Dear Author » censorship

Wednesday News & Deals: Paypal Reverses Stance

Jane — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 15:00:02 +0000

News

Yesterday, Paypal announced that it would be reversing its stance on bans on fiction. According to the Chicago Tribune, Paypal will look at books on an individual basis:

PayPal’s new policy will focus only on e-books that contain potentially illegal images, not e-books that are limited to just text, spokesman Anuj Nayar said on Tuesday. The service will still refuse, however, to process payments for text-only e-books containing child pornography themes.

The revised policy will also focus on individual books, rather than entire classes of books, he added. E-book sellers will be notified if specific books violate PayPal’s policy, and the company is working on a process through which authors and distributors can challenge such notifications, the spokesman said.

Based on this announcement, Smashwords will roll back its Terms of Service to its pre-February 24 state. I know that terrible things were said about Mark Coker, both publicly and privately; but Coker clearly fought for authors and their rights to creative freedom.

Thanks to Darlynne V and all the others who shared the Smashwords email with me.

Dorchester claims it is still in business. They posted on their Facebook page:

Dorchester has apparently posted this to their Facebook page:

Not to worry, Dorchester Publishing has not closed. However, due to challenging economic conditions, we have decided to vacate our 200 Madison office and become a virtual business. Though the transition was not as seamless as we had hoped, our phone lines are back in working order and our email is still fully operational. Our new mailing address is:

Dorchester Publishing and Dorchester Media
105 East 34th Street, Box 175
New York, New York 10016

What is the future for Dorchester Publishing? We are currently in the process of entertaining offers from reputable publishing companies and look forward to making an announcement shortly. We recognize a sale to a strong publisher is in your best interest and look forward to informing you as soon as we close a deal. We apologize for our lack of communication during this transition and for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

Their new mailing addy is apparently a UPS store.

Via Tasha

I read this article about retail sites creating editorial content like recipes, party planning guides, and the like which all encourage more shopping. We get the monthly Costco magazine which contains recipes, financial tips, book suggestions, and other shopping suggestions. It’s something to think about. Are these movements toward original content centered solely around encouraging retail or will it expand into larger non fiction publications? Just something to ponder for now.

Wal-mart is one of those DVD to digital centers which will take your DVD and make a digital copy with special DRM. For only $2 more you can turn your DVD into a portable copy that you can view from the cloud.

At a press conference today in Los Angeles, the company announced that, as rumored, it’s launching a new program called the Disc to Digital service. Starting on April 16, anyone can bring their DVD collection into a Walmart store, and copies of each movie will be loaded onto your account on VUDU, the online video service that the retailer acquired two years ago. Standard definition DVDs will be converted into standard definition videos and Blu-rays will be converted into high-definition, for $2 each. You can also “upgrade” a standard DVD into an HD copy for $5.

Encyclopedia Britannica will no longer produce print editions.

In an acknowledgment of the realities of the digital age — and of competition from the Web site Wikipedia — Encyclopaedia Britannica will focus primarily on its online encyclopedias and educational curriculum for schools. The last print version is the 32-volume 2010 edition, which weighs 129 pounds and includes new entries on global warming and the Human Genome Project.

Penguin has filed an answer to the class action pricing lawsuits arguing that Kindle and BN’s terms of service allow only arbitration and thus, customers are only entitled to arbitration and not civil justice because Penguin is the principal and Kindle and BN are the agents. It’s actually the first real argument I’ve seen regarding actual agency between the parties. Penguin will have to prove that it has assumed more risk in the transaction than Amazon and BN along with some other attendant agency principles but while I’m disgusted with Penguin, I kind of admire them for finally, finally putting out a true agency argument.

Penguin is selling Penguin emblazoned tchotchkes in boutique areas within Barnes & Noble. This has been successful in the pilot stores and so B&N is expanding these Penguin oriented boutiques into more stores.

From the battery of press releases from Entangled Press, one would think that they are starting a new line and launching a Titanic sized number of books. But one highly lauded line called Lori Wilde Presents has yet to make its debut. Perhaps in part because Lori Wilde has left Entangled. The Presents line of category books will be helmed by Alethea Spiridon-Hopson who is also directing the new paranormal line. Current editor Libby Murphy is also assisting both those lines. I’ve always felt that the Entangled business model made little business sense. Everyone being paid a royalty from the sale, from the editors to the authors to the cover artists. It’s nice in theory, but practically, I don’t think it is feasible.

Deals

I included a smattering of contemporary “deals”. Quite a few are self published. I tried to exclude any books that were exclusive to Amazon.

Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S *recommended*
More Than Memories by Kristen James * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
My Last Blind Date by Susan Hatler * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
Sleeping with Paris by Juliette Sobanet * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Wife by Wednesday by Catherine Bybee * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S - very popular
No Dress Required by Cari Quinn * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S - short story
Taming Mad Max by Theresa Ragan * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Silent Witness by Rebecca Forster * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Western Ties: Compass Brothers by Mari Carr and Jayne Rylon * $2.70 * A | BN | K | S - bought it
For Love or Legacy by Ruth Cardello * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S - well reviewed but could be fluff reviews

Monday News: Visa Responds to the Erotica Book Banning, Apple Says Kindle No Competitor

Jane — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 17:00:51 +0000

News

Visa responds to erotica authors and say that it isn’t imposing any kinds of restrictions on fiction:

Relevant to this situation, the sale of a limited category of extreme imagery depicting rape, bestiality and child pornography is or is very likely to be unlawful in many places and would be prohibited on the Visa system whether or not the images have formally been held to be illegal in any particular country. Visa would take no action regarding lawful material that seeks to explore erotica in a fictional or educational manner.

Your move Paypal.

Amazon is seeking to expand its original digital video offerings with television-type episodes:

The driving force behind these hires is Amazon Studios, which solicits screenplays, pitches and test movies from anyone on the web. This means that unlike Netflix, Amazon isn’t looking to compete with television cable channels in bidding on projects from established industry names; it’s doing something more homespun, closer to YouTube or (especially in its focus on animation) even Fox, but with a professional sheen.

Apple files a motion to dismiss in the civil suits alleging horizontal price fixing arguing that Kindle is not a competitor. Publishers all cry “noooo” as if Kindle isn’t even a competitor to Apple, it is hard to argue that Amazon is a monopolistic power dooming all of publishing.

“Nor does this ‘Kindle theory’ make sense on its own terms. For example, if Amazon was a ‘threat’ that needed to be squelched by means of an illegal conspiracy, why would Apple offer Amazon’s Kindle app on the iPad?

Of course, Apple doesn’t say why it won’t allow in app purchasing for Amazon apps or why it rejected a book for having a LINK to Amazon’s bookstore. That’s not anti competitive, right?

Wal-Mart has a new promotional site where people can offer up items to be placed on the Wal-mart shelves. I saw one author on Twitter campaigning for her book to be placed “on the shelf”.

Deals

There aren’t any new mainstream deals that I can find so this week I thought I would present twenty titles that are either free or under $2.99 in certain genres. This will include a number of self published titles and I can’t vouch for the quality of any of them. Today I am presenting twenty titles in the PNR/UF/SFF genre.

Veiled Eyes by C L Bevill * $0 * A | BN | K | S <- the reviews say to not be afraid of the terrible cover
Powerful Magic by Karen Whiddon * $0 * A | BN | K | S
Promise by Kristie Cook * $0 * A | BN | K | S
The Ghost Hunter by Lori Brighton * $0 * A | BN | K | S
Eternal Eden by Nicole Williams * $0 * A | BN | K | S
Justice Incarnate by Regan Black * $0 * A | BN | K | S
Caged by Amber Lynn Natusch * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S <- YA. Looks like it might be for fans of Lilith Saintcrow.
Descended by Blood by Angeline Kace * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S <– YA but it looks pretty good. I bought it.
The Pearl of Paradise by Jean Brashear * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
Bridger by Megan Curd * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
Sexy As Sin by Steena Holmes * $1.49 * A | BN | K | S
Craved by Stephanie Nelson * $1.99 * A | BN | K | S
Honor Bound by C.J. Archer * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Bound to the Prince by Deborah Court * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Gemini Moon by Elysa Hendricks * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble by H P Mallory * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
The Vampire King by Heather Killough-Walden * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Angel Burn by L.A. Weatherly * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Destiny Unchained by Leia Shaw * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
A Kingdom’s Possession by Nicole J. Persun * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S

Thursday News and Deals: Naming Rights, Paypal (Again), Sockpuppetting, Amazon

Jane — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 16:00:32 +0000

News

RT is offering a chance for one reader to have her (or his) name in Kristen Callihans’ next book.

And now, Kristen Callihan is offering readers a way to become part of her new series. One lucky reader’s name will be used for a character in the upcoming series second, Moonglow.

More on the Paypal thing. Roslyn Holcomb had commented early on that Paypal issue may be related to chargebacks and I received another private email that suggested the same thing. Visa/Mastercard apparently charge “high risk” accounts a higher fee and Paypal isn’t set up that way and thus the chargebacks are becoming a problem and charge backs are frequent within the adult industry. One adult vendor shared a list of keywords that Paypal indicated cannot appear in book titles. AKA no “Daddy’s Best Friend”.

Jennifer Rhinehart wrote a two star review of The Firelord’s Lover by Kathryne Kennedy. A reader by the name of “Dark Hero: creates a profile and gives a one star review of Rhinehart’s book and starts hassling Rhinehart in the comments of her review. Unfortunately, CT Kennedy logs in and gives a positive review of another book and when you clicked on the CT Kennedy name, it led directly to Dark Hero profile. When this was outed, CT Kennedy changed the name to Angel Eyes and separated the identity from Dark Hero. Dark Hero also proceeds to delete a few comments on the thread under Rhinehart’s review.

Dark Hero continues to post using poor grammar and lower case letters. I guess to better disguise the identity?

I emailed Kathryne Kennedy and asked her for a comment and her reply was that it was her husband and not her. Shared with permission:

Thank you for bringing this to my attention. CT Kennedy is my husband and I confronted him about your email. He recently received a Kindle, and apparently in a misguided attempt to defend me, he responded to a negative review on Amazon. I asked him to stop it and delete anything he might have written! I have never responded to any negative reviews or comments in any way over the many years I have been writing, and I apologize if this has created any problems.

Again, thank you for letting me know.

Kathryne

Amazon is trying to flex its muscle in order to improve its margin. When Independent Publishers Group’s contract with Amazon came up, Amazon wanted better terms on the ebooks. IPG didn’t agree and in response, Amazon pulled the buy buttons for all the ebooks. This constitutes about 5,000 books. Amazon still sells the print versions. IPG sent out a press release/email to all of its client publishers telling them to stay strong and send all the traffic they could to other retailers.

Deals

Bundles. I think the great prices might only be at Amazon.

One-Click Buy: December 2009 Harlequin Blaze by Vicki Lewis Thompson * $3.70 * A | BN | K | S
One-Click Buy: December Harlequin Blaze by Jill Shalvis * $3.70 * A | BN | K | S
One-Click Buy: December Silhouette Desire by Kasey Michaels * $3.91 * A | BN | K | S
One-Click Buy: November Harlequin Presents by Kate Walker * $4.10 * A | BN | K | S
Mackenzies Bundle: Mackenzie’s Mountain / Mackenzie’s Mission / Mackenzie’s Pleasure / A Game of Chance $5.92

Macmillan books for $2.99

Evermore by Alyson Noel * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Dead Simple by Peter James * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Marked by PC Cast * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Still Life by Louise Penny * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Mixed Blood by Roger Smith * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Gettysburg by Newt Gringrich * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Pearl Harbor by Newt Gringrich * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
To Try Men’s Souls by Newt Gringrich * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Smooth Talking Stranger by Lisa Kleypas * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Ice Station by Matt Reilly * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Tides of War by Tillyard, Stella * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Boca Knights by Steven Forman * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
From Two Rivers: Part 1 of Eye of the World by Jordan, Robert * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Hot Girl by Dream Jordan * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Me, Myself, and Why by MaryJanice Davidson * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Midnight Sins by Lora Leigh * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Cheri On Top by Susan Donovan * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Death, Taxes and a French Manicure by Diane Kelly * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Secrets to Seducing a Scot by Michelle Marcos * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Autumn by David Moody * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Kill Zone by Jack Coughlin * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
One Good Dog by Susan Wilson * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Typhoon by Charles Cumming * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Wanna Get Lucky by Deb Coonts * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Blood Song by Cat Adams * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Siren Song by Cat Adams * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Demon Song by Cat Adams * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Crystal Rain by Tobias Buckell * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Shadow Prowler by Alexy Pehov * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Into the Night by Janelle Denison * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Down River by John Hart * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Fountain Filled With Blood by Julia Spencer-Fleming * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Emma’s Secret by Barbara Taylor Bradford * $1.99 * A | BN | K | S

Is Pubit! Stripping Samples of Erotic Romances?

Jane — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 15:00:07 +0000

An author who is using PubIt** has reported that books with erotic romance in them are being stripped of their samples. Sampling is an important selling tool. Another author reported that her sales have dropped nearly 10 fold without the sample. On the PubIt! site, here is what it says about Samples:

Samples:

Barnes & Noble customers have the option to try before they buy. For all PubIt! eBooks, interested customers will be able to download up to 5% of the eBook to their NOOK or to their computing or mobile device enabled with free NOOK eReading software. From the sample, it is easy for customers to buy the full eBook and download it in seconds.

And it’s not that the Terms of Agreement don’t allow BN to remove samples:

F. Marketing. We will have sole discretion in determining all marketing and promotions related to the sale of your eBooks through the Service. Barnes & Noble shall make each eBook available for online sale and downloads in one or more formats. Prior to general commercial distribution, Barnes & Noble may distribute or cause to be distributed free of charge to some employees of Barnes & Noble copies of each eBook in any format for purposes of testing the electronic distribution of such eBooks in such format. Barnes & Noble reserves the right to distribute and display via download all front matter of an eBook and up to five percent (5%) of an eBook’s content (nonexclusive of an eBook’s front matter) free as a sampler. Barnes & Noble will not owe you any fees for any marketing efforts.

YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT BARNES & NOBLE HAS NO OBLIGATION TO MARKET, DISTRIBUTE, OR OFFER FOR SALE ANY EBOOK OR PART THEREOF, OR TO CONTINUING MARKETING, DISTRIBUTING OR SELLING AN EBOOK AFTER WE HAVE COMMENCED DOING SO.

Of the erotic romance titles released through PubIt, none have samples available whereas books distributed through a third party (such as a publisher or smashwords, does have samples.

Carnal Secrets is not an erotic romance but rather a contemporary as opposed to Destiny Entwined that is an erotic romance.

Authors have reported that phone calls and emails to customer service have gone unanswered. As one author noted to me:

Lots of questions: Is it just a glitch (they’ve had other problems and growing pains during the past couple of months with various things that have eventually been fixed) or is this something they’ve done to specifically target erotica? (And if so, why only the PubIt folks?) What’s really behind this? Did they get complaints from users about the erotic content on the Nook and this was their knee jerk reaction? Is this their way of trying to say that they’re protecting minors? And if so, again, why only PubIt books?

There are also some reports that high selling erotic romance PubIt! novels are not appearing on the bestseller list (much like what happens in the iBookstore). I’ve contacted BN as well. Any self pubbed authors want to speak to this?

** We are actually giving away a NookColor in conjunction with talking about Vintage Romances at PubIt! this Sunday and despite this turn of events, we still plan to go ahead with the post.

Thursday Morning Links: It’s a Jane Austen Celebration

Jane — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 12:05:14 +0000

I wanted to post this early in the morning. Our reviews will follow later on today. Today is Jane Austen’s birthday and to celebrate Sourcebooks is giving away digital copies of the following books (look for them at your favorite etailer):

Eliza's Daughter, by Joan Aiken (Sense and Sensibility continuation)
The Darcy's & the Bingley's, by Marsha Altman (Pride & Prejudice continuation)
Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife, by Linda Berdoll (Pride & Prejudice continuation)
What Would Jane Austen Do?, by Laurie Brown (contemporary/time-travel romance)
The Pemberley Chronicles, by Rebecca Collins (Pride & Prejudice companion)
The Other Mr. Darcy, by Monica Fairview (Pride & Prejudice continuation)
Mr. Darcy's Diary, by Amanda Grange (Pride & Prejudice continuation)
Mr. & Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One, by Sharon Lathan (Pride & Prejudice continuation)
Lydia Bennet's Story, by Jane Odiwe (Pride & Prejudice continuation)

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In keeping with the Jane Austen theme, The Republic of Pemberly is hosting a short story contest in conjunction with Ballantine Books. The short story contest begins January 1, 2011. The grand prize is publication of your entry in the Ballantine anthology “Jane Austen Made Me Do It.” Publication of this anthology is tentatively set in the Fall of 2011.

Contest Highlights

Eligibility: Previously unpublished U.S. residents over the age of 18
Entries must be approximately 5,000 words in length
Manuscript submission January 1 – February 13, 2011
Voting for the Top Ten finalists February 14 – 28, 2011
Top Ten finalists announced on March 1, 2011
One Grand Prize winner receives $500.00 and a contract for publication in the anthology Jane Austen Made Me Do It
Grand Prize winner announced Fall 2011 in conjunction with the official release by Ballantine Books (Random House, Inc.) of Jane Austen Made Me Do It

Jane Austen Made Me Do It contains more than twenty best-selling and popular authors who have contributed short stories inspired by Jane Austen, her novels and her philosophies of life and love. From historical continuations of her plots and characters to contemporary spinoffs and comedies, the stories encapsulate what we love about our favorite author: romance, social satire and witty humor. Contributing to the line-up are best-selling authors Karen Joy Fowler (The Jane Austen Book Club), Adriana Trigiani (Brava, Valentine), Lauren Willig (The Pink Carnation series), Laurie Viera Rigler (The Jane Austen Addict series), Syrie James (The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen), Stephanie Barron (Being A Jane Austen Mystery series), and the husband and wife writing team of Frank Delaney (Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show) and Diane Meier (The Season of Second Chances). Many Austenesque authors and others from related genres have also contributed stories to the project. One spot in the anthology remains open for the lucky Grand Prize winner.

The anthology's editor, Laurel Ann Nattress of Austenprose.com, is very excited at the prospect of discovering the next star in the burgeoning sub-genre of Jane Austen sequels and inspired books. "Jane Austen has been inspiring writers for close to two hundred years. It seems quite fitting that she should be the witty muse of our anthology and short story contest. Encouraging writing and discovering new talent is in spirit with her true legacy. I am "all anticipation' of what will develop, and am honored to be part of the selection team."

Visit the official Jane Austen Made Me Do It Short Story Contest web page for official contest rules and eligibility requirements. Best of luck to all entrants.

*****

Samhain is giving away freebies, although not related to Jane Austen but rather to New Year’s Eve. These four New Year’s themed stories are freebies on Kindle and Nook and will run a full month from mid-December to mid-January.

The first date is the day the book price flips to $0.00 and the second date is the final day and the original price will go into effect again.

12/15/2010 to 1/15/2011: Going All In by Jess Dee
12/15/2010 to 1/15/2011: Make Mine Midnight by Annmarie McKenna
12/15/2010 to 1/15/2011: The Bite of Silence by Mary Hughes
12/15/2010 to 1/15/2011: With this Ring by T.A. Chase

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Remember the pedophile book? Amazon is continuing to censor books that its reading public decides is offensive. This time around erotic romances featuring incest is being pulled from the self publishing ranks. As Ars notes, part of the settlement over the George Orwell debacle was that Amazon would not remove purchased content from a consumer’s account without a court order. Yet, some readers have indicated that these now banned books have been deleted from their accounts. No confirming details have been given. Amazon’s censorship is concerning yet there isn’t enough of an outcry because the books being banned by Amazon are on the margins. I guess so long as Amazon just removes the fringe books, then it’s all okay?

Note: Amazon is censoring. Censorship, however, is not the same as a violation of the first amendment.

Thursday Midday Links: Amazon Bows to Pressure & Bluefire Brings Digital Lending to iThings

Jane — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 17:00:46 +0000

A day after Amazon released a statement stating that it would not remove an objectionable book containing what the self published author described as a way to be a better pedophile, Amazon has reversed its stance and the book is no longer in the catalog of self published Kindle titles. The controversy reached mainstream with news reports on AP wire, CNN, and BBC. As other news organizations have noted, Amazon still sells objectionable content concerning pedophilia and other illegal acts:

It is currently accepting pre-orders for the hardcover version of ‘I Am the Market: How to Smuggle Cocaine by the Ton, in Five Easy Lessons’ by Luca Rastello.

And in 2002, the United States Justice Foundation, a conservative group, threatened to sue Amazon for selling ‘Understanding Loved Boys and Boylovers.’ That title is still available through Amazon.

Perhaps those concerned can voice their complaints loud enough to have even more books removed. There are already one star reviews on the books by David Riegel, author of Understanding Loved Boys and Boylovers, that started being posted yesterday. In googling, I found that Amazon had removed another title regarding pedophilia in 2000 under pressure from Evangelical Christians, although it is offered for sale from secondary sellers on the site. Oh well. (I blame all the people who brought this up for my knowledge of the NMLBA’s existence. I could have lived without that but now I inflict it on the rest of you.)

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Bluefire App has been updated to allow for library rentals. This means you can use your local digital lending library with Bluefire. Basically, you download the digital book from your local library and then copy it over to iTunes and then sync. It’s important to remember, though, that downloading an ePub book requires two steps. First you download the “ASCM” file and then you double click on that file. Your computer should open Adobe Digital Editions (or the Sony Reader Software if that is how you have it set up). ADE will then download the actual book. The book should be found in My Documents/Digital Editions folder. I have a tutorial with pictures here as does Bluefire here. Yay, Bluefire!

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New York Times will have a separate ebook bestseller list beginning in 2011 which means that authors like the Harlequin Presents authors who are routinely showing up on the USA Today list and the self published authors that are ranked high on Kindle might show up instead of others. I suspect, however, that the ebook bestseller list will largely mirror that of the print list because frankly ebook reader tastes aren’t so different than digital reader tastes if the existing top selling lists at Amazon are any marker. There will be one list for fiction and one for non fiction which leads me to wonder if there is going to be a future abrogation of format distinctions between hardcover, trade, and mass market and what that means for bookselling.

Further, given that Amazon has at least 50% of the market, if the Times list doesn’t track very closely with the Amazon list then its methodology will be put in question. And if Times list is tracking digital books and Amazon does retain 50% of the market, what is the use of the Times list in the first place?

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Borders has partnered with a fulfillment company to offer free two day shipping for $79 AND free shipping on returns. This is the cost of an Amazon Prime membership (which I have and love). Amazon offers Prime eligible shipping for things other than books but it does not offer free shipping on returns. This is smart by Borders.

Thursday Midday Links: I Worry About Apple’s Propensity for Censorship, Do You?

Jane — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:32:16 +0000

One of the most attractive things about the iPhone/iTouch and soon to be iPad is the robust App community that offers everything from the ridiculous (fart apps) to the sublime (Stanza). But Apple rules the App store like Tomas de Torquemada (Inquisitor-General of the Spanish Inquisition). It’s a reign of terror and uncertainty for app developers. This isn’t hyperbole.

It costs, at a minimum, about $10,000 to get a mildly functional app developed. Whether your App is approved is totally up to an unknown cadre of app approvers. Further, content based rejections are common even if the content isn’t built in such as when Eucalyptus was rejected because the Kama Sutra could be downloaded using the book app.

This is the basis for app rejection:

"Applications must not contain any obscene, pornographic, offensive or defamatory content or materials of any kind (text, graphics, images, photographs, etc.), or other content or materials that in Apple's reasonable judgement may be found objectionable by iPhone or iPod touch users."

The fact is that Apple has and will ban content in ways far worse than the episode of #amazonfail. Despite Apple’s concern about the end user and its current quest to seek out and destroy sexually explicit content based apps, Playboy is still a pay option.

For now, though, it appears Apple is ready to let the dirty into their bookstore. Forbes says that there is an “Erotica” category under general fiction and for romance in the iBookstore. These categories may change, however, before launch:

These categories may shift again before the iPad hits stores April 3. Since announcing the device in late January, Apple has changed its classification system several times, says Kastelein. In late February the company listed about 35 top-level e-book categories. It later whittled them down to the current 20.

If you don’t want to contribute to Apple’s desire to control all your media content but you love the tablet idea, be with cheer. Several other companies like HP, Toshiba, and Asus are going to have slate tablets at the end of the year. Here’s a video of the HP one which looks just as lust worthy as the iPhone one. Even better, if it plays iTunes, you can have a lot of the functionality of movies and music, without giving into the Jobsian world rule.

The HP Slate interests me because I am a hulu.com addict and hulu is flashbased. The iPad won’t run flash but the Slate would.

Via Teleread.org.

At Slashdot, a commenter brought up the fact that Amazon’s 1 click patent has been reexamined and will not expire until September 2017. The one click patent has prevented online retailers from providing one click buys with shopping cart model unless a licensing fee is paid to Amazon. Apple is one company that licenses the one click application.

Hachette has had a good year despite Meyer sales slipping out the stratosphere to hover somewhere just below it and well above mere mortals. (Like she is no longer Zeus, just a slightly lesser god). In fact, when Hachette did suffer a decline in sales it was directly attributable to drop offs of Meyer book sales. Meyer doesn’t have anything in the publication shoot and it’s questionable how many tweens and moms haven’t already purchased this book. eBook sales comprised 3% of over all sales and $5 million in December.

For those playing publisher Bingo at home, 2009 was a good year for Harlequin, Penguin, Hachette, and not so bad for HarperCollins. Still to be heard from are Simon & Schuster and Random House.

Thursday Midday Links Roundup

Jane — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:59:31 +0000

Amazon filed for and was recently granted a patent to change words in a book in order to track down the source of pirating. John Scalzi called this a stupid idea because it violates his creative control over the work.

I think Amazon has the right idea. A change to the html css stylesheet, for example, could randomly create some kind of near invisible change that would allow the source of the pirated material to be tracked down. Courtney Milan suggested something like an italized period as that would be virtually unnoticeable. You could place the substitutive words in the Author’s Note or in the ordering of the metadata tags.

This type of social DRM could create an impediment to that “casual piracy” that content creators fear. I.e., how many people are you going to share a book with if that file contains something that can be tracked back to the original user. While the Amazon concept might seem like an anathema to some authors, I do think it’s a step in the right direction. I hope publishers and vendors can work together to create something like this that would remove the impediment to legitimate uses of an ebook while placing a staying hand on oversharing.

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Kristen Nelson puts out some disturbing news for authors. Fewer books are being bought today.

If editors don’t see something as a big book, they are passing. Or my other recent favorite, if it doesn’t fit into a very narrowly prescribed genre of what has worked for them (oh let’s say something like dark YA angsty romance), then they are also passing.

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Macmillan is signalling something here but we are not sure what. Macmillan, the parent company of Tor and St. Martin’s Press, among other imprints, is moving to a standard contract. The ebook royalties will be 20% off the net, instead of 25%. Additionally, direct to consumer sales will result in a higher royalty. 10% off the first 10,000 sales and 15% for sales in excess of 10,000. In the past, that royalty rate was 5%. Tor already has a direct to consumer sale mechanism in place with its Tor Store. This leads me to wonder if there will be more publisher imprint stores? One thing I do know, free shipping is often a deal breaker for me. The direct to consumer sale has to offer a good price and free shipping or there won’t be a reason for me to break away from buying in store or at Amazon or Book Depository.

Of course, if Macmillan tries to undercut the pricing at Amazon, it might result in Amazon trying to punish them. Will Macmillan be willing (or able) to suffer economic loss for long term gain? Amazon was willing to suffer through 7 years of loss in order to gain its market dominance today.

I’ve often thought that one way to increase profits in a market that is moving away from brick and mortar purchases to online retailing is to cut out the intermediaries. SB Sarah has some words for Macmillan regarding their ebook strategy.

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Karen Scott has another lovely letter from New Concepts owner and president, Madris De Pasteur. I wonder, like the commenters, why any author would publish with New Concepts.

We’re currently working on designing a new webpage for NCP to be launched early next year. Due to the fact that the unhappy have made a nuisance of themselves reminding us repeatedly to remove their books upon expiration, we’ve inadvertently removed some books by authors who wanted to roll over.

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The nook won’t be available at every Barnes and Noble store, merely the ones with high traffic/volume. You might want to check with your local store to see if they are going to get the display and/or the devices to sell.

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Film Studios are looking to block DVD Rentals for the first month of the release, hoping this will force more purchases. Rental companies are filing suit.

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The next Stephen King book won’t be released as an ebook for almost one month after the release of the paper format and it will be priced at $35.00. SW Vaughn notes that King has stated the $35 ebook price is incorrect.

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Random House has caved to threats of a lawsuit by the NBA over the tell all book by Tim Donaghy regarding star treatment (yes, it happens); fixing of a game to get to the holy grail of ratings (game 7); petty bets controlling referee behavior and basically how the NBA is no better than the WWE only the WWE admits that it is selling entertainment and not unadulterated athletic endeavors.

Random House was prepared to sell this book up until 2 weeks ago when the NBA came knocking. Either it didn’t fact check or its caving under pressure. Either one is a black eye on Random House.

Weekend Links: Goodbye Romance Novel TV

Jane — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:27:20 +0000

Sydney Morning Herald has a nice article about romance in conjunction with Beyond Heaving Bosoms, a guide to romance written by SB Sarah and SD Candy.

So thank Eros for two Americans, Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan, who dreamed up Mavis for their book Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches’ Guide to Romance Novels. It’s an unashamed celebration of their great passion, and they make no apology for it. “There’s nothing like a beautifully executed romance novel or the afterglow upon finishing an especially good one,” they write.

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Wall Street Journal op ed piece scoffs at the FTC regulations that are pointed at bloggers arguing that mainstream journalists receive so much swag that the office closets are groaning under the weight.

The specter of freebies has long haunted journalism. In the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, Hollywood columnist Louella Parsons was famous for her swag intake. Come Christmas Eve she would “unwrap an avalanche of gifts” from Tinseltown royalty, according to screenwriter Anita Loos. “Two secretaries used to stand with notebooks to keep score so that Louella could remember the next day who had sent what.” Those notes weren’t taken to help her make proper disclosures to her readers.

Eric Felton, the author of the article, isn’t convinced by the FTC reassurances that bloggers aren’t the target.

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Romance Novel TV has decided to close its doors. It’s sad to see them go. Marisa and Maria were real fans of the genre and were some of the first to bring video to the online romance world. Video interviews with authors seem to proliferate every site, but Romance Novel TV was really the first to break out. We’ll miss them and good luck to their future endeavors.

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The Bookseller wrote a critical piece of Waterstone’s distribution center. In retaliation, Waterstone has blocked employee access to The Bookseller. Stay classy, Waterstone. Your inept attempts to make bad press stop only serves to generate more bad press.

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Barnes and Noble is purportedly in talks with publishers to allow a “lending” feature with its device and the ebooks. This would push me toward buying an ebook reader from Barnes and Noble. I have doubts as to whether BN could pull this off. After all, publishers can’t even get the pricing situation worked out what with St. Martin’s Press refusing to allow all of its books released in digital format and when they are available in digital format, SMP is charging a 100% upcharge for the digital copy. I’ve heard some noise about charging more for an ebook that comes with a lending ability. I don’t like that at all. I’m not going to pay a few extra dollars to be able to share my ebook.

Amazon Offers Up MetaData Error As Excuse

Jane — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 22:37:38 +0000

Recent comments from Amazon seem to directly dispute the idea of a hack or external tagging issue, but rather an internal cataloguing error. I don’t think that Amazon’s explanation is any explanation at all. It doesn’t address what it’s “adult content” policy is and what it will do in the future to books in terms of rankings. It is clear that ranking can have very adverse affects and without any transparency regarding this issue, the hamfisted mistake can be trotted out a dozen times to explain a “glitch” that probably had the exact effect that Amazon had wanted; just not the consequences.

From Drew Herdener to the Seattle PI:

This is an embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloging error for a company that prides itself on offering complete selection.

It has been misreported that the issue was limited to Gay & Lesbian themed titles – in fact, it impacted 57,310 books in a number of broad categories such as Health, Mind & Body, Reproductive & Sexual Medicine, and Erotica. This problem impacted books not just in the United States but globally. It affected not just sales rank but also had the effect of removing the books from Amazon’s main product search.

Many books have now been fixed and we’re in the process of fixing the remainder as quickly as possible, and we intend to implement new measures to make this kind of accident less likely to occur in the future.

From Customer Service email I just received:

Thanks for contacting us. We recently discovered a glitch in our systems and it’s being fixed.

Let me assure you that Amazon.com does not support or promote hatred or criminal acts; we do support the right of every individual to choose his or her own reading material or entertainment.

As a retailer, our goal is to provide customers with the broadest selection possible so they can find, discover, and buy any item they might be seeking. That selection includes some items which many people may find objectionable. Therefore, the items offered on our website represent a wide spectrum of opinions on a variety of topics.

Amazon.com believes it is censorship not to sell certain titles because we believe their message is objectionable. Therefore, we’ll continue to make controversial works available in the United States and everywhere else, except where they’re prohibited by law. We also allow readers, authors, and publishers to express their views freely about these titles and other products we offer on our website. However, Amazon.com doesn’t endorse opinions expressed by individual authors, musical artists, or filmmakers.

We value all feedback from our customers, and I thank you again for taking the time to send us your comments about this issue. Although we won’t be able to comment further on this topic, we hope you’ll allow us to continue to serve you

Amazon Using Category MetaData to Filter Rankings

Jane — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 03:37:57 +0000

UPDATE 1: Here is a spreadsheet of books denoting their catagory metadata along with whether the book has an amazon rank. If you are a gmail user, you can (I think) access the spreadsheet for sorting. If you aren’t a gmail user, here is a web page of the spreadsheet.

Additionally, there is a Change.org email campaign that you can join to trigger emails to be sent to Bezos and Amazon customer service.

At the suggestion of someone I looked up the category meta data provided by the publisher to Amazon. I looked up over 40 books that had been deranked and filtered out of search engines. It appears that all the content that was filtered out had either “gay”, ”lesbian”, ”transgender”, “erotic” or “sex” metadata categories. Playboy Centerfold books were categorized as “nude” and “erotic photography”, both categories that apparently weren’t included in the filter. According to one source, the category metadata is filled in part by the publisher and in part by Amazon.

Heather with Two Mommies included this category metadata:

Books > Subjects > Gay & Lesbian > Literature & Fiction > Fiction > General
Books > Subjects > Gay & Lesbian > Literature & Fiction > Fiction > General AAS
Books > Subjects > Gay & Lesbian > Parenting & Families
Books > Subjects > Gay & Lesbian > General AAS
Books > Subjects > Teens > Social Issues > Homosexuality > Fiction

A Parent’s Guide to Preventing Homosexuality had this category metadata (note the lack of any reference to gay & lesbian categories):

Books > Specialty Stores > Custom Stores > Qualifying Textbooks > General AAS
Books > Subjects > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Sociology > Culture
Books > Subjects > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Sociology > Marriage & Family
Books > Subjects > Parenting & Families > Parenting > General
Books > Subjects > Parenting & Families > Parenting > General AAS
Books > Subjects > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > General
Books > Subjects > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > General AAS
Books > Subjects > Religion & Spirituality > General
Books > Subjects > Religion & Spirituality > General AAS
Books > Refinements > Binding (binding) > Paperback
Books > Refinements > Format (feature_browse-bin) > Printed Books

Lady Chatterly’s Lover included this:

Books > Subjects > Literature & Fiction > Erotica > General
Books > Subjects > Literature & Fiction > Erotica > General AAS

As did Jaci Burton’s Riding on Instinct:

Books > Subjects > Literature & Fiction > Erotica > General
Books > Subjects > Literature & Fiction > Erotica > General AAS

But Burton’s first book in the series, Riding Wild, had only this for category metadata and thus was not deranked:

Books > Specialty Stores > Custom Stores > Qualifying Textbooks > General AAS
Books > Subjects > Romance > Contemporary > General
Books > Subjects > Romance > Contemporary > General AAS
Books > Subjects > Romance > General
Books > Subjects > Romance > General AAS
Books > Refinements > Binding (binding) > Paperback
Books > Refinements > Format (feature_browse-bin) > Printed Books

Anything Goes by John Barrowman in paperback has an Amazon sales rank of 7,155.

Books > Subjects > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Actors & Actresses
Books > Subjects > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Entertainers
Books > Subjects > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > General
Books > Subjects > Biographies & Memoirs > Memoirs
Books > Subjects > Biographies & Memoirs > General
Books > Subjects > Biographies & Memoirs > General AAS
Books > Subjects > Entertainment > Music > General
Books > Subjects > Entertainment > Music > General AAS
Books > Subjects > Entertainment > General
Books > Refinements > Binding (binding) > Paperback
Books > Refinements > Format (feature_browse-bin) > Printed Books

But the same book in hardcover has no ranking but does include this in the metadata:

Books > Subjects > Gay & Lesbian > Biographies & Memoirs > General
Books > Subjects > Gay & Lesbian > Biographies & Memoirs > General AAS

The Filly by Mark Probst includes these entries (among others, of course):

Books > Subjects > Gay & Lesbian > Literature & Fiction > Fiction > Gay
Books > Subjects > Gay & Lesbian > Literature & Fiction > Fiction > Romance > Gay
Books > Subjects > Gay & Lesbian > Literature & Fiction > Literary Criticism

Thus, as a “glitch” it was a remarkably targeted one that seems to support the emails that Mark Probst and Craig Seymour received from Amazon which was gay and lesbian works were deemed “adult” content regardless of actual content. This evidence appears to indicate that it isn’t so much a glitch but a specific policy. The question is then who implemented the policy of marking GLBT books as adult and who knew of the implementation? What kind of supervisory person signed off on it?

Alternatively, you could argue that it was a lazy programmer that decided to filter out all adult content and included GLBT for the heck of it but that doesn’t really address the emails to Probst and Seymour. You could also argue that it was a hacker that went in over the past week and inserted an algorithm that filtered out GLBT/erotic/sex content. Obviously, why the filter was implemented in such a way is a question only Amazon can answer.

Amazon Censors Its Rankings & Search Results to Protect Us Against GLBT Books

Jane — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 16:00:33 +0000

UPDATE No. 2: Amazon executive customer service email is: ecr@amazon.com and the customer service phone number is 1-800-201-7575. You can use Robin’s template:

Dear Amazon,

It has come to my attention that you are de-ranking books, supposedly on the basis of "adult content." Apparently, according to the Amazon Dictionary, this is defined as books that have anything at all to do with GLBT characters, authors, issues, or references, with some general erotically-oriented works being roped in, as well. In the meantime, however, books on the illegal, inhumane, and horrifyingly violent sport of dog fighting remain ranked and appear on a first page search under "dog fighting": http://bit.ly/18l70B. Further, a search under "playboy" yields as the first return "Playboy: Wet and Wild Complete Collection," followed by "Playboy: The Complete Centerfolds," and so on. At what point did "adult content" exclude nude women and dogs killing other dogs for sport?

This is nothing short of discrimination; this is nothing short of censorship. This is nothing a business that claims commercial integrity at even the most basic level would do. Consequently, as a longtime Amazon customer, I look forward to an immediate reversal of this ridiculous and unconscionable policy. Otherwise, I will purchase elsewhere and encourage everyone else I know to do the same.

UPDATE: Apparently romance authors are seeing their rankings removed as well. (If you comment, I’ll add you to the list)

Jaci Burton’s books 2 and 3 in her Wild Rider series have been deranked. If you type her name in, her most recent release will not show up.
Larissa Ione & Stephanie Tyler’s Sydney Croft series cannot be found from a front page search. (You can find books about dog fighting, though, from a front page search. So does a search on “sex toys”).
Maya Banks’ Heat books do not appear in a front page search. All Banks’ Berkley Heat titles have been deranked except June 09 release.
Alex Beecroft’s False Colors has no ranking.

Oh, Amazon, you make it so easy to despise you! Amazon has excluded GLBT books from appearing in “some searches and bestseller lists” based on the premise that books about gays falling in love and possibly having sex is “adult material.” Barnes & Noble had committed to shelving Running Presses new m/m romance fiction line in the romance section but is now moving these dangerous to our children books to the GLBT section, obviously because books with women having sex with barbed beasts is so much safer and morally circumspect.

This is the response to one author, Mark Probst:

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

I’m no constitutional scholar and discrimination suits are very difficult but the exclusion of GLBT books from search engines and rankings on Amazon seems to be some kind of violation of something. Given the recent ruling of the Iowa Supreme court that the gay and lesbian community have the same fundamental right to marriage, it seems like GLBT books should be afforded the same rights in bookstores as those books depicting romances between straight men and women. Heck, even threesome books such as Lora Leigh’s Bound series is shelved in straight romance. COME ON, AMAZON!

Edited to add: I just remembered that eHarmony.com was sued because it failed to offer gay man dating services. The case was settled out of court and eHarmony agreed to set up another website offering gay and lesbian dating services.

Thanks to Erastes for the link.

Friday Links of Love

Jane — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 02:58:07 +0000

Is Richelle Mead and her Vampire Academy series the next Twilight phenomena? PW reports that the three books have a totle of 600,000 in print. Jia has read these books and likes them. Maybe she’ll do an omnibus review for us.
David Carnoy, a journalist/editor at CNet, wrote a fiction book which NY publishing wouldn’t buy. Having some tech connections, Carnoy was able to turn his book into an iPhone App. He submitted and it was sold until it was discovered that it had the word “fuck” in it. That made Apple pull the application. Carnoy has self edited his book to remove those horrible, awful, dirty words, and now Apple thinks it is just fine. What the FUCK, Apple?
Google is making a legal challenge to Prop 8, arguing that the law harms Google’s ability to recruit and hire
Cleveland Library users now get the ability to download Adobe ePub versions of ebooks.
Mills & Boons moves 200 million books globally in 2008 and it’s experienced a 101% growth since 2001.
Teens send nudie pics to each other and are arrested for trafficking in child pornography. Did you know that the Supreme Court ruled once that child pornography laws apply only to depictions of real children versus drawings of children? (Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition)
Waterstone’s sells 30,000 Sony Readers in the last 4 months.

Random House Author to Change Language in Bestsellling Children’s Book

Jane — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 03:38:34 +0000

There’s some strange goings-on at Random House. First, it canceled the publication of the Jewel of Medina on the grounds that it would stir up some terrorist action.

After sending out advance editions of the novel THE JEWEL OF MEDINA, we received in response, from credible and unrelated sources, cautionary advice not only that the publication of this book might be offensive to some in the Muslim community, but also that it could incite acts of violence by a small, radical segment.

Second, it decided to insert a behavioral clause in its YA author contracts.

“If you act or behave in a way which damages your reputation as a person suitable to work with or be associated with children, and consequently the market for or value of the work is seriously diminished, and we may (at our option) take any of the following actions: Delay publication / Renegotiate advance / Terminate the agreement.”

Now it has changed the word “twat” to “twit” in Jacqueline Wilson’s My Sister Jodie. The book is aimed at children ages 10 and over and has already sold 150,000 copies. The changes will appear in any reprints. It’s unclear whether the publisher forced the change or whether the author wanted it. As a mother myself, I would probably want to know that there was certain language in a book for my ten year old and I suppose this is just another example that it behooves me to read every book that my child reads. (Which I further suppose means that when she comes of age, I’ll have to start reviewing middle age school books?). Having said that, I don’t know that publishers should start censoring words in a book based on a few complaints. I admit to being torn on this issue.

Indiana Law on Sexually Explicit Material Registration Is Rule Unconstitutional

Jane — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:32:42 +0000

Several booksellers filed suit in May to challenge the newly passed Indiana legislation that would require every store that sold “sexually explicit” material to register with the Secretary of State and pay a fee. Because the term “sexually explicit” was so broad, the US District Court hearing the case ruled that the law was “too broad and said it could be applied against ‘unquestionably lawful, nonobscene, nonpornographic materials being sold to adults.’” The judge went on to state:

”A romance novel sold at a drugstore, a magazine offering sex advice in a grocery store checkout line, an R-rated DVD sold by a video rental shop, a collection of old Playboy magazines sold by a widow at a garage sale . . . would appear to necessitate registration under the statute.”

The entire decision can be accessed here.

Via Shelfawareness.

Free Speech Advocate and Author Cory Doctorow’s Site, Boing Boing, Systematically Removes Blogger Posts

Jane — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:05:03 +0000

According to Gawker Media (who sounds like an idealist whose idol was shown to have clay feet) reports that Boing Boing, a site helmed by Cory Doctorow and others, has been removing the blog posts of Violet Blue. I haven’t found a reason. Violet Blue was engaged in a controversy for having the gall to actually touch Steve Jobs at this years’ Macworld conference but that was in January. Violet Blue also contributes to Fleshbot as a sex advice columnist. Others have speculated about the disappearance but no answers are forthcoming from Boing Boing.

Via Gawker.

What Is Right in Oregon: Senator Vigorously Defends Net Neutrality

Jane — Wed, 07 May 2008 14:05:11 +0000

Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) met with a number of technology executives and argued forcefully that ISPs must stand up for net neutrality or face the removal of legal safe harbors and tax freedom. One of those legal safe harbors is Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act which provides immunity from liability for ISPs for the wrongful acts of others.

No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.

Net neutrality is the concept that allows unfettered access to the internet. Some people have proposed tiered access to the internet. Companies would pay for its content to be put on a faster bandwidth and companies that didn’t pay, like DearAuthor, would be shunted to the end where it would take a long time to load. Other net neutrality issues is the censorship of content which occurs frequently in non democratic countries like China.

Net neutrality is an important issue for anyone who uses the internet.

Via Ars Technica. Thanks RebeccaJ for bringing this article to our attention.

Indiana Passes Censorship Bill

Jane — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:44:38 +0000

HEA 1042 is a new Indiana law which requires any seller of sexually explicit materials to pay a fee of $250 and register with the secretary of state. This information is passed on to local officials so that they can monitor the businesses activities. “Sexually explicit materials” is defined as follows in the bill:

Sec. 2. (a) For purposes of this chapter, materials, products, or services are “sexually explicit materials, products, or services” if:
(1) the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that:
(A) the dominant theme of the materials, products, or services, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest in sex; or
(B) the materials, products, or services depict or describe, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct; or
(2) the materials, products, or services are designed for use in or marketed primarily for:
(A) the stimulation of human genital organs; or
(B) masochism or sadism.
(b) The term does not include:
(1) birth control or contraceptive devices; or
(2) services, programs, products, or materials provided by a communications service provider (as defined in IC 8-1-32.6-3).

Votes: House passes: 88-5. Senate passes: 44-2. Voting no in the House: Crooks, Noe, Avery, Moses and Pierce. Senate no’s: Boots and Mrvan.

First Amendment challenges are already being considered.