Amazon: LGBT books too "adult" to be ranked.

Links and book list

I'm glad you got on the case, Avery, I was just putting together info for a post here.

Links are being collected in this post at meta_writer

A list of books known to be affected (ever-expanding)

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by: doctorscience @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 13:12:17 PM CDT

Censored as adult content in Japan... glitch is affecting even Japan!

http://www.amazon.co.jp/My-Germany-Returns-Parents-Escaped/dp/029923150X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=english-books&qid=1239598298&sr=8-1  

WARNING:

This store, and adult products under the age of 18 who offer products that include inappropriate language.  If you are under 18, access is permitted firm.

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by: mmunson @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 23:55:45 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Twitter link

People are twittering using the tag amazonfail.

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by: doctorscience @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 13:14:13 PM CDT

"My Germany"

They've also censored my just-published 19th book, a memoir titled My Germany:

"As the New York-born son of eastern European Jews who barely survived the Holocaust, Lev Raphael grew up in a world haunted by secrets and ghosts. Having spent years fleeing from his parents' past, he decided to confront that past and, in the process, to come to grips with Germany, the country he blamed for the horrors visited on his parents and, indirectly, on himself. My Germany is part travelogue and part detective story, as Raphael sets out to trace what happened to his parents and their families during the war. Above all, it is a wholly enthralling, beautifully written story of healing and forgiveness, in which Raphael not only sheds his hatred and fear of Germany but comes to a deeper, richer understanding of his parents and Jewish heritage-and, above all, of himself."
-Lynne Olson
Author of Troublesome Young Men

Apparently I can talk about it at the Library of Congress next month, but amazon customers can't know too much about it.

I've asked the publisher to protest the decision.

"In order to maintain an untenable position, you have to be actively ignorant."  The Colbert Report

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by: Lev Raphael @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 14:19:15 PM CDT

They've "de-listed" my gay novels, too.

Yet my mainstream horror novels, which contain some fairly explicit violence, seem to be quite okay with them.  I've asked both my agent and my publisher to protest--not that I think Amazon will give a damn.

The American people, taking one with another, are the most timorous, sniveling, poltroonish, ignominious mob of serfs and goose-steppers ever gathered under one flag in Christendom since the end of the Middle Ages.
-H.L. Mencken

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by: QScribe @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 15:49:39 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Haphazard

Some of my Nick Hoffman mysteries are de-listed, some not.

My memoir talks about my being gay in passing, but that's enough to ban it from sales ranking (and thus certain searches and genre best seller lists).


"In order to maintain an untenable position, you have to be actively ignorant."  The Colbert Report

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by: Lev Raphael @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 17:30:10 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Hey Lev!

Isn't this wild?

Well the solution is simple.

BOYCOTT AMAZON NOW!

There are many other ways to buy books on the net.

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by: David Ehrenstein @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 19:56:38 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Absolutely!

But I can still be outraged at how they're ghettoizing me and other authors and making our work less accessible.

"In order to maintain an untenable position, you have to be actively ignorant."  The Colbert Report

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by: Lev Raphael @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 21:40:31 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Petition here

A petition's already been started on-line:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com...

Let's put the pressure on!

h/t Lev

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by: Louise @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 15:13:20 PM CDT

signed it

twittered
facebooked
blogged it over at RyansTake.net
and crossposted it to BlueMassGroup.com

It takes a lot to get me this pissed.

I spend so much of my money on Amazon. I will quite thankfully take the hint and spend more of my money at local book stores & other companies that not only don't censor us, but actually embrace us and want our money.  

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by: RyansTake @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 20:00:56 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Damage Controll

Congratulations Amazon.com, the petition just passed 10,000 signatures. Your spin doctors should have a great Monday trying to get this PR disaster under control LOL LOL LOL

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by: ChuChu @ Mon Apr 13, 2009 at 07:06:52 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Google bomb: Amazon rank

Smart Bitches, Trash Books, a romance novel site, has suggested google-bombing:

Amazon Rank:

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."

This is the direct link to the Amazon rank definition.

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by: doctorscience @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 15:23:23 PM CDT

Filth like Ann Coutler is fine

Apparently, you can write books supporting torture and intolerance and still get ranked.

Guilty: Liberal "Victims" and Their Assault on America

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #454 in Books

When you look for the bad in mankind, expecting to find it, you surely will.

- Abraham Lincoln.

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by: Fritz @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 15:28:05 PM CDT

Nasty

When will that woman stop wearing that same old, filthy, skimpy dress?

You'd think with all her book sales, she could afford some new clothes.....for once.

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by: bluegrassfool @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 19:10:27 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

When Joe the Horny Plumber has his Ride.

If I make sense? it was quite by accident.

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by: HappyCat @ Mon Apr 13, 2009 at 00:06:33 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Open Letter to Amazon

This is great:

http://booksquare.com/open-let...

"In order to maintain an untenable position, you have to be actively ignorant."  The Colbert Report

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by: Lev Raphael @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 16:16:25 PM CDT

Terrific letter.

Let's hope they get a lot more like it.

There seems to be no real sense to what they've delisted and what they haven't.  One of the major characters in my mystery series is a cross-dressing woman, and that seems to be okay with them.  But much milder queer material than that has gotten the axe.  Go figure.

They tried something like this  a few years back.  I really don't remember the details (it's been a while), but I think it was some kind of support for an anti-gay organization or campaign of some kind.  For a while they stuck to their guns about it.  They finally backed down when they were flooded with complaints from LGBT customers demanding that their accounts be canceled.  I'm hoping for a similar outcome this time.

The American people, taking one with another, are the most timorous, sniveling, poltroonish, ignominious mob of serfs and goose-steppers ever gathered under one flag in Christendom since the end of the Middle Ages.
-H.L. Mencken

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by: QScribe @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 18:57:21 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

As a graduate student, I buy a lot of books

Many of these books have been purchased at amazon.com. I will no longer do this, and will be sharing this information with other students.

I have also run "secret santa" projects using Amazon.com wishlists as a means of allowing purchasers to choose items their recipients have listed. These projects no longer use Amazon.com.

And yes, I will be writing Amazon.com to let them know why I have made these changes.

---

Claim to fame: Posted first PHB diary to be demoted

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by: cindik @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 16:29:34 PM CDT

This is bullshit

I did a quick search of three of the queer books I've read recently -- all books on parenting and none of them have sales rankings.  I looked for The Queer Parent's Primer, Confessions of the Other Mother, and The Ultimate Guide to Pregnancy for Lesbians.... all of which are too ADULT for my delicate information needs.  I can't help but feel like Amazon doesn't think that queers are fit to parent or that there is something fundamentally and sexually explicitly wrong with gay parenting.

Amazon, fuck you.  Seriously fuck you.  I have all these people in my life telling me not to parent - politicians, family, and I don't need my favorite bookseller to be giving me shit too.  It makes me want to return the books I've recently bought from Amazon - if they want to marginalize my existence then they don't deserve my dollars.  

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by: SarahS @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 16:31:25 PM CDT

It's everyone

It's not just little writers like me and small presses or even medium ones like Ellora's Cave.

They removed ANNE RICE's Beauty books from the All Departments search. They're pulling Harlequin and Bantam from that search as well.

And they are stripping Kindle rankings...from some. It's pretty uneven.

Oddly though, CreateSpace, their PoD service, doesn't seem to be having this problem. My novel (3 hardcopies for charity, otherwise available only in e-book from the publisher), filed as GLBT, tagged as erotica is still available.

No one ever talks about [extermination]. They just do it. And you go on with your lives, ignoring the signs all around you. And then, one day, when the air is still and the night has fallen, they come for you.

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by: valarltd @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 16:35:34 PM CDT

PHB ranked high on Kindle

I wonder if it's been "disappeared" as well.

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by: Pam Spaulding @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 20:45:02 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Empire State Pride Agenda

Is surveying LGBT folks in New York about health care and human service needs.  They're giving amazon gift certificates to random participants.  Hopefully they haven't purchased them yet.

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by: eastsidekate @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 16:36:41 PM CDT

Please make sure you notify them.

The American people, taking one with another, are the most timorous, sniveling, poltroonish, ignominious mob of serfs and goose-steppers ever gathered under one flag in Christendom since the end of the Middle Ages.
-H.L. Mencken

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by: QScribe @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 19:00:41 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Done

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by: eastsidekate @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 21:21:59 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I guess this means

I'm too much of an adult to buy from Amazon.

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by: Cheryl @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 16:57:41 PM CDT

Years ago I recall reading (at Shakespeare's Sister, I believe)

that Amazon gave most of its political contributions to Republicans, while Barnes & Noble gave most of its donations to Dems.  While I am a member of no political party, I have no interest in supporting a company that supports a political party dedicated to my oppression.  

If what I recall is still true, then to me this post is simply of a piece.

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by: oddjob @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 17:02:04 PM CDT

Why?

This decision makes no business or PR sense.

Why did they do it?

It's got to be that someone at amazon.com, someone high up, is firing a shot in the culture wars.  This is payback for Vermont, Iowa, and D.C.

That's the only "logical" explanation.

Publishers Weekly is already on this story and I read elsewhere that amazon is now referring people to their IT Dept.

Say what?  It was a technical error?

"In order to maintain an untenable position, you have to be actively ignorant."  The Colbert Report

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by: Lev Raphael @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 17:27:57 PM CDT

Re: Why?

My guess is that someone got Easter-related delusions of religious grandeur. (Which is to say, I'm trying to stay optimistic that this will be fixed on Monday and the responsible person will be all kinds of fired...)

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by: cbear @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 18:03:22 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

See my coment above.

They've tried to do similar things before, and lived to regret it.

The American people, taking one with another, are the most timorous, sniveling, poltroonish, ignominious mob of serfs and goose-steppers ever gathered under one flag in Christendom since the end of the Middle Ages.
-H.L. Mencken

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by: QScribe @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 19:01:58 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Little late for that

I've sent customer service an email telling them to close my account and I didn't mince any words as to why.

God save ornery old queens! - kevinchi

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by: Keori @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 19:47:57 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Half Price Books Is Better

Screw Amazon - they pick and choose which reviews are posted.  You could spend an hour writing a positive view, only for it to get yanked from the book/CD/movie listing.

Yet they allow sock-puppet reviews, saying nothing to do with the particular product.

I'll take Half Price Books any day!  Plus the inventory is ALWAYS changing, so you never know what they'll have in stock LOL

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by: bluegrassfool @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 17:57:04 PM CDT

For a book buying alternative

I recommend Indiebound.

Search allows you to link to books, and helps you find independent book stores.

Take your business someplace more adult for you book buying.

Amazon has just lost me as a customer, no matter what.

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by: OuyangDan @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 18:13:38 PM CDT

An example of how this new policy plays out

I found this and lost the link, but tried it myself:

I did a search on "homosexuality" on amazon and checked out the top ten results (by relevance).

All but two had no sales rank.

Here are the two that still had rankings:

A Parent's Guide to Preventing Homosexuality (Paperback)
Can Homosexuality Be Healed? (Paperback)

"In order to maintain an untenable position, you have to be actively ignorant."  The Colbert Report

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by: Lev Raphael @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 18:56:50 PM CDT

Look for 'Heather Has Two Mommies'

I find the conservative parenting stuff disturbing ("shows how un-Christian experts and the government put the benefit of the children above parental will" etc.).

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by: Chris From Old Europe @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 22:16:01 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

As is...

"A Parent's Guide to Preventing Homosexuality."

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by: Kringas @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 19:10:35 PM CDT

Media manipulation.

Yet another depressing example of the ways that large corporations manipulate the information that makes up our reality.  I was just listening to an episode of The Joan Kenley Show that ties into this and examines the ways that the media influences our reality - called The Media: What's True, What's Not.  The show ties nicely into this entry.

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by: Samantha @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 19:18:58 PM CDT

But gay DVDs are still ranked

I searched for MILK, MYSTERIOUS SKIN and KISS ME, GUIDO and all three are still ranked. Go figure.

The American people, taking one with another, are the most timorous, sniveling, poltroonish, ignominious mob of serfs and goose-steppers ever gathered under one flag in Christendom since the end of the Middle Ages.
-H.L. Mencken

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by: QScribe @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 19:53:34 PM CDT

Huh?

That makes no sense. Of course, the fact that Amazon targeted LGBT, feminist, and other sexuality books makes no sense either...but whatever.

I don't rely on Amazon for much, anyway, outside of the occasional out-of-print and extremely hard to find books that I can't even find in a quality used store. And the occasional mp3. From this point on, I will buy nothing from Amazon from this point on.

It is more imperative than ever that we support our LGBT independent bookstores (and businesses) and those businesses that support our LGBT community.  

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by: kevinchi @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 20:21:12 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Don't mess with Hollywood or something like that?

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by: Chris From Old Europe @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 21:17:29 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

sounds to me

like they're working off some Fundie book list.  And the Fundies simply don't know about anything not on their list.

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by: Rae @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 22:59:47 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

It's hard to believe

they don't know about MILK, at least. The fundies had the proverbial excrement fit when Penn won the Oscar.

The American people, taking one with another, are the most timorous, sniveling, poltroonish, ignominious mob of serfs and goose-steppers ever gathered under one flag in Christendom since the end of the Middle Ages.
-H.L. Mencken

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by: QScribe @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 23:44:31 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

The response I got:

"Thank you for your interest in Amazon Connect. Due to the high volume of emails we are receiving, you can expect a response to your email within 2 to 3 business days.

Sincerely,

Your Friends at Amazon Connect"

I hope this means they're being flooded with complaints. They can't get away with this.

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by: Kokas @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 20:14:56 PM CDT

Amazon blames glitch

From Publisher's Weekly:

Amazon Says Glitch to Blame for "New" Adult Policy
By Rachel Deahl & Jim Milliot -- Publishers Weekly, 4/12/2009 5:49:00 PM

A groundswell of outrage, concern and confusion sprang up over the weekend, largely via Twitter, in response to what authors and others believed was a decision by Amazon to remove adult titles from its sales ranking. On Sunday evening, however, an Amazon spokesperson said that a glitch had occurred in its sales ranking feature that was in the process of being fixed. The spokesperson added that there was no new adult policy.

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by: Stephanie @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 20:35:15 PM CDT

An American-site only glitch

This only afflicted the American version of the Amazon site, not the UK or Canadian sites. Not sure I'm buying the "it was a computer glitch!" excuse this time.

God save ornery old queens! - kevinchi

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by: Keori @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 20:46:02 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Not so

My memoir "My Germany" http://www.levraphael.com/myge... has no ranking on the UK and French amazon sites.  I can't vouch for what's on the Chinese or Japanese sites.

"In order to maintain an untenable position, you have to be actively ignorant."  The Colbert Report

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by: Lev Raphael @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 22:10:39 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Glitch also affects Japan too

http://www.amazon.co.jp/My-Ger...

Says your memoir is adult content and 18+ is required.

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by: mmunson @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 23:57:12 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

And Canada too

I first learned about it from a friend in Montreal.

Here's what I find about compromise--
don't do it if it hurts inside,
'cause either way you're screwed,
eventually you'll find
you may as well feel good;
you may as well have some pride

--Indigo Girls

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by: Hypatia @ Mon Apr 13, 2009 at 04:08:56 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Only a glitch

Glitch my fat queer ass >:-(

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by: ChuChu @ Mon Apr 13, 2009 at 01:31:31 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

My Exchange with Amazon.com

My original direct message:

"Glitch my fat queer ass!!!!!!!!!!  This policy targets LGBT materials containing absolutely no sexually explicit content, yet you continue to sell and rank (extremely explicit) heterosexual literature as well as sex toys.  Don't expect to get any more of my money."

Amazon.com's response

"Hello,
Thanks for contacting us. We recently discovered a glitch in our systems and it's being fixed.
Thanks again for contacting us. We hope to see you again soon.
Please let us know if this e-mail resolved your question"

My reply

"As I said in my first contact to you  "Glitch my fat queer ass!!!";  Own up to your screw-up Amazon.com.  This was no glitch.  You sent emails out informing GLBT authors TELLING them they would no longer be included in your sales ranking, despite the fact that you continue to rank (sexually explicit) heterosexual literature and sex toys. DO NOT tell me this is a glitch, it is patent discrimination!"

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by: ChuChu @ Mon Apr 13, 2009 at 03:16:29 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Hmmm... my browser seems to have a purchasing glitch

that only prevents me from buying from amazon.com.

How strange.

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Claim to fame: Posted first PHB diary to be demoted

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by: cindik @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 20:47:08 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Must be viral

My browser has developed that same glitch.

The American people, taking one with another, are the most timorous, sniveling, poltroonish, ignominious mob of serfs and goose-steppers ever gathered under one flag in Christendom since the end of the Middle Ages.
-H.L. Mencken

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by: QScribe @ Mon Apr 13, 2009 at 11:10:01 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Nice cop out

and of course they completely ignore what the uproar is about in the first place. Not to mention, they're still implying that gay-related books are "adult." We're also apparently expected to believe that some random glitch managed to remove the rankings for gay-friendly books, but ignored such "gems" as A Parents Guide to Preventing Homosexuality. Riigggghhhhht. How stupid do they think we are?

Fetch my pearls, I need to clutch them!

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by: RainbowPhoenix @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 20:54:47 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

amazons "reply"

I don't buy the "It's a technical glitch" story. This has been going on since February.  

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by: songfire @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 22:06:24 PM CDT

Update 12:40 Eastern Times

The LA Times is on the story, or at least their book blog is:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.co...

:-)

"In order to maintain an untenable position, you have to be actively ignorant."  The Colbert Report

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by: Lev Raphael @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 22:40:14 PM CDT

Associated Press

AP has now picked up the story.

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by: Stephanie @ Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 23:05:33 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

There's a Facebook group ...

Confront Amazon Re. Censoring of Queer Texts

http://www.facebook.com/group....

jon

jon

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by: jonpincus @ Mon Apr 13, 2009 at 01:43:34 AM CDT

And an interesting theory about what's going on ...

An organized campaign to target books for delisting?

http://tehdely.livejournal.com...

Hard to know at this point, but at least to me it makes more sense than the "random software glitch" theory.

We shall see.

jon

PS: a legalization activist friend of mine says that pot-related books have also been delisted.

jon

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by: jonpincus @ Mon Apr 13, 2009 at 01:45:13 AM CDT

Everyone knows pot is a gateway drug that leads to homosexuality

I was reading this earlier today and it makes more sense than "glitch" (by which they mean: 'a purposeful flooding we never thought could happen OMGWTFBBQ, the very fabric of space and time is facing imminent collapse since the rank levies broke, PLEASE SEND FLOWERS, CAFFEINE, AND GOOD PR PEOPLE'). It also makes more sense than an Amazon Terrorist attack on the LGBT community (and a select group of those other literary heterosexualist monsters) since I would hope the people that run Amazon and are responsible for my credit card information, navigating the complexities of the modern postal system, and finding items no one knew existed would be just fractionally more intelligent than a purposeful (or even inadvertent) slitting of the PR wrist.

SILVER LINING MOMENT: at least some LGBT authors few have heard of are getting some decent press.

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by: lo_pan @ Mon Apr 13, 2009 at 03:19:27 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

The problem with that theory ...

...is that this has been said to have been going on since February.  AND if this was the case, why would Amazon state that it was a "glitch"?

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by: Kringas @ Mon Apr 13, 2009 at 08:58:28 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

"A glitch" is a knee-jerk corpspeak ...

... so I wouldn't read too much into that.

As for February, if there was part of an organized attack, they'd probably want to test it.  But who knows.

Somebody has now surfaced claiming responsibility for this as a troll.  http://community.livejournal.c...

But there's also a debunking post.  http://bryant.livejournal.com/...

jon

jon

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by: jonpincus @ Mon Apr 13, 2009 at 13:28:07 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

More news

AP has the story, so does 365.com, and Talking Points and a friend in CA said her local news did a teaser on the story (I haven't heard yet what they said).  Last I checked, the petition was over 9,000.  Please sign if you haven't already and pass along to your friends and allies:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com...

It's important to remember that they're not just ghettoizing gay books, but also gay authors whether a book has much gay content or not.

Here are amazon reader tags for "My Germany," one of my books that's been de-ranked:

holocaust(7)
lev raphael(7)
memoir(7)
germany(6)
jewish(6)
judaica(5)
gay and lesbian(4)
gay(1)

The tags accurately reflect the book's themes and subjects (though it's also a travelogue and I don't know if that's an amazon tag or not).

"In order to maintain an untenable position, you have to be actively ignorant."  The Colbert Report

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by: Lev Raphael @ Mon Apr 13, 2009 at 03:55:15 AM CDT

Watch it everyone.... phish alert.

Care2petition, and thepetitionsite. are scams to collect email addresses and sell them.

Here is another link to a prewritten/addressed petition from change.org.

change.org/actions/view/tell_amazon_to_stop_discriminating_against_lgbt_books 

It's the Hammer of JUSTICE,
It's the Bell of FREEDOM,
It's the Song about LOVE between,
my Brothers and my Sisters
...All over this Land.

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by: Orion45 @ Mon Apr 13, 2009 at 09:30:27 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Salon has the story

I was actually surprised they didn't have it yesterday, given the Twitter frenzy and the blogs that did, but it's up this morning, and also at Think Progress.

http://www.salon.com/mwt/broad...

And there's a cute video mocking Amazon here:

http://watchmebe.livejournal.com/

"In order to maintain an untenable position, you have to be actively ignorant."  The Colbert Report

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by: Lev Raphael @ Mon Apr 13, 2009 at 08:06:03 AM CDT

Bookfinder

If anyone is interested in a way of finding books aside from amazon, I've been using that site for years.

They usually have more copies than amazon beginning at cheaper prices.

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by: Bachalon @ Mon Apr 13, 2009 at 11:23:45 AM CDT

Christianizing Barnes & Noble

Slightly off topic, but last week I was in the local B&N to get a road atlas and Unfriendly Fire.  First off, they shelved Unfriendly Fire in the gay section, not in military history or current events.  This guarantees that no hetero eyes will be offended, and ti royally pisses me off, especially in a progressive city like Seattle.  

Second, as I was looking over the book, I realized that the music they had piped in was a female duet singing lyrics that named "Jesus Christ".  The two things together surpassed my tolerance limit.  I put the book back on the shelf, went to pay for the atlas, and told the cashier what was bothering me.  I told him I was buying the atlas because I needed it at that moment, but I would track down the new, expensive hardcover in an independent store.  He of course has no control over the music or shelving scheme, but I asked him to pass the complaint back up the chain of command.  I will not spend money in a business that ghettoizes me and panders to my oppressors by promoting their sky daddy in treacly songs.






Lurleen on Twitter

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by: Lurleen @ Mon Apr 13, 2009 at 11:47:01 AM CDT

FB

Jon

Did you start a Facebook site about amazon?  I tried finding it again and couldn't--the new FB is terrible to navigate through.  Anyway, if it is you, my point there wasn't to undercut what you said but to augment it, in terms of the wide range of texts affected.

Yours in textuality,
Lev  :-)

"In order to maintain an untenable position, you have to be actively ignorant."  The Colbert Report

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by: Lev Raphael @ Mon Apr 13, 2009 at 17:48:59 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Shelving issues

Lurleen, Border's and stores using BIS refused to stock my comic, academic mysteries in the Mystery section because the narrator was gay.  The only way they could be cross-shelved is if someone in the store put them in both the Mystery and GLBT sections.  Mystery readers read broadly, but they're unlikely as a group to browse for mysteries in a section they don't know has them.  Border's was adamant about the shelving, and it pissed me off no end.

"In order to maintain an untenable position, you have to be actively ignorant."  The Colbert Report

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by: Lev Raphael @ Mon Apr 13, 2009 at 17:52:31 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I emailed...

I'm an Amazon customer who spends a couple hundred dollars a year at the site, and I'm very concerned about the changes made to the sales rankings of books listed on your site.  Specifically, I've heard that the vast majority of books dealing in any way with issues of gay or lesbian interest have been removed from sales ranking lists.

This response was received from Amazon by a concerned individual who inquired about the changes: "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."  It is extremely insulting that you would begin an explanation of your changes with a phrase invoking your "entire customer base"--when what you appear to be doing is marking books that are of interest to a significant portion of your "entire customer base" as somehow toxic and unfit to appear among search results.

I choose not to deal with homophobic vendors as a matter of principle, and that certainly includes vendors who feel a need to "protect" customers from the fact that gay and lesbian literatures exist.  I hope to receive a complete and credible accounting of the decision-making process behind these changes and a repudiation of any and all homophobic classification schemes.  I can't in good conscience continue to patronize Amazon if this serious problem is not addressed.

"Our Liberties We Prize and Our Rights We Will Maintain" -- Iowa state motto

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by: Sportin' Life @ Mon Apr 13, 2009 at 12:53:58 PM CDT

NOT Amazon's fault

A blogger has admitted to spamming the system as backlash against gay community for believed transgressions in their life.  Apparently its cyber-gay-bashing, but not on side of Amazon.com.

Here's the link to the confession
http://community.livejournal.c...

The smugness is pretty vile.

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by: lovlet @ Mon Apr 13, 2009 at 13:20:30 PM CDT

Or maybe not ...

The "confession" has also been debunked: http://bryant.livejournal.com/...

jon

jon

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by: jonpincus @ Mon Apr 13, 2009 at 13:30:18 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Thanks

You may be right.  It was really messing with my head in the sense that I wasn't sure what to believe anymore.  It still does, actually.  Either way its a sick joke to be playing around with our emotions like that.

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by: lovlet @ Mon Apr 13, 2009 at 13:42:05 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

meant this for you

Jon

Did you start a Facebook site about amazon?  I tried finding it again and couldn't--the new FB is terrible to navigate through.  Anyway, if it is you, my point there wasn't to undercut what you said but to augment it, in terms of the wide range of texts affected.

Yours in textuality,
Lev  :-)

"In order to maintain an untenable position, you have to be actively ignorant."  The Colbert Report

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by: Lev Raphael @ Mon Apr 13, 2009 at 17:49:41 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

What about the Bible?

Since the Bible supposedly contains passages referring to gay male sex, and since it is used as a major reference on the subject by (far, far too) many, I'm wondering if the Bible also got delisted.

Yeah right, that's as likely as the Mexican bulldozing Roman Catholic shrines like they're bulldozing Santa Muerta shrines.  Because you know NO narco is RC and ALL narcos follow Santa Muerta.  Riiiight.






Lurleen on Twitter

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by: Lurleen @ Mon Apr 13, 2009 at 20:15:15 PM CDT

Amazon update: the inside story

From this Seattle paper's column, it's clear they knew they'd screwed up accidentally very early and it's also clear that they botched the secondary job which was dealing with the public.  They should have immediately issued a press release explaining what was happening and what they were doing to fix it.  In the absence of real information, and what was easily read a stonewalling, they created an environment where outrage grew and grew.

I've checked my books this morning and the rankings seems restored, for what they're worth (that's another story!)

"In order to maintain an untenable position, you have to be actively ignorant."  The Colbert Report

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by: Lev Raphael @ Tue Apr 14, 2009 at 06:29:17 AM CDT