Archive for April, 2009
Amazon hates queers
April 12th, 2009 | 
Author: And now that I have your attention…
On April 10, for some reason, the Amazon sales rankings for two highly-promoted books disappeared. Those books were False Colors by Alex Beecroft and Transgressions by Erastes. They're both historical romances: One is about high seas adventure in the 1700s and the other is a sprawling epic occurring during the English Civil War.
Oh, and they're both homosexual romances. Which, apparently, freaked out someone at Amazon. Or possibly someone Amazon is listening to.
Over the next few days many more authors found themselves stripped of their rankings. Mark Probst, author of The Filly, asked about this and received this 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.
Well, huzzah for Amazon and their excellent protection of the children, even for those of us who want no such protection and are actively angered that it exists. Because we are not being protected from adult content, you see, all the usual sex-soaked bestsellers and romance novels are fully ranked. (So are vibrators
Amazon is protecting us from adult gay content. All of the books being unranked (MetaWriter is keeping an updated list here) are written for and by the GLBT community, even those books with absolutely no explicit sex involved. James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room, Annie Proulx's Brokeback Mountain, Jeanette Winterson's Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, and Radclyffe Hall's The Well of Loneliness, all stripped.
The Well of Loneliness, written in the 1920s, is considered the first openly lesbian-themed book in the English language. The disgusting, anti-children, filthy sex part? Exactly one line: ""And that night they were not divided." My god, how did the country survive?
Award winners. Books on health and lifestyle. Books on homophobia and lesbian parenting and the military gay ban. Books on Harvey Milk. Young Adult books on coping and understanding. All of them being blocked from Amazon's bestseller lists because there weren't enough pairs of in and out plugs involved.
Well, Amazon, I'm not going to join the rapidly growing wave of outraged people complaining about this apparently homophobic filtering. No, no, no! I applaud your new moral code! I only ask that you be even handed in its application. Clearly all "adult" works should be removed from your bestseller lists.
I demand you remove the Twilight series from your top ten bestseller list.
Hey, that's five of your top ten books cleared out right there, leaving room for more wholesome fare. But how can you filter tender, non-explicit books of male romance but condone brutal necrophiliac sex that leaves the girl bruised, battered and ultimately dead? (That's in Book #4, Breaking Dawn, by the way, currently #2
Sure, you could just create an opt-in filter, the way Google does for image searches, so children can search uninfected by reality and Amazon's formerly excellent service can continue unimpeded for the grownups. But no, I demand that you remove the sales ranking for any book that includes the slightest hint of interpersonal relationships no matter what the context or writing quality, leaving the bestseller lists for safer things, like cookbooks.
Anyone agreeing with my "Block Twilight" idea should write connect-help@amazon.com or Jeffrey Bezos at 1200 12th Avenue South, Seattle, Washington 98144-2734, 206-266-1000. Let's get this bestselling necrophiliac smut out of our faces!
Oh, and Harry Potter, too. Rowling has said that Dumbledore was gay, so let's get those highly profitable books tagged properly so Amazon can do the right thing.
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Curse your inevitable… T-shirt
Adam Levermore of Black Market Beagles fame has hooked up with QMx to make many fine products including the Serenity Travel Maps, the Little Damn Heroes maquette series, and now a line of "Discreet Geek" shirts. Which brings us to this:
Hoban Washburne, or Wash as he's known to his friends, he of the dinosaur passion play set. This t-shirt commemorates that passion play with one of Serenity's pilot's most memorable lines.
The Inevitable Betrayal T-shirt is an original design from Black Market Beagle's Adam Levermore, and is part of BMB's "Discreet Geek" line of cool and fashionable shirts, stickers and other items of geeky goodness. It comes on a chocolate brown-colored 6.1 ounce, 100-percent cotton Gildan t-shirt, offering the same high quality QMx t-shirts have become famous for. It is available in men's sizes small to 3XL. And now, for the first time, Inevitable Betrayal is available in women's babydoll t-shirts, sizes small to 2XL. (Note: all shirt sizes are available while supplies last.)
So get your Inevitable Betrayal t-shirt and let them know you saw it coming.
Kaylee, Inara, Spike, Darla, Drusilla, Glory and a Gentleman all coming to Orlando next weekend
In 2006 the FX con brought us Summer Glau and Alan Tudyk. In 2007 it was Adam Baldwin, Ron Glass, and Christina Hendricks. In 2008 it was Nathan Fillion.
This year the trend continues with Jewel Staite and Morena Baccarin coming to one of the busiest cons in the southern USA. Oh, and there's also Leonard Nimoy, James Marsters (and an acoustic concert!), Julie Benz, Juliet Landau, Claire Kramer, Camden Toy, Jonathan Frakes, James Kyson Lee, Ray Park, Lindesy Wagner, a bunch of horror and wrestling stars, and a couple hundred writers and artists.
Whedony events include:
WOMEN OF THE WHEDONVERSE – Join the lovely and talented actresses without whom the works of Joss Whedon would be so much less fun and appealing as they talk about their experiences on set, their current projects, as well as a tribute to their friend Andy Hallet. He was taken from us too soon, and in remembrance, fans will have an opportunity to donate to the American Heart Association in the hopes of preventing this type of tragedy in the future. Featuring Julie Benz, Juliet Landau, Jewel Staite, Morena Baccarin, and Claire Kramer.
JAMES MARSTERS: LIFE AFTER SPIKE – As fans of horror, science fiction, and comics, we are all well aware of who James Marsters is. From Spike to Brainiac, he has brought some of our favorite characters to life, and left an indelible image upon the landscape of popular culture. Join James as he talks about his previous roles, his recent work, and what lies ahead.
JULIET LANDAU AND JASON C. MILLER (lead singer for Godhead) – Be among the first to see the fruits of a new collaboration between actress turned director/producer, and an incredible new musical talent. This will include a screening of a brand new music video.
More details are available at fxshow.com, and at my newspaper article about it. Check it out!
In defense of newspapers that fold
In fact, the odds are good you didn't actually read that in a newspaper, or at least not one you can tear. More and more readers are getting their news from the Internet, which, nonstop hardcore e-reader that I am, I feel is a mistake.
First, the influx of news online may distract from the natural purpose of the Internet, which is to distribute pictures of women. And second, this trend makes it more likely that print newspapers will fade away, and I believe this to be a horrible future indeed. E-readers such as Amazon's Kindle, no matter how feature-rich, will never replace all the wonderful things we get from newspapers. Yes, you can subscribe to many newspapers and receive them wirelessly on your Kindle, but that's all you can do.
You cannot clip coupons or articles for scrapbooking.
You cannot send articles to friends and family.
You cannot use the previous day's Kindle for packing material unless Kindle prices come way down.
You cannot use the Kindle to block the view of your loving, devoted family during breakfast unless your family is very, very small.
You cannot fold your Kindle into a boat or a hat unless you use a bench vice, a good set of channel lock pliers, and a great deal of determination.
