This was in response to an e-mail I received telling me that Amazon had stripped hundreds of gay themed books of their rankings. Rankings help buyers find books. The higher a books ranking the more likely shoppers will find the title. The books in question, including Oranges are not the only Fruit, In the Line of Beauty & Brokeback Mountain were removed in an effort to make their list more family friendly. These and many other gay titles were deemed adult.
Correct me if I am wrong aren't all books that are not children's or YA, adult? Why does the presence of of a gay character make them too adult?
As a writer whose first novel, The Marrying Kind, is coming out next year and features several gay and lesbian characters, I find this deeply troubling. As a reader, and a very frequent Amazon customer, I am equally troubled.
I do not want Amazon deciding what I can read. I am quite capable of making those decisions myself.
Fortunately, even though large corporations like Amazon have destroyed much of the retail book industry, there are still a few other choices when it comes to buying books.
I'll be shopping elsewhere. How about you?
