As you’re all aware, I’m sure, about the PayPal versus E-tailers issues, I thought I’d give another view of it and tackle something touched upon in http://onehandedwriters.com/2012/02/26/i-wasnt-raped-by-a-guy-not-my-dad-during-which-no-children-and-animals-were-present/
Maybe I have a too Pollyanna view of the world, but I expected that most, if not all, erotica and erotic romance authors would be concerned, shocked, worried, or even outraged about the situation.
After all, romance, erotic romance, and erotica have been the redheaded stepchildren (not sexually speaking!) of the publishing industry for decades. And none of us who read or write romance should really throw any stones.
Those romance novels of the ‘70s that some of us consumed? Bodice rippers. How many of those heroines said no, and the heroes had to “convince” them they wanted sex? How many women were prisoners to the knights, or the sheiks? How many Mills & Boons had heroes in power (doctors, CEOs, sheiks, etc.) forcing the women into a marriage of convenience? Many of us cut our reading teeth on these books. Politically correct in this day and age they are not!
And erotic romance? Look at the earliest publishers of such things. Capture fantasy and shifters rule, and some of those shifters get intimate when in animalistic form, some even in animal mindsets. And it isn’t only limited to small press and indie. Lora Leigh’s Nauti Boy features a hero and heroine who are stepsiblings. Sounds like PI to me!
As Cherry mentioned, there have been a lot of reactions, some from people I respected, that were disappointing, to say the least. Reactions have run the gamut from nasty finger pointing, glee, and some authors taking the opportunity to talk down to the “unwashed indie masses.”
I’ve heard reactions that erotica authors are disgusting deviants, that nobody would indie publish if they were any good, that indies are just “wannabe” authors. That even if an erotic romance author wrote one PI book, her entire backlist must be awful and she should be shunned. That “these people” should be “forbidden” from publishing anything.
And that is only the beginning.
There are so many problems with verbalizing these mindsets that it makes my head spin. The thing is, writers are also readers. If you attach your pen name to a post where you call out Author A or B, or an entire genre of authors, there could be consequences.
Very few of us know the author behind the pen name. That author you just called out could be your editor, or a higher-up at your publisher, or your critique partner, or even your friend.
It also isn’t a wise career decision to put down your peers—and like it or not, we’re all peers. Author A may have greater sales than Author B, but that doesn’t impact legitimacy as an author. Author A may have a contract with an epub, or a New York house, but she is neither greater than, nor lesser than, Author B, who may be an indie erotica author. And if you have a well-established career and are calling out the newer author? It seems like “Mean Girl” behavior at best. This isn’t likely to win over authors or readers.
It doesn’t take long for an author to establish an online reputation. Do you want yours to be positive or negative? Do you want readers to bypass your books because of your online reputation? I certainly don’t.
Something very important to keep in mind, and something I constantly think about when posting online. I’m an overall pretty positive person, and I’m not ashamed of the things I like or write about. I’m also not a judgemental person and accept that others might take issue with the things I like or write – but I do hope they’ll be mindful that other people might take issues with the things they like or write and react accordingly.
We all have lines, we all have limits, and those lines and limits might shift as time goes on, and we’re exposed to new things, or new people, or new ideas, or just naturally on our own. We might discover something we never knew about ourselves.
So I’d hate to be the one flinging stones from glass houses. It’s important to keep in mind that this is all fiction, it’s all fantasy, and at the end of the day, it doesn’t affect you. So you might celebrate no more pseudo-incest or porn, until they tell you that sodomy is now not allowed as well. After all, gay sodomy is still illegal in far more places than pseudoincest.
Can you really be sure this slope isn’t that slippery?
Great points, Anjassa. This is such a dangerous precedent. Once Paypal is allowed to dictate, where will they end?
The judgmental behaviour is something I’ve noticed from people in general. It doesn’t matter the group, there will be members who delight in turning their nose up at other members. Maybe it’s human nature/hardwired into us to want or need to feel superior to others but I’ve seen it happen even in groups where you would think outside persecution or judgment would encourage some sort of solidarity. The BDSM scene, LGBT groups, persecuted minorities, et cetera. And now writers of erotica, or even writers in general.
It’s a little sad but I suppose I can understand why a person might want to be able to say, “Well sure I’m (fill in the blank), but I’m not like *those people*.”
Of course, with the internet being what it is, those same people who are saying that sort of thing are probably not considering that their comments are being recorded for posterity. It’ll be fun to see who scrambles for the delete button once the dust settles.
It is human nature, but I think the trick is for an author is to not comment if that is her opinion. It just isn’t smart to put down peers.
It isn’t smart, no, but when you have people hardwired to believe that their opinion is the right one, that will usually win out over discretion. As you’ve already said, I think they will discover they should have thought about hitting the submit button before doing so. At least until the furor dies down; the internet has an incredibly long memory for preserving dumb comments but its users tend to forget and move on quickly to the next shiny.
Great points, Alix.
Something the critical are also forgetting is that if they’re calling the writers names, their opinion of the readers of this stuff are pretty clear.
None of us are defined by any one thing we do, eat, watch, read or enjoy. They seem to think that someone who buys an erotic title with non-con in it and enjoys it must be devoid of any other purpose in life. No, sorry, people who buy rape stories, rape fantasies, incest and whatever else someone has problems with may also buy thrillers, books for their children, self-help books, devotionals, mysteries, comedies, YA books, cookbooks and the other stuff the authors who are so critical are writing themselves.
These types of erotica sell well, so when they call it disgusting and admit having contempt for the people who write it, they’re saying the same thing about those who choose to purchase and read it. That could be their mother, father, brother, sister, a child’s kindgergarten teacher, their pastor or priest, a local cop, the guy bagging groceries where they shop, a co-worker, a best friend, a spouse, a grandparent, a son or a daughter.
When Siren called certain kinks disgusting, I immediately decided I’m never buying from them again. The contempt for their paying customers was palpable.
And, unfortunately, all of their authors lose out in the end, because of things their bosses (for all intents and purposes) said.
And that’s the biggest shame, is that it trickles down to the authors, not all of which support Siren’s views.
Thanks, Cherry
I had a great starting point 
People have fantasies and it is high time we didn’t assign shame to them–whatever they are. They’re fantasies and just because they’re sexual in nature, that doesn’t make them any more or less valid than the fantasy of being a superhero or a princess.
And just because I write these books, that doesn’t mean I practice any lifestyles, any more than Stephen King or Nora Roberts practice what they write about.
There are many, many well-known mainstream authors writing erotica under pen names on the side. Those people and publishers calling them out as ‘disgusting’ or voicing their ‘contempt’ should be very careful of who they are offending.
There are indeed, Katie, and I can’t imagine they’re looking at *their* peers the same way after some of the comments.
I’ve been called a pervert, an idiot, uneducated about the law and the fine details of censorship, and those are some of the nicer things I’ve been accused of lately. Pervert, BTW, is a label I’ll own gladly. If writing erotic romance where two or more people find love together and express it physically in the way that suits their natures best is perversion, I’ll take it all day long and twice on Sunday.
My point of view is, if I don’t like it or the subject matter bothers me, I simply don’t read it. It’s a point of view, not the be all end all of the universe. And I respect the right of others to agree or disagree with my point of view as much as they like, so long as they keep it respectful. When they don’t, that’s when I exercise my right to stop listening. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to whip out my authorly manly bits and tell anyone they don’t have the right to write or read what they wish.
Like everyone else, I have my “hot buttons” and my own perspective on what is and isn’t acceptable. Art is in the eye of the beholder, and some of the most beautiful paintings, sculptures, and books ever created have been deemed “obscene” or “immoral” at some point. (The Birth of Venus? David? How about Anais Nin’s body of work?)
This is my long-winded way of saying I agree with the premise of your post: We, as authors, should be united and fighting together against this trend, not bickering amongst ourselves as to who’s “right” and “wrong.” Censorship, no matter what form it takes, harms ALL of us. Those who are using this as a chance to act out and decry the works of others need to rethink their stance, because what THEY write could be next.
Congratulations on the excellent post!
J.S. don’t like, don’t read is something a lot of us could/should employ. I read a LOT of excerpts on my Kindle. Some strike me in positive ways, others negative. I just move on from the ones that don’t work for me.
Authorly manly bits? oooh
People forget that reading is an escape. You’re so right, art is in the eye of the beholder. I think the erotica realm has rooms and facets for us all.
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