The Importance Of The Warning Label

Hey Everyone!

-points above-

Did you all see the pretty new banner?

-strokes it lovingly-

I have an awesome friend who loves me who made it for me...

Okay... now for the truth.

I have a friend who extorts free babysitting out of me who made it for me. It's a good trade I think.

Anyway!

I haven't just blogged in a while and my lovely assistant, Melissa told me that I should. So I agreed with her.

Sorta.

During the week I still have my theme days:

Monday: Man-Oh-Man Mondays (Flash Fiction stories based on pictures, written by yours truly or author friends and then pimping new releases or retro releases)
Tuesday: Tantalizing Teaser Tuesdays (Sexy, Naughty, Teasing excerpts from either me or author friends and then pimping a new release or a coming soon release)
Wednesday: Work In Progress Wednesday (An excerpt from something either I or an author friend is currently working on and then pimping the book(s) that go with that series or another book that has just released or is about to release)
Thursday: Thursday Pimping (NEW RELEASES! This is the day I invite author friends to come and talk about their new releases. Blog tours, cover reveals, etc. It's all about new releases and pimping new releases on Thursdays here on The Purple Fantasy Den!)
Friday: Freaky Friday (Anything Goes. Literally. I turn the den over to author friends, bloggers, guests, reviewers, my daughter, sometimes I'll post. It's anything goes. I only have one restriction: Nothing controversial. But other than that. They can post whatever they want. Porn? Sure. Cat videos? Go for it. Miley Cyrus videos? -shudders- Okay. If you must. It's carte blanche for the guest!)
Saturday & Sunday: The Alpha Dom's Den (It's my turn! I get to blog. I may share about my new releases. I may blog about a book I've enjoyed. I may talk about something in the news. I may just put up a picture to get you through the weekend. But whatever it is, the weekend is MINE.)


From The Alpha Dom's Den The Importance Of The Warning Label



In the last month I have read two really amazing books. Like uh-mah-zing. The kind I'd give the Vic Seal Of Approval to. The only problem?
Neither one of them came with any warning.
I'm not talking about Warning: This book contains sex between two men.
Because ummm.... hello? I was reading a gay romance I was kind of expecting that.
No, the warning I'm talking about was more along the lines of Warning: This book contains mentions of child abuse both physical and sexual, mentions of rape, domestic violence, non-con, and child pornography. Or in the other book. Warning: This book contains child abuse which may trigger some readers, violence against a minor child, and suicide. Read with caution.
This is not to say these books weren't good. They were amazing. And you all know I don't give those compliments lightly. We're still at the beginning of the year and already I'm going to be giving out my second seal of approval to a book, but you all also know how I am about recommending books to you all. I feel as though you should know what I know. If there is a double penetration scene in there? I tell you. Fisting? I tell you.
Girly bits? Well, I'll tell you that too.
Why?
Because not everyone likes what I like. And some readers are triggered by things that I am not triggered by and some aren't.
That's the big thing that I'm talking about here.
Triggers.
There's a book that I LOVE by my friend Amy Lane: Living Promises. I read it once and sobbed my eyes out. I was warned ahead of time about the book but I didn't listen and read it anyway. Even though I love that book to pieces and Amy did an amazing job. I will never read that book again. Why? It has too many triggers for me. It hits WAY too close to home for me. Just thinking about the book too much makes me want to close myself off in my room and cry or grab my nearest friend and let them hold me like a baby.
And I am not a little man.
So having warnings on books, in blurbs, is important, in my opinion to avoid situations like this.
When I read the first book I talked about above I was at about 66% of the way through, thinking that the author was going to continue to hint at what had happened to the character, without going into explicit detail, when BAM there it was. It wasn't a little bit either. I would have been okay with vagueness, but it was the description that got me. My body trembled, I got a lump in my throat and before I knew it I was waking up my roommate as I stumbled through the house to deal with the ramifications of it all.
I could have closed the book and stopped, yes, but I needed resolution. I needed a HEA for the character by that point. And like I said, the book was AMAZING. The author had done a brilliant job pulling that type of reaction out of ME, because I'm the person, the reader who usually reads books and will usually tell authors: "Readers are going to cry right here." And they'll ask me: "Oh! You cried?" And I'll laugh and say: "No. I don't cry. But I can tell you that readers are definitely going to cry right there though."
The fact that I was having a reaction was a big deal. I wasn't prepared for it. Now if there had been a warning on the book, would I have not bought it? No. I still would have. I just would have been armed. I would have told my roommate: "Hey, remember that book that had this, this, this and this in it? I'm getting ready to read it." And she'd be like: "Oh shit. Alright. I'll go make the nachos and put on Torchwood." And we'd be set. LOL.
And sometimes warnings can be fun. I put a warning on The Alpha's Beautiful Mate letting people know that it might cause them to spit out liquids on their electronic devices and that I was intending it be humorous. But for the most part? Warning labels are there, should be there for those readers who may be triggered by the contents within. It's also something to protect the author and the publisher because I know I would hate to receive an email from a reader telling me that they read one of my books that triggered them so horribly that it sent them into a depression or worse.
And the thing is? Those who need the warnings look for them, and those who don't look over them.
But again, that's just my opinion.
So I think warnings are the responsibility of not just the author but the publisher as well. And if the publisher doesn't put the warning on the book or the website, then it's up to us as the authors to make sure you, the readers, know what the warnings, or the triggers, may be. What do you think?
What are some warnings you have seen or wish you had seen on books?

-Vicktor Alexander The Alpha Dom