his wholiness the rev drjon (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} drjon) wrote,@ 2009-04-13 11:01:00 |
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AmazonFail
Amazon Follies
http://markprobst.livejournal.com/1
On Amazon.com two days ago, mysteriously, the sales rankings disappeared from two newly-released high profile gay romance books... Was it a glitch of some sort? The very next day HUNDREDS of gay and lesbian books simultaneously lost their sales rankings... 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...
Seen a few places, (A list of good metalinks...--ED)
http://mech-angel.livejournal.com/89627
According to several authors' sites and various blogs, Amazon has opted to remove anything they deem to be "erotic" fiction (and apparently some non-fiction as well) from their listed sales rankings. On top of the fact that they are apparently ashamed to admit that they sell erotic fiction, pretty much anything involving gay or lesbian characters is considered "erotic" whether it is overtly sexual or not, and thus removed from their sales rankings.
Amazon Rank
http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/a
Dampening my snickering glee at being ranked among Movements and Periods is the news that Amazon seems to be stripping the sales figures and accompanying rankings from GLBTQ books, erotica, and romance novels, particularly those with what they term "adult content." In short: someone in Amazon has utter shit for brains...
Amazon Censorship - Who is affected?
http://community.livejournal.com/meta_w
(Big list of book titles...--ED)
Amazon under fire for perceived anti-gay policy
http://blog.seattlepi.com/amazon/archiv
The number one word being used over and over on Twitter at this moment is "AmazonFail." Why? Users are angry about a perceived anti-gay policy that removes lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender books from appearing in sales rankings...
Amazon de-ranks so-called adult books, including National Book Award winner
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketc
"American Psycho" is Bret Easton Ellis' story of a sadistic murderer. "Unfriendly Fire" is a well-reviewed empirical analysis of military policy. But it's "Unfriendly Fire" that does not have a sales rank -- which means it would not show up in Amazon's bestseller lists, even if it sold more copies than the "Twilight" series. In some cases, being de-ranked also means being removed from Amazon's search results...
In protest at Amazon's new "adult" policy
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/in-pro
We the undersigned, state our strong objection to Amazon's "Adult" policy as outlined in their letter in italics below...
http://www.publishersweekly.com/art
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 rankings. ...
(Site's being slashdotted Back up now, but from the cache, looks like Bezos's panicking...--ED)
From Dear Author...
http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/200
Just in case Amazon argues that this was a technical glitch, consider these facts...
On Amazon Failure, Meta-Trolls, and Bantown
http://tehdely.livejournal.com/88823.ht
...somebody is going around and very deliberately flagging only LGBT(QQI)/feminist/survivor content on Amazon until it is unranked and becomes much more difficult to find. To the outside world, this looks like deliberate censorship on the part of Amazon, since Amazon operates the web application in question. To me, this looks like one of two things:
#AmazonFail: how one company will lose millions
http://www.inquisitr.com/21785/amazonfa
Amazon is now denying that they are banning gay books from their sales lists, saying instead that the removal of GLBT material is a "glitch." As I noted on Twitter, since when could a "glitch" be homophobic. There?s also a problem with what can best be described as an attempt to paper over a PR nightmare: Amazon has already told at least one author it wasn?t a glitch but a policy decision. So far, nobody believes the glitch story, even if it turns out to be somehow true... Angry Twitter users alone may not account for millions in lost sales, but it?s the seed of something much larger. Every angry Twitter user will tell their friends that Amazon is homophobic. And they?ll tell their friends?.and before you know it Amazon will lose tens of thousands of customers...
Amazon 'glitch' removes sales rank from gay books
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art
NEW YORK (AP) -- A "glitch" on Amazon.com has caused the sales rank to be removed from gay- and/or lesbian-themed books by James Baldwin, Gore Vidal and others. "There was a glitch in our systems and it's being fixed," Amazon's director of corporate communications, Patty Smith, said in an e-mail Sunday.
Amazon Follies
http://markprobst.livejournal.com/1
On Amazon.com two days ago, mysteriously, the sales rankings disappeared from two newly-released high profile gay romance books... Was it a glitch of some sort? The very next day HUNDREDS of gay and lesbian books simultaneously lost their sales rankings... 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...
Seen a few places, (A list of good metalinks...--ED)
http://mech-angel.livejournal.com/89627
According to several authors' sites and various blogs, Amazon has opted to remove anything they deem to be "erotic" fiction (and apparently some non-fiction as well) from their listed sales rankings. On top of the fact that they are apparently ashamed to admit that they sell erotic fiction, pretty much anything involving gay or lesbian characters is considered "erotic" whether it is overtly sexual or not, and thus removed from their sales rankings.
Amazon Rank
http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/a
- To censor and exclude on the basis of adult content in literature (except for Playboy, Penthouse, dogfighting and graphic novels depicting incest orgies).
- To make changes based on inconsistent applications of standards, logic and common sense.
Dampening my snickering glee at being ranked among Movements and Periods is the news that Amazon seems to be stripping the sales figures and accompanying rankings from GLBTQ books, erotica, and romance novels, particularly those with what they term "adult content." In short: someone in Amazon has utter shit for brains...
Amazon Censorship - Who is affected?
http://community.livejournal.com/meta_w
(Big list of book titles...--ED)
Amazon under fire for perceived anti-gay policy
http://blog.seattlepi.com/amazon/archiv
The number one word being used over and over on Twitter at this moment is "AmazonFail." Why? Users are angry about a perceived anti-gay policy that removes lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender books from appearing in sales rankings...
Amazon de-ranks so-called adult books, including National Book Award winner
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketc
"American Psycho" is Bret Easton Ellis' story of a sadistic murderer. "Unfriendly Fire" is a well-reviewed empirical analysis of military policy. But it's "Unfriendly Fire" that does not have a sales rank -- which means it would not show up in Amazon's bestseller lists, even if it sold more copies than the "Twilight" series. In some cases, being de-ranked also means being removed from Amazon's search results...
In protest at Amazon's new "adult" policy
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/in-pro
We the undersigned, state our strong objection to Amazon's "Adult" policy as outlined in their letter in italics below...
Amazon Says Glitch to Blame for "New" Adult Policy
http://www.publishersweekly.com/art
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 rankings. ...
(
From Dear Author...
http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/200
Just in case Amazon argues that this was a technical glitch, consider these facts...
On Amazon Failure, Meta-Trolls, and Bantown
http://tehdely.livejournal.com/88823.ht
...somebody is going around and very deliberately flagging only LGBT(QQI)/feminist/survivor content on Amazon until it is unranked and becomes much more difficult to find. To the outside world, this looks like deliberate censorship on the part of Amazon, since Amazon operates the web application in question. To me, this looks like one of two things:
- Some "Family"-type organization astroturfing Amazon in an attempt to rid the world of EVIL PRO-HOMOSEXUAL FILTH!!
- Bantown
#AmazonFail: how one company will lose millions
http://www.inquisitr.com/21785/amazonfa
Amazon is now denying that they are banning gay books from their sales lists, saying instead that the removal of GLBT material is a "glitch." As I noted on Twitter, since when could a "glitch" be homophobic. There?s also a problem with what can best be described as an attempt to paper over a PR nightmare: Amazon has already told at least one author it wasn?t a glitch but a policy decision. So far, nobody believes the glitch story, even if it turns out to be somehow true... Angry Twitter users alone may not account for millions in lost sales, but it?s the seed of something much larger. Every angry Twitter user will tell their friends that Amazon is homophobic. And they?ll tell their friends?.and before you know it Amazon will lose tens of thousands of customers...
Amazon 'glitch' removes sales rank from gay books
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art
NEW YORK (AP) -- A "glitch" on Amazon.com has caused the sales rank to be removed from gay- and/or lesbian-themed books by James Baldwin, Gore Vidal and others. "There was a glitch in our systems and it's being fixed," Amazon's director of corporate communications, Patty Smith, said in an e-mail Sunday.
