Erica Pike's Blog, page 25

Interview and Giveaway!

I'm being interviewed at Romancing the Book today and I'm giving away copies of Hot Hands and Grade-A-Sex Deal :) Pop over and sign up.

Bile and Brimstone: The PayPal Censorship

Wow, people. I don't know how to feel. I'm elated that Visa's given a response to Remittance Girl, saying they have absolutely nothing to do with PayPal's censorship. But I feel like throwing up when I read PayPal's blog post on the matter! Can you say double standard? Maybe the should hire some of the writers of banned erotica to write on their blog posts, because what this guy wrote - and the way he wrote it - catapults me into a fit of rage. Not the effect they want when they're trying to "set the record straight" and calm the people who have been "chattering" about PayPal's decision. 
I'm off now, to sit in a corner and breathe for a bit.

Header image creditCat image credit

Bullying

Bullying is always a sore subject for me. I was bullied as a kid and I worry like hell it'll happen to my kids. Bullying has already made its way into two of my stories. I have no reason to believe it won't show up in more stories.

I'm posting this video in support of anti-bullying.

Saturday Spending Spree

And it's not just today! JMS Books is having a 40% discount of all its ebooks starting today and ending next Saturday. Who are JMS Books? They're one of the ones who stood up to PayPal and decided to drop them as a payment processor. They only accept credit cards now, but that's not stopping me (quite the contrary) :)
J.M. Snyder's Vic and Matt books are some of my all-time favorites with wonderfully grumpy Vic. I thought Snyder was a guy for the longest time. And they say women write differently than men ^.^

Friday LOL Cats: Cat Speak

I've been a bit serious in my posts lately with the whole PayPal censorship issue, so I figured I owed people something a little lighter on a Friday. One of the things I like doing late at night is to scroll through "lol cat" pictures. They sometimes make me laugh so hard I cry. What are lol cat pictures? They're pictures of cats in various poses that have text written on it - usually words the cat would be thinking/saying. 
A lot of people hate what I've come to call "cat speak", which is basically a mix of net speak, cuteness, and how the English language sounds ("moar" instead of "more"). Sometimes it's without the net speak, and very often it has a wrong ending to the words ("eated" instead of "ate"). Your average lol cat would flunk the simplest English test. 
Not every lol cat picture uses cat speak. This one, for example, is a classic "statement":
Image creditSometimes non-cat speak picture just aren't as funny. This picture, for example, could have a funnier text if written in cat speak:
Image creditErm, yeah.
But sometimes normal language on a lol cat picture can be funny too:
Image creditAm I done? Not by a long shot! I intend to talk more about lol cats every Friday for a while now, so be ready for the funnieez ^.^ Ahem, aside from that one, I promise not to revert to cat speak myself. But this is a writing blog. What do lol cats have to do with writing? Absolutely nothing other than to get your mind out of the story for a while ;)
Header image credit - this picture, by the way, was the first lol cat picture I ever saw.

Win a Book or Three!

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There are currently TWO giveaways running:
Stumbling Over Chaos is giving away a copy of Hot Hands AND Grade-A-Sex Deal (both for one winner). Just leave a quick "I'm in" and you'll be added to the pot.
Joyfully Jay is giving away a copy of A Life Without You and it's the same deal: quick "I'm in" and you're in.
What's on the agenda today? Real life stuff :/ But tomorrow I intend to finish editing The Walls Have Ears ^.^
Have a great almost-Friday everyone!

New Development in Erotic Censorship

First, I'm having two giveaways: A Life Without You at Joyfully Jay's; Hot Hands and Grade-A-Sex Deal at Stumbling Over Chaos. They'll be open for a few days. You just have to leave a quick comment for a chance to win :)

Now, the main issue. I was too tired last night to finish my blog about the Paypal erotic censorship update and am I glad I was! 
Lately the credit card companies have been under blame for Paypal's sales restriction of erotic fiction featuring rape for titillation, bestiality (includes werecreatures in shifted form), incest (includes pseudo-incest), BDSM (yes, that one too!), and "barely legal"). Wait, they have not been under public blame, but apparently also under Paypal's blame! 
The theory flying around, regarding the credit card companies (CC), is that they're little by little bringing erotic fiction under their "high risk" category. In their high risk category are p.o.r.n sites and casinos where credit cards can more easily be manipulated. The word was that the CC's were classifying erotic fiction as p.o.r.n. But that's not all. Because indie authors have been making big bucks on erotic fiction, CC's supposedly wanted a bigger piece of the pie. How could they do that? By bringing erotic fiction into their high risk category where the "insurance" fee (percentage for each transaction) is much higher than normal. In other words, they'd get a lot more money for every purchase of erotic title. It's a good theory and I meant to write about it in more detail! However, there's been a new development.
No Boundaries Press has been actively fighting Paypal by inviting those who had to take their titles down from Smashwords, Bookstrand, and All Romance eBooks to vendor their "questionable" titles from the NBP store. They found a way around the system, but people were still wondering how they were able to since it's the credit card companies who have been hovering over the Paypal Terms of Service (ToS). Well, this is taken from the NBP blog:

I know some are saying the tokens will not work. Truth of the matter is, I've talked to various credit card companies and also read my customer agreements.
You can go to the Bunny Ranch and pay with your Visa card kids. I was promised by the companies i spoke with that it is PayPal NOT the credit card companies that PayPal is trying to blame.
Sometimes on adult items, as a seller, you can be charged higher percentage fees — sometimes.
So, getting rid of PayPal completely is the best bet. Bottom line is the credit companies don't care where you spend–so long as you do.I know some are saying the tokens will not work. Truth of the matter is, I've talked to various credit card companies and also read my customer agreements.
You can go to the Bunny Ranch and pay with your Visa card kids. I was promised by the companies i spoke with that it is PayPal NOT the credit card companies that PayPal is trying to blame.
Sometimes on adult items, as a seller, you can be charged higher percentage fees — sometimes.
So, getting rid of PayPal completely is the best bet. Bottom line is the credit companies don't care where you spend–so long as you do.

What the heck is going on here? 
Mind you, I now feel partly sympathetic to the retailers who've had to change their policies and have been subjected to public outrage. I say partly because they could have handled things better. There was no need, for example, for Bookstrand to kick out most indie authors. Smashwords could also have taken more time to consider their stand. But then, if you think about it, they had very little time to react. The retailers had to make snap decisions, and snap decisions can often be dangerously rash. No time to think things to the end, no time to slave over the letter to authors because the letters had to go out immediately or accounts would be frozen (and money confiscated, I've heard). There was actually a very sincere letter from Mark Coker, owner of Smashwords, and I'm gluing it to the bottom of this post.
Before I do, I'd like to say that the Stop Internet Censorship petition has reached its goal of 1000! 1343 people have signed and I'm hoping a lot more will before it's sent off.
Also, If you want to read more on what's been happening. S.V. Rowle has been collecting links since it started.
Mark Coker's 2nd letter to his authors:

The following email was sent to all Smashwords authors/publishers/agents Monday, February 27 who have published erotica at Smashwords.-----As with the first email from Friday (archived here: http://www.smashwords.com/press/relea... ), you're receiving this message because you have previously published erotica content at Smashwords under your account at http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/[[username]] tied to your email address, [[user_email]]. Just because you're receiving this email doesn't mean your book or books are affected. Read on.-----
I'm writing to give you an update on where things stand. We are extending the deadline (previously set for tonight) for Smashwords authors/publishers/agents to voluntarily remove certain content (erotica featuring themes of rape, bestiality, incest) from Smashwords . I'll communicate the new deadline in a future email once I gain new information.
I had another call with PayPal this morning. Our conversation is continuing with them as I seek to achieve a less onerous, more sensible result. 
There's a sliver of hope that I might be able to obtain a more positive, less restrictive outcome than I communicated on Friday, yet it's unlikely we'll achieve the true result I want (no censorship) in the near term. Today, PayPal hinted at a more relaxed definition of prohibited content as, according to them [I'm paraphrasing], "probited boooks would be those for which rape, bestiality and incest are the major theme. If rape, bestiality and incest are incidental plot points, then that content might be allowable." 
This represents a significant clarification in our ongoing attempt to delineate the gray areas and push back the onerous, unfair and restrictive definitions as they now stand. It's an opening, but it's not the final word from PayPal. Our friends at PayPal are trying their their best to help Smashwords authors and publishers.
This potential relaxation doesn't solve the broader issue of censorship. I think if a writer wants to write fiction around the theme of [anything], I think they should be able to write it if it's legal.
Today's progress, while encouraging, also opens up new gray area. How does one judge whether the taboo subjects are incidental instances or major themes? Where does one draw the line? The PayPal rep and I agreed our discussion will continue, and they assured me our PayPal services will not be cut off as we both work in good faith to advance the discussions. 
A lot of people have been attacking Smashwords for my decision to comply with PayPal's requirements. They're pointing their arrows at the wrong target, and they're not helping their cause. We're working to effect positive long term change for the entire Smashwords community, and that includes all our erotica authors and readers. This change is possible only if we work together toward a common goal. When people spread lies that this is all part of a Smashwords plot to dispose of "icky books" (their words, not mine), or try to portray our actions as some sexist attack against women, or worse attacks I won't repeat here, they're wrong. Despite the ugliness shown to me and Smashwords over the weekend, I'm still working to protect these very people who attack us. The attackers don't understand what we're doing on their behalf behind the scenes, and even if they did understand I don't expect them to agree with our approach. I'd rather work with PayPal in good faith than martyr the entire Smashwords community upon the stake of this impending deadline. 
This is only the first chapter in this battle. Even if we fail in the short term we survive to fight another day. Regardless of the near term outcome, we will continue to engage to effect positive change with your help.
Over the weekend, many Smashwords authors and publishers demanded we abandon PayPal and find a new payment processor. It's not so simple, and it doesn't solve the greater problem hanging over everyone's head. PayPal is trying to implement the requirements of credit card companies, banks and credit unions. This is where it's all originating. These same requirements will eventually rain down upon every other payment processor. PayPal is trying to maintain their relationships with the credit card companies and banks, just as we want to maintain our relationship with PayPal. People who argue PayPal is the evil villain and we should drop them are missing the bigger picture. Should we give up on accepting credit cards forever? The answer is no. This goes beyond PayPal. Imagine the implications if credit card companies start going after the major ebook retailers who sell erotica?
My objective is for PayPal and Smashwords to pull the credit card companies into a more open discussion about these issues. I want all financial institutions to reevaluate their policies. I want the banks to change or clarify their policies toward something more enlightened. I want PayPal to loosen their policies. We need financial institutions to get out of the business of telling writers what they can write and what readers can read. Without this much-needed debate, the slippery slope gets more slippery for all indies.
Indie authors are the biggest publishers of erotica. Already, one retailer/distributor, Bookstrand, decided to drop all indies from their store. I can only assume they decided the angry authors were more trouble than they were worth. Our business is all about serving indie authors, so even if some segments of our author community are shooting arrows at us, we still want to help them work through this. The campaign at hand goes beyond erotica authors. It's an indie issue. Indies are breaking the boundaries previously set by large traditional publishers. This boundary-breaking scares people. We should welcome the debate about what a "good book" should look like. I think a good book is anything legal that readers want to read, even if I don't want to read it myself.
This campaign represents an incredible long shot. To move this forward, I need your help. Even if you don't publish in the categories directly impacted by this crackdown, this campaign matters to you. 
What can you do to move things forward? First, direct your attention where it matters most. Contact your credit card company or congressperson and tell them you want financial services companies out of the business of censoring what writers and readers are free to imagine with fiction. Blog about it. Tweet about it. Contact your favorite blogger and encourage them to raise awareness. Start petitions and tell financial institutions you want their censors out of your head. Contact the media. The media, with your urging, has the power to shine a bright light on the dangerous slipperly slope of censorship by financial institutions. 
If the media (both traditional and social) calls on credit card companies and banks to honestly answer these simple questions, then they'll either be compelled to acknowledge the absurdity of their policies or they'll be compelled to rewrite their policies. This troublesome tide can shift if financial institutions are forced to answer why they're prohibiting legal fiction. 
I realize my message to you today cannot possibly answer all the questions you may have. Know that we're working for all authors, even those likely to suffer from whatever ultimate changes we implement in the near term. We all want censors off our backs and out of our heads, and if that's not the result we achieve, then we'll at least work to get you more clearly defined rules. Bear with us.
I will post this message in the Smashwords Press room at http://www.smashwords.com/press so it's archived.
Thanks,Mark CokerFounderSmashwords
P.S. Please think carefully before emailing me. Although I try to reply to everyone and stay accessible, the flood of emails ultimately prevents me from serving your interests. I will send out additional updates via email as warranted, and will also post interim updates to Site Updates at    https://www.smashwords.com/about/beta
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Giveaway - Two for One

If you want a chance to win a copy of Hot Hands and Grade-A-Sex Deal, head over to Chris' Stumbling Over Chaos and leave a comment. Easy as that :)
I've managed to do a lot of editing today (finally) on The Walls Have Ears. Looks like it's going to be a bit longer than 14k words - it's closing in on 15. 
What's been bugging me lately (aside from the Paypal fiasco - I'll write more about that soon) are all the sequels popping up in my head. I already have everything mapped out for Hot Hands and Grade-A-Sex Deal. I'm sure I'll get a new bunny for The Walls Have Ears once it's ready. Who knows, maybe I'll talk NBP into doing this again next year with a new round of stories. 
I've added another story on my to-write list! This one's a free read in the Love is Always Write writing even hosted by the M/M Romance group on Goodreads. There will probably be around 130 stories or more. This is the same deal as the Hot Summer Days short stories that came out in 4 free volumes. Here's my picture and prompt:

First, when I was looking at the pictures to choose from, this was a big NO for me. I mean, it didn't call to me AT ALL. But when I saw the prompt below, I just had to have it:

Prompt: One more day, that's all he needed. One more day to finish this presentation and get the hell out of town and back to his normal, everyday life. So it absolutely figured that some over-muscled moron with a pneumatic dick substitute would wake him up at the ass-crack of dawn and shoot his plans right to hell. At this point he'd try anything -- maybe a bribe?
Requester: Nancy

Erotic Censorship and a Home for the Homeless Books

Most of you have probably heard about what's happening with Bookstrand*, ARe*, and Smashwords* (who are likely the first of many to come). They're being bullied and threatened by PayPal to remove "incest, bestiality, rape, and underage erotica" from their lists or their accounts with PayPal will be frozen and their money confiscated (!!). Admittedly, I would never read three of those four subjects, but I have been known to enjoy brotherly love (Lee Brazil's excellent Telling the Truth, for one). I have spent the entire day reading up on this and weeding out fact from fiction.
PayPal is using their market dominance to push distributors (and probably publishers soon - they use PayPal to pay their authors) to censor out material that "could be considered obscene". I ask, who decides what is obscene and what isn't? Is bestiality, rape, incest, and underage erotica obscene? Yes, I'd say so, but this isn't about what's obscene and what isn't. A guy running naked through a park can also be considered obscene, but that's not even an issue here. Neither is Lolita, a classic book about a relationship between a pedophile and a child (tell me if that's going to be pulled off shelves? I think not). This is about censorship.
But it's not only PayPal. In a way I feel sorry for the distributors who have had to react without notice to PayPal's brutal demands. They've had to make snap decisions and there's been no time to find an alternate way of payments, because PayPal basically says "do this or you won't get the money in your accounts". However, the distributors mentioned above are taking things further for various and unnecessary reasons. They're also pulling down titles with "barely legal" content and "pseudo incest". What the hell??-- Barely legal means 18 and 19 years old. People that age are legally allowed to have sex, so why would anyone restrict that? So far these distributors are only focusing on "barely legal" girls, so I'm safe (because mine are guys), but they're knocking on the door right next to mine and I don't like it. -- "Pseudo incest" means sexual relations between (in this case) grown step/foster children and step/foster fathers/mothers or step/foster siblings (this last one is popular). Again, "pseudo incest" isn't illegal - Woody Allen anyone? Besides, if we're going for things that are illegal but still written in books, then how about murder, theft, and plots to distribute a virus? If PayPal believes that writing about incest will encourage incest, then shouldn't writing about murder (like the Dexter books) also encourage murder? That would pull off a whole lot of books and make a mass of people angry.
In short, distributors are pulling off their shelves perfectly "legal" material!
I think it's right to mention here that the only fiction that has ever been judged as illegal is erotic content that depicts children in a sexual manner for titillation. None - and I mean NONE - other illegal content has or can be judged illegal because it's fiction (killing a man in a book can not land you in jail). Why the pedophile fiction? Because when children are involved, it's a whole different ballgame.
Content that "can be considered obscene" is a very broad term. What's next? Well these things are considered obscene by a lot of people: GLBT literature, gay marriage, BDSM, public display of affection between same-sex couples, trinogamy's (mmm), strip clubs, sex in public bathrooms, sex outside of wedlock, prostitution, anal play/sex. Those are just a few examples of many. Those are things I read and write. Do you?
There's a petition running to appeal to Paypal. Please, please sign this if you value freedom of speech, press, and personal choice. Banks and other financial institutions shouldn't dictate what we choose to write and read (or even buy, as long as it's legal). Where do they even come off trying to? It may not affect your genre NOW, but if we let this go, your content might be next. This also affects readers because PayPal is telling them what they can an cannot read (yes, "can" - not "may" - because people will have a harder time getting access to what they want to read).
Although Bookstrand, ARe and Smashwords have - at least for the moment - caved under pressure, others are fighting. No Boundaries Press is working on offering these new homeless books with "questionable" content a home on their sale site. The authors won't have to sign a publishing deal with them. They won't have to drop their current publisher and they won't have to stop self-publishing these specific titles. NBP's just offering a way to sell these books that are under attack and will charge no more sales fee than any of the above distributors. They're very adamant about fighting this censorship and they've found a different way to handle payments. They're not just offering this to authors, but publishers as well (and self-publishers, in case I didn't make that clear). Check out their blog if you're interested and please spread the word if you know someone who's been a victim of this witch hunt.
Lastly, if you're interested in reading more about this subject, I recommend Selena Kitt's blog. It's very thorough but in no way a dry read on the matter. According to her, she'll have to remove said subjects from her store AND any book that contains BDSM (and most of her books do). I haven't heard BDSM content mentioned by anyone else, but she was told she had to when she asked PayPal directly.
Here are more links on this topic:Two Legs Bad: An Open Letter to Mark Coker (owner of Smashwords) - Mark himself even replied to this one.Putting the World According to PayPal In Perspective - This is just hilarious. A fun way to learn about what's happening.Erotica Book Banning Round Up - with more links!Censorship and Paypal: UnConstitutional and WRONG - Wayne has listed emails to where people can send their complaints to PayPal. I'm quoting a bit from his blog:
"A while back, I spoke on this blog about my frustration and anger with PayPal. The issue at the time was that they unilaterally froze my account because I bought $6 worth of novellas from Astraea Press in aid of a charity drive. I later reviewed these books, only to learn to my chagrin that PayPal had denied the payment and frozen my account.
After this disagreeable incident, I finally decided I'd had quite enough of PayPal and their unreasonably restrictive clauses. After all, no one has the right to view my purchases and tell me which ones are acceptable and which are not. I'm an adult male in the United States of America, and as such I enjoy all the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.
Or do I?
PayPal doesn't seem to think so." (Author J.S. Wayne)
* These are links to where you can see the letters from these distributors. Here are the credits: Author Cat Johnson has Bookstrand letter, The Self Publishing Revolution has the All Romance eBooks letter, The Digital Reader has the Smashwords letter.
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PayPal's Censorship - Petition

I'm a little over a week late on the uptake, but PayPal is now censoring erotic fiction content! I'll write a more elaborate post on this very soon - for now I'd just like to link to the petition. This is very important , because if they're threatening sites that sell "barely legal" content (sex with 18 and 19 year olds - how is that not legal??) and pseudo incest (pseudo as in fake, not related by blood), what will be next? They say this content is "items that are considered obscene"*. Well if that's the case, what's next? GLBT literature? Anal play/sex? Prostitution? A lot of people find these "obscene". Do we really want to go down this path?
Here's the petition:

Earlier this week, PayPal told Bookstrand, a major distributor of erotic romance and other erotic content on the Internet, that if certain titles containing "objectionable" material were not pulled from Bookstrand's shelves, Bookstrand's PayPal account would be shut down and the funds within confiscated.
PayPal has a long track record of suspending, freezing, and terminating customer accounts on the thinnest of justifications, but this is going too far. By telling Bookstrand what books they can and cannot sell using PayPal services, they are also telling readers they don't have the right to read what they wish and telling authors that PayPal has the right to take away their freedom of speech and the press.
If you use the Internet to find new reading material, if you use PayPal, and/or if you support the rights of authors and readers to have the widest possible selection of topics to read and write about, please sign this petition and let PayPal know that censorship, no matter what form it takes or how it is implemented, is not acceptable. Readers, publishers, storefronts and authors have the right to choose what books are sold and bought. 
Don't leave it up to PayPal to choose how you spend your money or where.

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*From PayPal's ToS.