Some Thoughts on Indie Writers and Online Censorship

I have heard rumours that Bookstrand.com are initiating a policy whereby the books of all indie authors, regardless of subject matter, will not be included on the site main page. It could be a book of harmless flower poems, but it would still be shunted off and tucked away on an indie new arrival page. I personally don't think that's fair, it smells of discrimination and it means less "upfront" exposure for indie writers.

I can fully appreciate that some online book stores, particularly those catering to a general and wide age range audience, don't want porno covers and explicit sex titles in their shop window so to speak. However, if an indie book fits in with general romance ebooks and has a non explicit title and cover then I don't see why it should be sidelined.

A lot of indie authors are every bit as professional as those who choose to go through a publisher. In fact some of them are more professional. I have seen books put out by some online publishers that are so badly edited they shouldn't be on sale.

This apparent backlash against indie writers concerns me very much. I suspect it stems from the fact that the subject matter of a lot of indie works deals with what many consider to be taboo subjects, such as incest and rape fantasy. Paypal actively crusades against such subject matter and is leaning on Companies that feature such works, freezing their accounts, as well as the assets of individual writers. It amounts to censorship and this is something that should concern and worry us all. Censorship once started is a hard ball to stop rolling. It gathers momentum and very soon it crushes all in its path.

Where will it stop? Will we have Paypal and credit card companies dictating what subject matter authors can write? Will they perhaps draw up guidelines that we, as writers, will be forced to adhere to at the risk of having our accounts frozen? Who judges what is a suitable subject? I have a phobia about insects. I utterly loathe them. They disgust me. Does that mean that all books dealing with the subject of insects should be banned? Of course not!

I don’t like rape fantasy stories or incest or torture stories and I choose not to read them - choose being the operative word here. Adults have the right to make choices about what they want or don’t want to write and read. We are not children to have those choices made for us. It’s an infringement of personal liberty.

What next? Will the writers of works disapproved of by Paypal and other such Companies be whisked off in the dead of night to some cyber concentration camp to be reprogrammed or even never to be heard of again?


Just my thoughts on a difficult subject.

An excellent article on the subject of censorship:
http://selenakitt.com/blog/index.php/2012/02/19/slippery-slope-erotica-censorship/

If you value creative freedom consider signing this petition:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/7/stop-internet-censorship/

Gay Romance Obscene?

According to Squidoo it is.

In keeping with the recent trend for pogroms on ‘Adult’ sites they have decided to cull many lenses. I have been informed that some lenses I created to promote my wares are considered Adult in nature and are to be deleted in order to safeguard innocents from stumbling across them and being so offended that they need trauma counselling. Yes people, according to Squidoo, gay romance is obscene.

There is absolutely nothing obscene in my Squidoo lenses, no nudity, nothing x-rated, nothing inflammatory. My book covers are perfectly respectable. In comparison to most mainstream fiction and indeed some fiction aimed at the teen market my stories are relatively staid. Sex happens, but not on every page and not in graphic detail, if rings get mentioned in my stories they’re more likely to be wedding rings than cock rings. The only element that might raise an eyebrow is the discipline element, but again it’s hardly obscene, I strive to present an intelligent argument as to why some people include consensual discipline in their relationships. My stories are romantic, loving and often humorous. They’re gay affirming and strive to portray a positive image of gay relationships and maybe that’s the real problem. It seems that many sectors of society are still determined to keep gay life, gay culture; gay anything, firmly in the shadows, something suspect and guilty, and it just isn’t acceptable.

So, stuff you Squidoo. I hope a Japanese Whaling Trawler catches you in its nets and sells you to a Sushi Restaurant.

Gay Blogs Under Attack?

Rumour has it that Blogger/Google or whoever, are taking a leaf out of Amazon's book and launching a blitz on adult gay blogs. Apparently lots of blogs have been subjected to censorship and even closed down for so called policy violations. Fair enough if those blogs are truly guilty of violations, but who is determining exactly what constitutes a policy violation, is it a violation simply to have a blog that has adult gay content? A blog called 'Jockspank' seems to be the latest victim of this gay cull and is currently 'under review.' The owners of Jockspank made it very clear that their content was adult in nature, they also strived to make clear that all models were aged 18 and over and that they did not condone and would not support any under age material or links to such. Jockspank was an excellent resource for discipline aficionados of every persuasion. As well as spanking erotica and fairly straightforward male glamour porn, it had intelligent articles and interviews. In short I found it to be an interesting magazine style blog and I hope it's back soon.