“So 90 percent of sales were discreet ebook downloads…”

"Ana," as he calls her, willingly and excitedly agrees to spanking, whipping and gagging, with props like ice, rope, tape -- a repertoire right out of a BDSM [bondage, discipline, dominance and submission] manual.

The heart of the romance is the notion of submission and the way in which Steele accommodates Grey to "make him love her,"according to Rachel. "She sees being submissive as a necessity to save him," she said. "He was broken. That was more of the appeal. And the sex was a bonus."

British mom and former TV producer James initially wanted to replicate the success of the "Twilight" fan fiction series. The novels were published by a small independent Australian press and hard copy distribution was limited. So 90 percent of sales were discreet ebook downloads...."

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/50-shades-grey-women-turned-sexual-submission/story?id=16059118

Hmmm… So 90 percent of sales were discreet ebook downloads? Wait a second….that can’t be right. Explicit sex/porn on ebook sites is apparently forbidden and you can get reported for it and have bamboo slithers put under your fingernails making it impossible to type ever again.

Makes you wonder don’t it? A skeptic would say it's making too much money to ban it and money makes the rules....hmmm...

Censorship is bollocks...

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/02/legal-censorship-paypal-makes-habit-deciding-what-users-can-read

http://www.scribd.com/doc/83549049/NCAC-ABFFE-Letter-To-PayPal-eBay-re-Ebook-Refusal-2012

"Freedom of speech means that you shall not do something to people either for the views they have, or the views they express, or the words they speak or write." Hugo L. Black, U.S. Supreme Court Justice 1963

Damn straight Hugo...

I woke up this morning ...

....to various emails about ‘what is happening to erotica?’ – and - the need to ‘defend erotica.’

What is happening to erotica? Stuffed if I know. It seems it’s a case of looking for ‘reds under the beds’. Those who write it are pissed at the sudden puritan morality that seems to have struck ebook land. Fucking hell people, its sex in a story. It cannot hurt you unless you go out and actively do something stupid and sexually impossible and let’s face it erotica is just that. Fanatsy. A kink. A thrill and nine times out of ten bloody impossible scenarios. See Jane have ménage/bondage sex with five shapeshifter wolves. See Jane have fun. See Jane get tired…very, very tired from aching legs and a sore back. See Jane ask the wolves to stop moulting or shave more. See Jane decide it’s all too hard having sex with hairy wolves and she has sex with cowboys…see Jane get spur marks...seriously, if Jane is that stupid then no one can help Jane. No one can blame erotica for the actions they choose to take. Woman up. You have sex with wolves? That’s your choice. The author didn't make you do it.

Erotica cannot hurt paypal, credit card companies, book depositories or those with starched knickers and closed minds. The call from some authors is 'defend erotica.' No, I see no reason to defend it. If I did I would have to defend dildos, cock rings, lingerie, alcohol, strippers, Thunder from Down Under, burlesque, marriage, waxing, drugs, movies, back seats of cars, sexy men, deep and meaningful looks and sexy words from a person's lips. All of that can lead to sex. As for being told not to link the current slamming of erotica with censorship? Excuse me, but I come fully formed out of the box with my own opinions and beliefs and being ‘told’ to do something makes the whole censorship issue valid. I issue a polite ‘Bugger off’ to that.

Erotica – love it, hate it, legs closed or open, come or don’t come, imagine or refuse to, sex/no sex, read it, chuck it, moralize over it or don’t give a crap. This is just a storm in a tea cup that will blow over when ebook profits go down and the thinking turns back to selling more erotica because monetary greed beats sexual need.

Dear Indie Author....

Dear Indie Author,

We have made a decision to no longer maintain most indie author accounts at BookStrand.com. Therefore, we are deactivating all titles associated with your account and no new uploads will be accepted. Your final distribution payment will be disbursed to you within 30 days and your account will be closed. During this time you will still be able to access your sales report from your account.

BookStrand will focus on its core business by servicing accounts of publishers with clear submission and publishing guidelines that best serve our targeted audience. Our customer base was successfully built on this premise, and it's time to go back to our roots.

While we understand you may be disappointed in losing a distribution outlet for your work, there are still several outlets that currently accept self-published titles. We wish you the best in your endeavors.

Sincerely,

XXXXX
BookStrand.com

Well here’s the thing Bookstrand, I already deactivated my account so deactivating something that no longer is valid seems like an overkill to me. Added to that you have killed off a lot of good Indie authors who have written many great stories that have nothing to do with sex. Did I mention OVERKILL?

Freedom of speech and equality – you don’t got it. Equality in publishing is not about censorship. But hey, they’re your rules and you don’t have to believe in freedom and equality if you don’t want to.

And going 'back to their roots'? It fascinates me that Bookstrand is the home of one woman getting taken/shagged/fucked by five men – usually shapeshifters/cowboy - stories. This is okay apparently and it’s not obscene regardless of what sexual practice is used against the one woman. Double standards much?

Funny old world ebook publishing.

Conspiracy theory or a load of bollocks?

I say bollocks to the explanation that indie authors and publishers get their books banned or pulled because paypal or credit card companies do not want consumers buying contentious stories yet you can buy dildos, cock rings, vibrators, anal toys and god knows what else with your paypal and credit card. I think it’s always easier to blame someone else. It makes the one who is placing blame look like they have no choice. The vast majority of people in the Western word always have a choice. If you object to something on moral grounds then say it. Don’t hide behind piss weak excuses.

I do believe that the rise of indie authors and publishers is pissing off some people. Too bad, so sad I say. Modern technology gives people – writers – choices. Be confined within the limits of what someone else dictates? Or do what you know and believe is right and in doing so avoid all the bollocks? And banning books or stories? Censorship only enhances the allure of those stories. Thank you so much for that.

Wherever there’s a will, there’s a way.

You may reply to title-submission@amazon.com if you believe this decision has been made in error.

My letter to the Amazon Nazis...

Hello

I received this email from you...

Amazon.com ip-inquiries@amazon.com to me

"Hello,
We’re contacting you regarding the following book that you have submitted for sale in our Kindle store:
Sinner (ASIN:B004WPP26G)
During our review process, we found that your book contains content that is in violation of our content guidelines. As a result, we will not be offering this book for sale.
You may reply to title-submission@amazon.com if you believe this decision has been made in error.
Best regards,
Title Submission
http://www.amazon.com"

What exactly is the violation here? Why do you allow these books below and not mine?

1XXXX- woman who is tied up and forced to submit
2XXXX – "Included are compelling narratives of foodsex, phonesex, musclebear prisonsex, dental blood, enemas, scat, piss, doublefucking, fisting and dildo initiation, mudsex, bestiality, crucifixion, sex in costumes, plenty of BDSM (bondage / discipline / sadomasochism), and a dungeonful more."
3XXXX - forced submision
4XXXX- schoolgirl sex

Please explain how my book is worse than these books. It appears to me that you are picking and choosing who you will ban. That smacks at inequality and I have to wonder why you are choosing my book as being a 'violation' over others? Please re-instate my book or remove the ones that are worse than mine. Freedom of speech on Amazon appears to be ok for some and not for others. I await your response and explanation.

Amarinda Jones

***you can buy Sinner here - http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sinner-536369-144.html

***removed the name of books in my email for the blog because I can and why give them publicity?

Give over Amazon...

Amazon went along and banned a bunch of erotica e-books that they deemed inappropriate. Some authors are jumping up and down and asking why. That’s understandable. Amazon’s response is the standard ‘because we can’ and it’s in ‘our guidelines’ to do so. What are those guidelines? What is deemed as appropriate when it come to erotica? Is Amazon targeting all publishers or just the Indie publishers? The answer is we don’t know an answer. Amazon is chanting their guideline speech.


Whatever your feelings are concerning incest, or its portrayal in fiction, every book in the entire “erotica” genre probably contains something that will be offensive to someone. And yet it is also one of the best-selling genres in electronic literature.

http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/amazon-removes-incest-related-erotica-titles-from-store-kindle-archive/

Exactly…

As we all know what is deemed erotic covers a wide range of situations. To me, incest, rape and pedophilia are never going to be acceptable in any form. That’s not erotica. Anyone who thinks so or writes or practices such ought to be banned/shot/imprisoned and not necessarily in that order. Just my opinion of course…

But true Erotica? That’s different. Erotica to me is consenting adults – that means 18 and over – who get all naked, rub body parts, get sexually excited and have intercourse/oral sex be in standing up, lying down, underwater, chained up etc. The number of people who do the rubbing, the genders and are they naked but for a mask or a feather stuck in their arse is irrelevant. Consenting sex is erotic. And taboo subjects like BDSM, ménage, fisting, anal sex, multiple, random sexual partners or stranger sex etc? All these books have a warning. You have the choice to read or not. Give people that choice. Don’t allow the likes of Amazon to tell you that you can only read missionary sex that happens on a Sunday after a roast dinner and apple pie and ice-cream. That’s censorship, discrimination and it’s very Orwellian.

We all know that by banning books you’re actually doing the author a favour as people instantly want to know what’s so forbidden. So really – unless the act is illegal, non-consensual sex none of us can tell another what they can read when it comes to erotica. Give over Amazon. Trust people to read the warning labels and make their own decisions.

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book