I have been quite silent from my blog and from Facebook, but I am coming out of hiding because I need to jump up on a soapbox today. I know only about 5 people will read this, and *maybe* 1 of those 5 will even give a shit about this. Nevertheless, an issue that apparently started over the weekend is spilling into my world, and I'm pissed.
For those of you who haven't heard the latest bullshit in the book world, Amazon UK started pulling "questionable" books from their site over the weekend and into today. While all indications are that the books that are being pulled involve rape, incest, and bestiality when used in a "favorable" way, a lot more than just those have been pulled. In fact, one of my fave authors had her books pulled today, and the content was just general abuse of a kid by his parents. It's part of the story line and in no way glorifies it.
As today progressed, Amazon US, Barnes & Noble, and the main Kobo distribution site also jumped on board. In fact, Kobo pulled down EVERY SINGLE TITLE that was self-published...regardless of genre or topic. Any self-pub indie author who tried to publish to Kobo today was denied.
Apparently for us Kindle users, if any book was pulled in the past 48 hours THAT WE PAID FOR, it has been wiped from our account. There was no warning, no "we're going to pull this in 24 hours so if you want to back it up to your computer," and no refund (as of yet). The way it sounds, *if* refunds are offered - if that's how Amazon wants to handle this - then that's money taken right out of the author's pockets.
Are you fucking kidding me?
And this whole thing started because some parents in Europe discovered that when their kids searched the internet for "daddy," they downloaded an incestuous book.
Of course, fabulous works of literature - like 50 Shades of Grey - will never leave us alone because they are now published and have the backing of a bazillion lawyers. Random people like you or I who have this amazing story in their head and hope that 10 people in this world might be interested are screwed. The little fish will never have a chance to be a big fish if someone keeps dumping all the water out of the fish bowl.
Censorship? Keeping pornography out of the hands of kids? This is the debate today. Obviously I view this as censorship in the most basic of forms. I read in one of many rants today that I can still buy blowup dolls and dildos off of Amazon, but I can't read a story about them.
To be fair, here is the main article that started surfacing about this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24491723
And there's an online petition to sign to have all titles returned and the policy clarified: http://www.change.org/petitions/amazon-barnes-and-noble-kobo-drop-the-clause-of-removing-erotica-and-self-published-indie-authors?share_id=jdJEjwyzUi&utm_campaign=signature_receipt&utm_medium=email&utm_source=share_petition
