[justagirl]

I'm blocked! I had a title in the Dungeon for a while, too, but unpublished it in order to rework the premise.

Now, I submitted this last one knowing it might get blocked (it's PI) but I made sure to be careful with my cover, description, etc. Although I saw someone mention earlier that "Taboo" might be one of their no-no words - I'd put that in the series title, but not the actual title of the story. It does look like the content is starting to be targeted. My email came from Dani Q, I think.

Funnily enough, we've got another book out that is actual incest - cousincest. In Georgia. Where it's legal. And it, thankfully, hasn't been hit with a ban yet.

This kind of thing drives me up the wall - and to be perfectly honest, this tightening of the marketplace to not include anything that can be considered "dark" is one of the reasons I pretty much ran over to fanfiction a few years ago, where the AUs are often just basically original fic using non-original character names with a few character descriptions. I want to be able to purchase it. Indie publishing gave me many more options as a consumer, and I don't like giving them up.

@ Selena Kitt, any idea on a time frame for the new storefront you're creating?

 

[SunHi Mistwalker]

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?

I think that you're justified in being worried, because this will not stop, and I'm willing to bet my last dollar on that. In 3 years, maybe 5 years we will still be having this conversation, but I will bet you $10 that it will include non-erotica books. Maybe something too heavy or offensive for the average Sue and it'll be put out by a self-publisher and they will target that indie and say "see these people have no standards -- yadda yadda." Of course I don't have a crystal ball into the future, but I've lived enough life to know how these types of things can play out. I haven't decided what to do about my titles, but changing the titles goes against my principles as a writer. I have always promised myself that I would never allow anyone to control what I write. Now if that means that my erotica can't be on Amazon, then that's a decision I have to make for myself.

 

[Claudia King]

Bah, they finally got around to hitting a couple of my titles.
I got my PI-but-not-really title flagged along with the M/M bundle it was part of. It seems like the title "His Girlfriend's Daddy" is what's causing problems, since the issues with the book itself were described as "Title, Description, Cover Image", while the issues with the bundle were only listed as "Description" (which contains the title and blurb of the flagged book).

Time to retitle that one then, I guess. And cut out all mention of "stepdad" in the blurb. That's going to make it easy for readers to tell what it's about. >.>
There's not even any *actual* pseudo-incest in the book. It's about a guy doing naughty stuff with his girlfriend's stepdad, but I guess the vague implication is enough to set alarm bells ringing.

I really do have to add my concerns to the growing list in this thread. I think censoring titles like this is absolutely archaic and backward. This kind of "sweep sex under the carpet" attitude does nothing more than to hide material that most people take offence to purely out of ignorance.

 

[swolf]

I really do have to add my concerns to the growing list in this thread. I think censoring titles like this is absolutely archaic and backward. This kind of "sweep sex under the carpet" attitude does nothing more than to hide material that most people take offence to purely out of ignorance.

One of my ones they blocked because of the title was "Peeping in the Camp Shower." If that's not a mistake, it's absolutely ridiculous.

At the same time, they had no problem (so far) with my title, "I Spy with My Stepbrother's Eye." The inconsistency is mind-boggling. (I'm changing it anyway.)

 

[KMatthew]

I'm at the same point that a lot of you are at, deciding whether or not I'm going to rework some of my books so that they'll fit with these new standards. Thankfully, Amazon put most of my blocked books back in draft, but as I stare at my PI titles, which all need a title, description, and cover re-work, I'm sitting here thinking what's the point? If it's not obvious that it's PI, then someone will probably stumble on it unaware, buy it, and complain anyway. If enough people do that, the title will still end up blocked. So, in that regard, it truly doesn't seem worth the effort. As for other titles that have been blocked, if they're not a part of a series, I'm really looking at the amount of income they bring in before I decide if I want to rework them or not. The vast majority will end up remaining in Draft. As of right now, I can see perhaps 7 more of my titles being blocked. Thankfully, they haven't gotten to blocking my tentacle erotica yet, which is a pretty consistent seller. I think the day they do that, I will officially be livid about this.

 

[KMatthew]

One of my ones they blocked because of the title was "Peeping in the Camp Shower." If that's not a mistake, it's absolutely ridiculous.

At the same time, they had no problem (so far) with my title, "I Spy with My Stepbrother's Eye." The inconsistency is mind-boggling. (I'm changing it anyway.)

It's probably because 'Camp Shower' makes it sound underage. And on the note of your other title, there are several of my titles I'm sure they haven't got to yet. I would prefer if they took things one author at a time, instead of blocking a few books per author every few days. Worrying about the e-mails I'm going to wake up to every morning isn't fun.

 

[RaeC]

I wonder if they'd block a book titled "Carlos F Takes a Tentacle in the Amazon".

I'm also wondering if some of the inconsistency stems from a language issue, with Amazon outsourcing their reviewing and the "Carlos F", "Suzy P", etc monikers being completely fake.

 

[Al Dente]

I won't get into details but I just had 5 titles banned as well. It's not a big deal because I haven't written on that pen name in almost a year, but that's still nuts.

 

[P.C. (Peter) Anders]

Sorry to hear about the unnecessary banning of others' titles. No banning here, and my books are a combination of wordplay and humor combined with erotic episodes. However, a single two-star review of "The Uncensored Massage: Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, China," complaining that the book is about massage (when the description as well as the title emphasizes massage above all else!), has virtually stopped sales of my best-performing book.  (Unless, of course, it's just the government shutdown.)

 

[Flash Rex]

Anybody tried emailing Bezos directly?  Apparently he can be reached at jeff@amazon.com. According to Bloomberg story I saw today, he sometimes responds to address issues personally. If someone wrote him from a customer perspective (can't find all of an author's titles, some topics available for purchase elsewhere, etc.) maybe they would stop butchering this whole process.

Or maybe he'd just scream obscenities at Carlos F___!

 

[P.C. (Peter) Anders]

Anybody tried emailing Bezos directly? Apparently he can be reached at jeff@amazon.com.

Or maybe he'd just scream obscenities at Carlos F___!

Thanks for the address. I think I might try.

But . . . sorry, but who's Carlos F?
(sounded very funny).

 

[Flash Rex]

Thanks for the address. I think I might try.

But . . . sorry, but who's Carlos F?
(sounded very funny).

Carlos F is apparently the signatory on many of the YOUR TITLES ARE BLOCKED emails. What the F stands for is a matter of conjecture...

 

[Anjasa]

Selena had the Babysitting the Baumgartner's removed from sale. She's not pleased, obviously.

6 titles for us removed.

 

[David Adams]

I just had two titles removed today. Going to see if I can get them reinstated; they really don't sell enough to justify new covers.

 

[Guest]

As a writer of YA Fantasy I don't have a dog in this fight other than my opposition to censorship. But I'm afraid there may be very little you can do to oppose amazon in this matter. However, erotica writers may consider banning together to offer your "Banned by Amazon" work. Actually, that's kinda catchy. People love the forbidden, as you well know.

Just a thought.

 

[CoraBuhlert]

Anybody tried emailing Bezos directly? Apparently he can be reached at jeff@amazon.com. According to Bloomberg story I saw today, he sometimes responds to address issues personally. If someone wrote him from a customer perspective (can't find all of an author's titles, some topics available for purchase elsewhere, etc.) maybe they would stop butchering this whole process.

Or maybe he'd just scream obscenities at Carlos F___!

He should be very careful about wording his obscenities or Carlos F. might end up banning Jeff Bezos.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

[Zenferno]

Woke up to 3 of my titles reverted to draft.  Now I'm down to only 2 active ones, neither of which make any sales anyway .  I briefly considered reworking the 'banned' ones but as someone else mentioned, what's the point when they can't be actively promoted via title, blurb or cover image.  Oh well, it was fun while it lasted and the books made a decent profit.  Shame to see the work go to waste though in terms of ongoing sales.  What a huge opportunity for someone with resources to create a place all our outcast books can go. 

 

[thesmallprint]

This is the lead story in the Technology section of the BBC website (extract):

Retailer Amazon has removed several abuse-themed e-books from its Kindle Store after a report highlighted titles depicting rape, incest and bestiality.

Titles such as Taking My Drunk Daughter had been on sale.

Amazon and Barnes & Noble both say they are removing books found by technology news site The Kernel, but many others still remain, the BBC has found.

WHSmith and Kobo, which feature titles with similar themes, are yet to respond to requests for comment.

The BBC found that on Amazon's store, the search function automatically suggested explicit topics to users typing seemingly innocuous keywords - without age verification taking place.

Amazon has not responded to the BBC's request for comment on the issue, except to confirm that the specific books listed by The Kernel had been removed.

Barnes & Noble said in a statement the titles were "in violation" of its policy on content offered in the NOOK Bookstore and were in the process of being removed.

"When there are violations to the content policy that are brought to our attention, either through our internal process or from a customer or external source, we have a rapid response team in place to appropriately categorize or remove the content in accordance with our policy," it said.

Justice Minister Damian Green told the BBC "the government shares the public's concerns about the availability of harmful material."

 

[SunHi Mistwalker]

I'm curious, is Amazon's "policy" having a disparate impact on women writers? If so, women are a protected class in the United States.  Since the vast majority of erotica writers and readers are women, how has Amazon's newest sweep impacted the income of women writers depending on this "women's genre" to feed their families and pay their bills? This is something to think about.

 

[Avis Black]

I'm curious, is Amazon's "policy" having a disparate impact on women writers? If so, women are a protected class in the United States. Since the vast majority of erotica writers and readers are women, how has Amazon's newest sweep impacted the income of women writers depending on this "women's genre" to feed their families and pay their bills? This is something to think about.

Amazon doesn't like it if women have sexual thoughts. Not even fictional ones.