Alright. This topic has been beaten to death, but still I have to vent my anger and fear somewhere so my blog is as good a place as any. The last few weeks have really shocked me with the venom directed toward erotic romance. Loops, listservs, blog postings, the RITA fiasco. Now the RWR, where in a letter to the editor a writer says:
“Also we may want to stop prattling on about how ‘we just don’t get no respect’ when we allow dopey-looking hunks in ridiculous costumes advertising an erotic publisher
on our back cover. There’s a big difference between sensual romance and erotica, and I think we made a big mistake in lowering our standards to accept such a publisher.”
I get it. Some of you don’t like erotic romance. Fine. Whatever. Go ahead and complain. I don’t care. That is your right.
But here’s the deal. I don’t care. However, it appears my publishers may care and this frightens me.
First, you have Black Lace. My most recent letter from them says:
Editorial Changes: Please be aware that we want to tone down the four-letter words a bit for future compilations. We preferably want only one sex scene per story, beautifully described and perhaps more subtle than previous Black Lace writing. We are trying to get the books off the top shelf here in the UK, and out to a wider audience. For that, we need to reduce the use of ‘f’ and ‘c’ words.
There’s more, but you get the drift.
Then one of my other publishers recently turned down a collection from a friend of mine because the stories were “too erotic” for their “erotica” line.
Yesterday, a writer for still another of my publishers warned us on the loop that every ‘f’ word in her ms was cut, even when it was used as a curse and not a reference to the sexual act. When she complained she was told vitriolic reviewers had managed to change editorial policy for the publisher.
And Ghede never made it off the ground “due to the current conservative climate”.
What does this mean? Censorship. Plain and ‘f’ing simple. Publishers need to make money. Conseratives keep stirring the pot and publishers get scared. When my publishers get scared, so do I.
Is this because I can’t write any other way? Do I have to use four-letter words in my stories? Of course not. That’s not my point. My point is the option should exist for people to exercise their constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of speech and let’s face it people, it’s slowly eroding away in the case of erotic romance. Rumor has it EC is prepared to move their operation outside the US if this type of bullsh!t keeps up. It’s very, very ridiculous that people who don’t like something feel that they are superior enough to demean and suppress others rather than taking their @ss and the stick that’s shoved up it elsewhere. 
If you don’t like erotic romance, don’t read it. It’s just that simple. Just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean it should go away.
The publishers are feeling forced to change their guidelines due to pressure and it just isn’t right. This isn’t a case of them making changes because they want to. There should be something for everyone. There are inspirational publishers and imprints, and there are erotic publishers and imprints. Why are the erotic romance publishers facing all of this pressure? I just don’t understand it at all.
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“Erotica” is a hot TERM right now, but to be honest, publishers are discovering that most people just don’t really want erotica–or even romantica. Most readers want “erotica” just to mean “hottish romance, maybe with an unconventional element or two.” My two finished books are considerably hotter than quite a few authors who call themselves “erotic,” and I would describe them at most as “sensual.” I’m not being a snob–I know what erotica is, and what I write ain’t it.
Basically, it comes down to marketing-ese and what people REALLY want. What they want is different than what labels they’re looking for in their books. Romance is what their mothers read–THEY like “erotica.”
This isn’t about censorship. It’s about sales–what the book business has always been about. A certain type of book has co-opted a “racy” word just because of the buzz, but that doesn’t mean that the content will follow when there’s no demand for it.
One big problem with the current use of the word “erotica” is that you REALLY have no idea if you’ve getting borderline R or XXX stuff just from the name!
[...] ow, there’s been conversation across the blogosphere the last few days about readers speaking out to publishers and making known their thoughts on certain elements in f [...]
Such a tizzy. Where do people get off dictating to others what they should or shouldn’t read/like/enjoy etc? I don’t get it. Personally, erotica isn’t my thing. And EC’s covers don’t always thrill me (some even make me giggle). Does that mean I want erotica writers to stop using the “f” and “c” words? Does that mean I demand EC or any of the other erotica publishers change their covers? Hell no!!! I don’t give a damn. If anyone thinks the romance genre will gain more respectability by doing so, they’re wrong. Let’s face it – there will always be detractors. And censoring ourselves is not the answer.:roll:
I remember about seven or eight years ago a letter in the RWR where someone begged her fellow writers to stop writing steamy love scenes because “they hurt Our Lord.” The letters you quoted have the same tone — stop what you’re doing because I don’t approve of it. What’s more, these people are not going to shut up because there will always be things they disapprove of.
“Lowering our standards?” That’s a load of crap — the covers for Ellora’s Cave are no worse than some of the covers with Fabio dry humping the middle of the heroine’s back and while we decry them, no one talks about romance writers lowering their standards because of it.
But it is true that we need to write to the publishers, let them know that the lines have fans and people who love them –it’s difficult for a small operation like EC, who doesn’t have the resources of an Avon or Warner, but the big publishers need to know that its not just the people who are looking to be offended who are out there and willing to put pen to paper.
Wh..wh..what?! Please tell me you made up that Black Lace submission blurb
I like my Black Lace the way it is dagnabit. I like the rougher language! I like the heroines who actually enjoy sex! Heck, I like the gay characters who are drawn as “real people” and not two-dimensional child-molesting villains!
Ugh. I’m so ticked I could spit nails
Yes, I agree with that, Alison. I made that point to my sister who had some Air Force trouble. I told her to write to our Senator. She said, “What for? I’m nobody.” But she wrote anyway and has received several letters written by the Senator who is looking into the matter.
A letter is a powerful thing.
No. It’s not completely pointless – except a letter in hand written DIRECTLY to a publisher or editor and addressed to them BY NAME has a whopping lot more impact that conversational posts online. Those letters are passed around in house. Discussions online are not consumer complaints or consumer praise RECEIVED IN HOUSE that get logged. Businesses have specific departments that handle such things. They’re required to handle them by policy. (I can give you a concrete example where this happened with ONE letter writer and Blaze – where the letter got a response STRAIGHT FROM THE TOP! *g* Got it? ONE LETTER! *g*) That’s where the strength lies. Those letters where the consumer/reader has taken the time and the effort to take his/her feelings to the top.