Amazon.com censors GLBTQ literature

[lightningandsnow]

Amazon.com two days ago, mysteriously, the sales rankings disappeared from two newly-released high profile gay romance books: “Transgressions” by Erastes and “False Colors” by Alex Beecroft. Everybody was perplexed. Was it a glitch of some sort? The very next day HUNDREDS of gay and lesbian books simultaneously lost their sales rankings, including my book “The Filly.” There was buzz, What’s going on? Does Amazon have some sort of campaign to suppress the visibility of gay books? Is it just a major glitch in the system? Many of us decided to write to Amazon questioning why our rankings had disappeared. Most received evasive replies from customer service reps not versed in what was happening. As I am a publisher and have an Amazon Advantage account through which I supply Amazon with my books, I had a special way to contact them. 24 hours later I had a response:

In consideration of our entire customer base, we exclude "adult" material from appearing in some searches and best seller lists. Since these lists are generated using sales ranks, adult materials must also be excluded from that feature.

Hence, if you have further questions, kindly write back to us.

Best regards,

Ashlyn D
Member Services
Amazon.com Advantage

http://markprobst.livejournal.com/15293.html

See also http://community.livejournal.com/meta_writer/11992.html
http://booksquare.com/open-letter-to-amazon-regarding-recent-policy-changes/
http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23Amazonfail

Pardon my French, but WTF is this shit? Seriously, Amazon. Not cool.

[readmoreoften]

1. Everything about our lives is reduced to porn. Dontcha know? We're not fit for children. /nt

[lightningandsnow]

2. Apparently.

:eyes:

[Kajsa]

3. That's absurd and discriminatory!

My opinion of Amazon.com has sunk
to new depths.

:(

[kiva]

4. A suggestion, Google bombing.

Smart Bitches, Trashy Books http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/index.php/weblog/comments/amazon-rank/ has defined Amazon Rank as:

amazon rank
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): amazon ranked

1. To censor and exclude on the basis of adult content in literature (except for Playboy, Penthouse, dogfighting and graphic novels depicting incest orgies).
2. To make changes based on inconsistent applications of standards, logic and common sense.

Etymology: from 12 April 2009 removal of sales rank figures from books on Amazon.com containing sexual, erotic, romantic, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered or queer content, rendering them impossible to find through basic search functions at the top of Amazon.com’s website. Titles stripped of their sales rankings include “Bastard Out of Carolina,” “Lady Chatterly’s Lover,” several romance novels, GLBTQ fiction novels, YA books, and narratives about gay people.

Example of usage: “I tried to do a report on Lady Chatterly’s Lover for English Lit, but my teacher amazon ranked me and I got an F on grounds that it was obscene.”

Alternate usage: “My girlfriend wanted to preserve her virginity, and I was happy to respect that, then she amazon ranked and decided anal sex was okay.”

[lightningandsnow]

5. Oh yeah, I heard of that!

[smoogatz]

6. They're now saying it's a "glitch," and that they're working on it.

I guess the big question is what really happened: did this come from the senior execs, or did some mid-level stooge decide to "clean the place up?" I think it's incredibly bizarre in either case, and the timing's interesting, too--post Iowa and Vermont.

[WeDidIt]

7. I wrote them. They say they have a glitch

I'll give them a benefit of the doubt until I see evidence to the contrary.