Has anybody Else Been Hassled by Smashwords?

[Boxlicker101]

I have dozens of books/stories offered for sale on SW. Now, they have told me I need to certify they do not contain certain notions that are considered offensive, such as incest, age-play and bestiality. Has this happened to anybody else?

 

[sr71plt]

Yes, but it's because they are being challenged by their distributors. They've carried edgy themes for much longer than most have.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I got that same email, but I don't consider it "hassling".

The gist of it is:

- every e-book retailer has different rules on what kind of erotica they're willing to accept
- previous classification systems haven't been very good for identifying certain taboo topics (bestiality, noncon, dubcon, ...)
- publishers screen books for these topics and sometimes get it wrong: "several retailers put all erotica titles through special screening which can prevent or delay listings in their stores. Several mainstream erotica and romance authors have seen some or all of their books disappear from retailers after the retailer accidentally concluded one or more of their books contained prohibited themes. Some of our sales outlets don't want to touch any erotica with a ten foot pole, largely out of fear that certain taboo topics would appear on their platforms."
- as a solution to this problem, Smashwords is asking authors of erotic fiction to identify which if any taboo topics apply to their books.

That seems like a pretty good solution to me. I'd much rather categorise my own work than have somebody's algorithm do it for me, or be blocked from certain retailers because they can't tell what's in my book.

 

[Boxlicker101]

I got that same email, but I don't consider it "hassling".

The gist of it is:

- every e-book retailer has different rules on what kind of erotica they're willing to accept
- previous classification systems haven't been very good for identifying certain taboo topics (bestiality, noncon, dubcon, ...)
- publishers screen books for these topics and sometimes get it wrong: "several retailers put all erotica titles through special screening which can prevent or delay listings in their stores. Several mainstream erotica and romance authors have seen some or all of their books disappear from retailers after the retailer accidentally concluded one or more of their books contained prohibited themes. Some of our sales outlets don't want to touch any erotica with a ten foot pole, largely out of fear that certain taboo topics would appear on their platforms."
- as a solution to this problem, Smashwords is asking authors of erotic fiction to identify which if any taboo topics apply to their books.

That seems like a pretty good solution to me. I'd much rather categorise my own work than have somebody's algorithm do it for me, or be blocked from certain retailers because they can't tell what's in my book.

The stories I refer to have already been accepted, some of them several years ago. It's a pain in the ass to have to go through 110 of them, one at a time, and check something off. This is especially so because I have already included the info they are requesting.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

I have dozens of books/stories offered for sale on SW. Now, they have told me I need to certify they do not contain certain notions that are considered offensive, such as incest, age-play and bestiality. Has this happened to anybody else?

Yes. I complete the certification in about 10 minutes for about 46 titles. It wasn't hard if you included tag that specified which category they belong in.

Besides, I only about 10 in the taboo cat and 1 in the bdsm cat.

 

[R. Richard]

Same thing here.

 

[sr71plt]

The notice I saw indicated that it was Barnes and Noble that was tightening up the definitions and Smashwords either had to fall in line or its authors would lose that major distributor.

Folks aren't entitled to force publishers and distributors to take whatever they write and service it, you know. This is a privilege, not an entitlement.

 

[Boxlicker101]

I know all that but I'm strictly griping about a nuisance.

 

[sr71plt]

I know all that but I'm strictly griping about a nuisance.

Half full/half empty. I've been happy with what I could get published for as long as I could. People are buying it.