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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I’ve been told that there are publishers who will revisit an issue if they get as few as three letters of complaint – and these are NOT erotica publishers, but NYT mainstream.
Thank you Alison. There’s way too much internet complaining and not enough physical response when it comes to this genre. Want meaty, sweeping historicals in different locations and settings? Write to the Publishers. Want to keep romantica/erotica on the bookshelves the way the authors want to write them? Write to the Publishers. Etc, Etc.
This has become a pet peeve for me over the past few months because all across the board(blogs,message boards, AAR) readers and writers are complaining about what they want to see, but no one is doing anything about it except comiserating online as though this is some tiny pub about to be bulldozed over by big, oafish building contractors(aka the average reader).
I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m going to be writing letters to NY concerning everything I am disappointed with.
I’m sure that some of these discussions are heard by more than bloggers. I know from reading some PAN loops that what is said online does filter upward in some way or another, especially what is written on RTB. It’s not completely pointless.
I do wonder if some of the fear arises because of a conception that erotica is eroding standard romance sales. Otherwise why bother to fuss?
People clearly feel threatened and I can’t believe it’s fear that it will alter their own existence any other way. (okay. maybe there’s some fear that their neighbors are reading erotica and some night, as non-erotica-readers taking out the garbage, those infected neighbors are going to tackle them for sex.)
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The publishers need to hear from the readers. (My “you” was a universal, not directed at Sylvia. *g*) Hearing from authors and having authors endorsing them isn’t the same. The authors have a financial stake and creative stake. Readers don’t. They are the consumer. Which is why reader letters carry a hell of a lot more weight.
Good point, Alison.
Thankfully, as a writer for these publishers I can speak my mind directly to them.
Also I offer them the strongest endorsement I can by continuing to write for them and by advertising that I write for them.
This rant on my blog is to share with my visitors who wouldn’t know right off the bat how things they read about affect things behind the scenes.
Knowledge is power.
What Larissa said. It was a whopping total of THREE letters that caused Fox to be fined for their “Married by America” show. THREE. Same with the Janet Jackson boob. A MINORITY caused the stink. Why? Because the majority feels safe in their numbers. They don’t speak out because they don’t feel they need to. Uh, guess again.
I’ve been told that there are publishers who will revisit an issue if they get as few as three letters of complaint – and these are NOT erotica publishers, but NYT mainstream.
You feel strongly? Stop complaining on blogs and write to the powers that be. It’s that simple. Tell the editors and publishers you LIKE what’s being published. Will it help? Who knows – but at least you’ll know you’ve done something proactive rather than simply blog ranting.
That said, I HATE the EC ads in RT and the RWR because I just can’t STAND those WWF looking covers! But that’s just personal preference, LOL!
Amen to that!
I’m not a writer, I don’t even read erotica (well maybe the odd one or two every now and then) but this is another symptom of the slow erosion of our right to write and read whatever we want.
Btw, Shannon sent me
This is happening everywhere, I’ve noticed. A minority screams loudest, and suddenly the majority must bend to the will of the loudest. I’ve seen very recent examples of people who hate something screaming loud, but when the polls were taken, guess what? They were by far the minority.
People. If you LOVE something the way it is, YOU need to speak up. Because if you don’t, the minority who wants change is going to get it. Be adamant, because the people who hate something already have the force of righteous anger behind them. They are so upset that they send outraged letters to editors and congress and the news. They become visible, while the other side remains silent, appearing to either not care or to be the minority, when this is the time it’s most crucial to speak up louder and more often.
Kudos for speaking up, Sylvia!
Saskie makes a good point. I assumed the person who wrote this letter was talking about EC, but Harlequin and Zebra both publish erotic romance, too. Does anyone seriously think RWA “lowered their standards” to admit Harlequin? Does anyone want to see Harlequin booted because it publishes erotic romance? If one publisher is unacceptable because it publishes erotic romance, then surely all of them should be unacceptable. Right?