

[swolf]

Just got my email from Amazon.  56 books blocked, plus 5 more that they didn't mention but I have to change to keep the collection titles consistent.

I'd better get busy...

 

[JShepard]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2456651/WHSmiths-vile-trade-online-rape-porn-Bookseller-apologises-sales-sick-ebooks-revealed.html

From this article: "Although bestiality is illegal in the UK, the 3,950 word ebook is available to download."

Is he saying that books containing acts that are against the law should not be available for purchase? So no more books about murder? (Goodbye "The shining!")

No more "True Crime" novels? Hell, should Law and Order stop airing?

Back to books, no more books that open our eyes about what women in the middle east face? I mean, those women have acid thrown on them. That's against the law. Ban it.

Say good bye "Tampa" with your 26 year old teacher seducing a 14 year old student. Wonder if Harper Collins would be cool with their author being banned?

Oh, and I guess my book, Vanished, that deals with a girl handing the aftermath of being raped should be banned also, never mind that my MC is an alien on an alien planet.

Unless the problem is stories that glorify crimes. Goodbye, Darkly Dreaming Dexter. (And the show counterpart, Dexter)

No matter how you slice it, the argument is not a strong one. The person who wrote the article needs to stop and think about what they are saying, and realize how silly they sound.

I get (and agree) they don't want it popping up next to kids stuff, but banning it altogether? Not a good fix. Because it's erotica now, Dexter tomorrow.

 

[SunHi Mistwalker]

Remember in 2010 when Amazon and I think All Romance too, prohibited books depicting incest between adults, rape and I think bestiality too? Well, three years later they're now banning pseudo-incest, tentacle erotica and sex with werewolves and bigfoot. Listen people, this won't stop. I suspect that it's not necessarily Amazon, but certain interest groups who want to marginalize erotica writers and they're picking the easy targets for now. And Amazon is acquiescing.  But in 3 years who will be next? Maybe it will be that safe erotic-romance that you're writing? Or maybe it will that racy college-sex erotic short you published.  I've also written erotic shorts, three of which have been sent to draft status by Amazon. The irony is that I initially wrote my first erotic story because I resented that erotica writers were facing censorship and I wanted to stand with them in a very real way. And then I realized I wrote erotica well and enjoyed doing it so I wrote a few more.  I won't stop writing erotica, but I can imagine that others will be discouraged.  I find this unfortunate, but maybe this is the point, not of Amazon, but of those interest groups. These people who target these fictional books have an agenda -- they want to control what you write and what you read. Don't let them win.

 

[Lady Vine]

They're all doing it, and yet there still isn't a designated erotica ebook store to steal away the business that these companies are now shunning.

Although none of my titles have been blocked thus far, Amazon has decided that it will override my category choices and lump my stuff in the catch all Erotica section, where it will never see the light of day. It's as good as blocked.

If we all migrated our erotica titles to a new store they'd surely feel the dent in sales. (But then Amazon would probably offer a few mil and buy the store...)

 

[CoraBuhlert]

Remember in 2010 when Amazon and I think All Romance too, prohibited books depicting incest between adults, rape and I think bestiality too? Well, three years later they're now banning pseudo-incest, tentacle erotica and sex with werewolves and bigfoot. Listen people, this won't stop. I suspect that it's not necessarily Amazon, but certain interest groups who want to marginalize erotica writers and they're picking the easy targets for now. And Amazon is acquiescing. But in 3 years who will be next? Maybe it will be that safe erotic-romance that you're writing? Or maybe it will that racy college-sex erotic short you published. I've also written erotic shorts, three of which have been sent to draft status by Amazon. The irony is that I initially wrote my first erotic story because I resented that erotica writers were facing censorship and I wanted to stand with them in a very real way. And then I realized I wrote erotica well and enjoyed doing it so I wrote a few more. I won't stop writing erotica, but I can imagine that others will be discouraged. I find this unfortunate, but maybe this is the point, not of Amazon, but of those interest groups. These people who target these fictional books have an agenda -- they want to control what you write and what you read. Don't let them win.

I totally agree with this, SunHi. I don't write taboo erotica, incest, pseudo-incest and the like. Nonetheless, I'm very disturbed by these blocking and censoring attempts as well as by campaigns like the one currently going on in the UK, because it's possible that the censoring busybodies will go after my books next.

Some of my most popular books are historical adventure romances. These books have violence, torture scenes, execution scenes, whipping scenes and sex. Sometimes the consent is dubious. Nothing in those books is worse than what you'd find in a standard 1970s bodiceripper style romance or a 1960s men's adventure mag. Plus, I always include a disclaimer warning about sexual and violent content. Nonetheless, campaigns like the current UK campaign against pseudo-incest erotica worry me. Because I have already changed my stories and e.g. made characters who have sex 18 or 19, when they'd probably have been younger in historical reality. I have covered up bare breasts on historical paintings on my covers. I have a tentacle story in the works that's basically a pulpy fantasy novelette (think Weird Tales in the 1930s) with some extra tentacle action. I already changed the title to avoid the adult dungeon or the ban hammer. And it annoys me that I have to censor my own work just because some busybodies get their knickers in a twist about e-book erotica.

I also view this as part of a general creeping decline of sexual freedom in the western world and it worries me. I always used to be something of a prude, so why do I suddenly find myself on the radical fringe of sexual liberty?

 

[Christa Wick]

The established order worldwide loves violence -- it makes us afraid and we look to government and para-governmental/para-police entities for protection. They are anti-sex because if you can suppress one of the two most crucial instincts of a species, you can control the species. Also, suppressing sex creates violence and ... the established order loves violence.

A wonderful essay from Remittance Girl -- http://remittancegirl.com/discussions/two-legs-bad-an-open-letter-to-mark-coker-smashwords-censorship-erotica/

A few facts excerpted:

Cultures that tolerate highly sexualized, graphic depictions of rape, such as Japan, have some of the lowest rates of rape in the world. While countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, with only a debated 67.2% literacy rate, little access to erotic fiction, no significant pornography industry and low internet access, have among the highest incidence of violent rape in the world.

Or, if sexual torture is your concern, it is good to remember that Egypt, with an outright ban on erotic fiction, has the highest rate of female circumcision in the world. And if a clitorectomy doesn't count as sexual torture, I'm not sure what does.

 

[cinisajoy]

Ok, I may be stupid, missing something or just spend too much time here but I am totally confused.  Several of you are complaining of being banned for this, that or the other.  Another complained about being put in erotica where it will never see the light of day.  Today I did a quick search in both sexual abuse and erotica.  I used two key words.  In both cases there were less than 200 in the sexual abuse category.  In erotica it was at least 800 for each.  The two key words were rape and incest.  And at least 12 free in erotica rape. So my question to those that are being banned or asked to change something, where are you putting your books to begin with?   
Though in all honesty in my quickie searches lately, the romance genre covers are more racy than erotica.
If I want to read erotica, I actually expect to need to go to the erotica section. 
Actually I usually just come here and see who the erotic authors are and go look at their amazon page.