Dr. Oz and FTC; Hugh Howey and Zonalert; Obama Executive Order and ENDA; Something For St. Jude by Ryan Field

Dr. Oz and FTC

Oprah talk show spinoff child, Dr. Mehmet Oz, recently came under fire with Congress for hocking diet concepts to consumers. One even went after him for allegedly praising products on his TV show designed to help people lose weight. I guess the difference between praise and endorsement is a gray area.

Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon, acknowledged that his language about green coffee and other supplements has been "flowery" and promised to publish a list of specific products he thinks can help America shed pounds and get healthy - beyond eating less and moving more. On his show, he never endorsed specific companies or brands but more generally praised some supplements as fat busters.

McCaskill took Oz to task for a 2012 show in which he proclaimed that green coffee extract was a "magic weight loss cure for every body type."

"I get that you do a lot of good on your show," McCaskill told Oz, "but I don't get why you need to say this stuff because you know it's not true."

Dr. Oz claims he's never endorsed anything specific and if his name is attached to a product it's been done against his wishes. There's more here.

The FTC seems to be cracking down on a huge industry....magic weight loss. Of course we all know the only way to really lose weight and keep it off is absolutely free. Eat less.

Diets don't work.

Side note: When it was announced a few years ago that Dr. Oz's TV show would be airing in the Philadelphia area and they were moving Judge Judy out of that time slot for Dr. Oz, I stopped watching that channel for a long time. If they thought good old Oz would keep me there they had another thing coming. A few years later, Dr. Oz's show has been buried somewhere else no one cares about and Judge Judy is right back in the best time slot where she belongs.

We like Judge Judy. We know where we stand with her.

Hugh Howey and Zonalert

I post on these topics as an exercise in objectivity. I like to think I can be objective as a blogger. Indie author, Hugh C. Howey, came under fire again with the anonymous watch dog web site, Zonalert, and this time it's because Zonalert alleges thousands of reviews for Howey's book were allegedly taken DOWN on Amazon. I've posted about Howey and Zonalert previously, here.

From the most recent post over at Zonalert:

As our reporting of Howey’s fraud grew traction, we noticed many of these early fake accounts began to quietly disappear. 387 disappeared over a two-month period in fact, largely we suspect due to Hugh Howey himself deleting the fake accounts to cover his tracks. To date, nearly a thousand such accounts have quietly disappeared in all. The more recent purges seem to be due to sites like Amazon identifying the fraud we’ve pointed out and taking action. Google Hugh Howey Fraud Zon Alert to see others who have joined our efforts to expose this fraudster.

In full disclosure, I was curious about Hugh Howey's work so I read his book and reviewed it here. I gave it five stars and what I thought was one of my more positive reviews. I don't know Howey, I've never met him in the past, and the odds of us ever meeting in the future either online or in person are slim to nothing. I would have no issue swearing to that on a stack of bibles on my death bed, and would go after anyone who suggested otherwise so fast they wouldn't know what hit them. So I hope my review is still up there.

You can read more here. And you can read more about Hugh Howey here at his author page on The Nelson Agency web site. Excerpt from his bio page at the Nelson Agency:

That novel was WOOL. Kristin read it that night on her Kindle, and in a fit of shaking excitement, she emailed Hugh around one in the morning.

The Howey novel I reviewed was Wool, too (link above). I liked it but didn't get a shaking fit, or any other kind of fit.

Off topic: the last time I had a fit of "shaking excitement" I was in my twenties and in the backseat of an old Mercury Cougar with an ex-marine who was engaged to be married. God help Nelson if SHE ever meets that marine.

Obama Executive Order and ENDA

In a more uplifting article with something positive about the government, it talks about how President Obama will be signing an executive order designed to protect LGBTI rights.

President Barack Obama is planning to sign an executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating against employees based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

This came about as a result of Congress stalling on ENDA, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. According to this piece, the executive order isn't as thorough as ENDA but will provide needed protection that LGBTI people need now more than ever.

You can read the rest here.

I have to admit that this President seems to be doing more for LGBTI people than anyone in the history of this country.

Something for St. Jude by Ryan Field

This story was originally pubbed in an anthology by Alyson Publications. I released it as a .99 e-book and re-worked a few things in the process. I've always been fascinated by the idea of the conservative man or woman being seduced by the more aggressive sexual younger lover.

Jude Franklin lives a quiet conservative life in a small town in Wyoming. He’s head librarian, lives at home with his aging mother, and is terrified he’ll wind up like his spinster aunt…"Poor Patty Ann." Though it’s too late for Jude to be considered a virgin, he doesn’t want to spend the rest of his life alone. The trouble is the one guy in town he’s attracted to is a handsome young library patron who also happens to work on a ranch on the edge of town. Only Jude knows he can’t have him, so he makes a drastic move and books a summer vacation on one of those gay cruise ships he’s read about millions of times. Little did he know love was waiting for him in the most unusual place, and he had to travel halfway around the world to figure it out.

Amazon Link

One Amazon review:

Simple romance with great sex and a happily ever after. Jude leads a lonely life but finds happiness with a young cowboy.


The reviews for this book were mixed, which is the way book reviews should be for ALL books. There's also one review that's interesting because it came about as the result of a technical glitch in e-publishing beyond our control at the time. When Something For St. Jude was released it was lumped in with several other stories that weren't supposed to be there. The reviewer actually helped me to see this with the review and I'll always be grateful for that. I wouldn't have known otherwise.

Gay Marriage Continues; BEA 2014

Gay Marriage Continues

I think this is one of the best articles I've read that talks about how gay marriage is gaining strength everywhere thanks to last June's SCOTUS ruling.

"With each one, it becomes harder for states to argue that these bans should be upheld, and it becomes harder for courts to uphold them," says Camilla Taylor, marriage project director at Lambda Legal, one of several gay rights groups juggling multiple court cases. "No court wants to be the one court that got it wrong and upheld the discrimination."

It becomes a legal issue, not a religious or moral issue, which is exactly what it should be.

You can read more here.

This comment is interesting:

"The test of success is not whether you win every single ruling in every single court," says Evan Wolfson, who launched the advocacy group Freedom to Marry in 2003. "The test is whether you have the right answers, whether you have a critical mass of victories and whether you are conveying to the judges and justices that the country is ready."

BEA 2014

Here are a few links for what's happening at this year's BEA (Book Expo America) in New York. This one is about debuts and breakouts. It also talks about advances, which many authors have been wondering about for the past few years.

One title where the advance became an early story is Matthew Thomas’s We Are Not Ourselves. Simon & Schuster’s Marysue Rucci plugged the debut novel, which she had acquired for a rumored seven figures at the 2013 London Book Fair, on the panel. While Rucci did discuss the author’s appealing rags-to-riches backstory—he worked on the novel for a decade and was living in a one bedroom apartment with his wife and twins when he sold the book in a splashy deal—she focused on the work itself. Calling the novel, about three generations of an Irish American family, “transcendent” and “one of the most beautiful and moving” books she has “ever read.”

It's hard to comment on that without reading the book. But seven figures? And frankly, most writers have rags-to-riches stories, at least most of the writers I know do. I wish I could get more excited about this.

This next article is a little odd, too. There's this guy who comes from old money who decided to live like the common folk live. I guess because he was tired of money and he wanted to struggle like everyone else...like those who don't have the choice?

He tells Show Daily: “I wanted to write a comedy about money. I think it’s one of the few taboos left, and it’s an important subject. The decisions people make about money are really philosophical choices that affect lots of things.”

He traveled the world, went from terrible job to job, and returned to write a book about private clubs. He took a sabbatical from old money...I guess.  He allegedly writes about the private clubs of the most elite where they don't even talk about money openly. I guess he's trying to market this to those who don't have mortgages, and those who don't have to deal with finding affordable health insurance?

In any event, this is what he plans to do at BEA:

“As for Book Expo, I intend to eat up the whole place.”

No comment. It might be the best book ever written, or that ever will be written. I just hope he's figured out a way to "eat up" the vipers on Amazon and Goodreads.

Now this article talks about something interesting for a change. I've mentioned my brother (the gay one) who lives in New York and in this building, which is only blocks from the Javits Center where BEA is held. The article talks about the High Line, which isn't far from the Javits Center. I was there a few times recently with Tony and my brother and loved it. The photo above was taken by me and the high line is not far from there.

Step outdoors and you’ll see a massive construction project unfolding in the new district known as Hudson Yards. It embraces 360 acres, stretching north to 43rd Street and extending from Eighth Avenue to the Hudson River, but its beating heart is the rail yards that wrap around the northern end of the High Line. Michael Bloomberg called this patch of real estate, which is twice as big as Rockefeller Center, Manhattan’s “last frontier.”

 And, of course, here's a BEA related article about those big old meanies, Amazon. It mentions the recent issues between Hachette and Amazon, and questions whether or not anyone will ever be able to compete with Amazon.

Research conducted in March by the Codex Group found that in the month Amazon's share of new book unit purchases was 41%, dominating 65% of all online new book units, print and digital. The company achieved that percentage by not only being the largest channel for e-books, where it had a 67% market share in March, but also by having a commanding slice of the sale of print books online, where its share in March was estimated at 64%.

It's hard to comment on it because Amazon must be doing something right. I truly wish big publishers would get their acts together and stop looking so backward and antiquated.

This last piece I'm linking to about BEA talks about two panels that discuss YA and Middle Grade books.

Ehrenhaft will share his enthusiasm for a debut novel by an author who has often been in a different spotlight. A member of both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and a multi-Grammy winner, Cynthia Weil has written (along with Barry Mann, her writing partner and husband) such classic songs as “On Broadway,” “We Gotta Get Out of This Place,” and “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling.” Set in 1963 Manhattan, her novel, I’m Glad I Did, tells of a young songwriter who must untangle a sinister web of hidden identities and dark secrets surrounding a legendary former nightclub singer.

Some of the titles look very interesting. I'm actually a huge fan of reading YA and Middle Grade crossovers. YA author Michael Northrope is one of my favorite authors. I've also read Nathan Bransford's first Middle Grade book and loved it because of the writing. The problem now is that there's so much competition out there with indie authors who are absolutely relentless in their quest to sell books. It's become a vicious nightmare for the honest author who is only trying to get his or her book our there to readers. I've seen some of these indie vipers and what they are capable of, and this also includes many authors with some of these sleazy start up digital presses who have a cult-like appeal. I've seen them tell their readers they have cancer and two days later claim is was all a huge mistake. Praise the Lord I've Had a Miracle! And the readers believe them...they do, indeed actually buy all of it. I've seen them flock together and work their readers to the point where I often wonder if what they do is legal.

At first I used to think that these bottom feeder indie authors would just disappear eventually. And actually most of them do vanish in time. But the problem is that when the old vipers disappear a whole new breed of aggressive snakes take their place it the cycle starts all over again.

I really feel for the new honest author out there...indie or trad pubbed...who has to learn how to deal with the ethical decisions that come up almost daily with book promotion. But even more important, I worry that we're losing a lot of good authors because they just don't want to deal with the subterfuge anymore.

Amazon Acquires WHITE; California Killer Commentator Fired: Dr. Robi Ludwig

Amazon Acquires WHITE

I know that sounds a little peculiar. But Amazon really did just acquire the color white...as a background for photos.

Taking a photo against a white background? You may owe Amazon money.
That's right: the US Patent and Trademark Office just granted Amazon a patent for the totally unheard of process of photographing people against a white backdrop. And we thought copyright trolls couldn't get more brazen.

You can read more here, where they are trying to petition the US Patent Office.

I think that ship sailed. Amazon owns white backdrops and that's that.

There's also more about it here. I actually checked to see if this was a hoax but couldn't find anything at snopes stating it wasn't true.

California Killer Commentator Fired at Fox

On Sunday I posted about a commentator, Dr. Robi Ludwig, on the Fox TV show, Justice with Judge Jeanine Pirro, speculating that the California killer, Elliot Rodger, who went on a violent rampage in Santa Barbara last week could have been "trying to fight against his homosexual impulses."

I thought, WOW, after I read the whole piece and all of her unfounded comments, and then I wrote this:

 A Fox News "analyst," Dr. Robi Ludwig, allegedly believes the young man who went on a horrific killing spree in California recently might have been struggling with "homosexual issues." The good Dr. Ludwig is allegedly a psychologist.  I did find this web site where you can read more about her. It only takes a moment at her web site to understand what she's all about.

Without thinking, I went on to state that I didn't see anyone calling for her resignation over this ridiculous speculation.

I was wrong about that.

Evidently, according to this article, she was fired from one of her jobs.

She sparked outrage after saying on Fox News that Elliot Rodger, who also killed himself, may have been fighting 'homosexual impulses.'

Ludwig has been fired as the lifestyle real estate correspondent for Coldwell Banker Real Estate, one of the top real estate firms in the US.

Coldwell Banker wrote in a statement on Facebook: 'Dr. Robi’s comments on the tragedy in Santa Barbara do not represent the opinions of Coldwell Banker. Therefore at this time we feel it best to part ways with her as our lifestyle real estate correspondent.'

As far as I know, she's still working at Fox.

There's more here.

I know this will once again bring up the topic of free speech. The most important point to remember is that Ludwig did, in fact, exercise her right to free speech when she made that speculation. She makes a great deal of money to appear on Fox. And now she has to own her words no matter what the consequences are. Responsibility goes hand in hand with free speech.

She did apologize. She issued a statement on Facebook and spelled the killer's name wrong twice...#ElliotRoger...with hashtags.

You can read more about that here.  

Porn's Chris Harder; Death of LGBT Publishing?

Porn's Chris Harder

Here's a link to an article, below, that's written by a gay porn star, Chris Harder, about the typical day of a porn star. He eats nothing but chicken all week long, goes to Duane Reade for fleet enemas (yup), and shops seventh avenue for jock strap fabric. It's actually very well written, and far more humble (and humorous) than anything I've read in a long time. I don't even know who he is and I like him already.

7:30 a.m. :
I'm up. That's right, I'm not going to bed, I'm up and staggering into the kitchen, starting my morning ritual which almost always begins with a cup of coffee. If I'm lucky, I'll beat my roommate into the bathroom (he works a 9-5 for a publicity agency) and if not, I'll hop around in my Mr. Peanut's pyjama pants trying not to focus on the dribbling sound of the percolator in the background. Today is a busy day. I have "city errands" and a training session plus a double booking in the evening. I'm also trying to wrap up a party I'm throwing next week and finalize my own bookings for the following month.
I really like pieces like this because we often get conflicting impressions about those who work in any area of the adult entertainment industry. We also get a lot of attitude and judgment from those who don't particularly care for the adult entertainment industry and I think well written pieces like this disabuse so many of the critics by showing instead of telling. In a way I understand a lot of the things people like Harder go through because I write erotic gay romance. I have to admit that Harder sounds a lot more patient than I am.

You can read more here, and check out Chris Harder's web site here.

Death of LGBT Publishing?

When I read pieces like this I often just shake my head and wonder WTF? Are they serious? They're talking about the death of the LGBT publishing industry and never before has there been a better time for LGBT writers? Not longer than ten years ago the only LGBT writers who succeeded in getting a single author title published were those with the right connections and the biggest mouths...the pushiest annoying ones who knew how to work it the best. The rest of the LGBT writers were lucky if they submitted a short story to a small press anthology and got paid a $50.00 flat fee...months after the book was actually released and making money for the publisher. Oh, isn't THAT a great system?

And what about reader choices? Well, we were limited to what "they" wanted us to read, which was usually nothing but dark, depressing quirky content that catered to those on the fringes.    

Giovanni’s Room in Philadelphia is the oldest and possibly largest LGBT bookstore in the nation. And now, after four decades, it’s closing. This news should make everyone involved in the business of LGBT literature — publishers, editors, authors, reviewers, and, of course, readers — pause and consider what this means for the future of their industry.

I guess it's all a matter of perspective, because I have personally never seen such a boom in LGBT publishing in the twenty plus years I've worked as an author and editor. The competition is astounding. The connection to readers is even more spectacular. I've met closeted Amish men reading LGBT fiction on tablets they keep hidden, straight women from the UK and other countries, and so many others I could fill this page with examples. There are LGBT presses with stables of authors writing LGBT content, all getting a chance at their dream. There are readers who are buying ten or more books each week and devouring LGBT content. I've even seen kickstarter campaigns raise large sums of money for LGBT indie authors working on some extremely serious social material. The only thing that's dying is the old gatekeeper system that was designed to keep most LGBT writers out and only a select handful in...not to mention the fact that most (not all) literary agents wouldn't even touch most LGBT writers ten years ago.

The author of the piece blames Amazon for all this, of course. But doesn't mention how many books LGBT writers sell at allromanceebooks.com...or Smashwords...or right from the publisher's web site. But the most shocking thing to me is this about LGBT writers in the Philadelphia area:

Local authors will be hurt. Many of these write series, such as mysteries — and readers, many of whom do not depend on the Internet for their book news, would learn of a new title in the series only by seeing it on the shelf. Ed gave local authors prominence: window displays and stacking by the register. Amazon will give them nothing, perhaps not even mention of Philadelphia. These authors will see their royalties dip significantly.

I'm a local author. I live in the Philadelphia suburb of New Hope, PA. I've been working so hard on novels with gay content for the past seven years Tony and I haven't taken a vacation other than 3 days in Vermont to get married in seven years. I work with e-publishers, European publishers, and I also indie publish a lot of my own work. I'm part of an indiegogo campaign with a Hollywood studio that's producing a documentary about same sex marriage in Vermont and I'll be offering a novel in support. As for royalties, I recently saw a gay author on social media claim that because his last royalty check was so good he can now afford that new Mac he's been wanting for so long. I see similar things from many other gay authors. But more important, there's never before been a better time for straight women authors writing gay content, especially m/m romance. I know one who was able to quit her day job and write full time.

So while I am sorry to see Giovanni's room shutter this month, I'm sorrier for nostalgic reasons because this is the end of an era we won't see return. I do feel bad about that. But in a way it was this very same system that kept places like Givoanni's room open for so long that also kept many LGBT writers hidden from view and silenced because they were not chosen as the select few to be published. In many cases it was a matter of luck. And now that technology has changed that, and the way people read and shop for their books has changed (in all genres), I think we're only beginning to see a new era in LGBT publishing, with more writers and voices than we've ever seen before.

The death of Giovanni’s Room isn’t merely a stab at the heart of a community in Philadelphia; it’s one more victim of an ailment that sickens us all.

It's also a good example of how times change, we all move forward, and nothing remains the same.

You can read the entire piece here. My comments were not designed as a rant, not by any means. He does make a few interesting points in some places. I only wanted to point out that in a general sense most of the changes I've seen in LGBT publishing have been for the best, not the worst. I actually never thought I would live long enough to see so many LGBT writers get a voice, publish their books, and sell their books. I also never thought I'd live long enough to see so many straight people reading LGBT content. And I don't take that lightly, not for one single moment.

Anne Rice on Bullies-Free Speech; Cover Preview; Log Cabin Gays

Anne Rice on Bullies-Free Speech

It's no secret Anne Rice has been outspoken about bullies, especially those she considers bully book reviewers on Amazon. According to this article below, she recently signed a petition at Change.org titled, Take a Stand Against Cyber Bullies. The petition seems to have been started by someone named Todd Barselow. So far, there are close to 3,000 signatures at the time of this post.

From what I gather, they are petitioning Amazon and Jeff Bezos to remove anonymity and to require identification with regard to reviews and Amazon forums.

I believe, as do countless others—many who will have signed this petition—that the reason this bullying and harassment is able to take place is because of the allowance of anonymity on Amazon. People have found ways to exploit this flaw in the system and are using it to bully, harass, and generally make life miserable for certain authors on Amazon.

In this article, the bully issues Anne Rice has had to handle are discussed in detail. And why she feels so strongly about this.

"My experience with the gangster bullies in the forum has been very bleak and ugly," Rice writes on the petition to Amazon. "I post there under my own name. They blatantly violate your guidelines with personal insults and harassing posts. If you would only apply your own guidelines this would greatly help. I feel a lot of these people are obsessive abusers who have found some sort of dark home on Amazon tormenting writers. I urge you to take action."

I've posted on the bully topic several times. This link will lead you to multiple posts I've written. With regard to book reviews and bullies I've always remained objective as a blogger. But I've also personally experienced similar situations with bullies that Rice and many other authors have experienced and I've always remained quiet about it. The first time it happened to me was about five or six years ago and it wasn't on Amazon. It was at a vicious book review web site that used authors as bait to get attention and garner hits in a sensationalized way. Since that time that particular blogger has been kicked out of organizations and exposed as a bully, and as a result I doubt the blogger's reputation will ever be the same again. She's trying to rebound. But to most she'll always be that same bully.

The second time I experienced bullying I contacted the police and they handled it. At that point, I decided it was out of my hands and I would let a professional do the work. It was handled quietly and the bullying stopped. What most people don't realize today is that most local police stations have a cyber crime division and they are more than willing to help people involved in bully situations. If I ever feel as if I'm being bullied again, I'll contact the police again. Plain and simple.

However, as much as I despise bullying in any form, from book reviews to those who like to bully on political topics, I didn't sign the petition Rice seems to be promoting. I once posted that I thought the bully issue could be solved by removing anonymity and requiring identification just as the petition I linked to above reads. At the time, I thought it would work. But I received so many e-mails from my readers on that topic I eventually changed my mind. People who read gay fiction, erotic romance, m/m romance, or anything else that might be considered a *discreet* genre feel more comfortable leaving reviews with pen names or anonymously. Most authors in discreet genres use pen names. It's hard enough to get reviews as it is, and I don't want to discourage readers by taking away the right to review with discretion. I have always encouraged anonymous comments here on this blog because I respect that discretion and I don't want to silence anyone's right to free speech. I do moderate to keep things civil, but I've never had to censor more than a handful of comments I didn't think were appropriate. In other words, if you disagree with me I'll post your comment anyway as long as you're civil about it.

This bully issue is a complicated matter and I don't think there's quick fix. I do think that places like Amazon should moderate all reviews with more care, even those reviews that are fake and were paid for by authors to gain higher ratings and ranks. The corruption with book reviews isn't just limited to bullying, and it's NOT just limited to Amazon. It covers a much wider territory, and it all needs to be addressed. If I were Jeff Bezos I would be obsessed about it to the point where I used it to my advantage as a business professional, making Amazon a safe place to read or leave reviews either anonymously or with real names. I would look for the sharpest young tech pros I could get fresh out of college and put them to work. And my goal wouldn't be to censor free speech, but to moderate civil discussion.

So it's easy for Anne Rice to sign a petition that calls for the removal of anonymity and requires identification, without taking free speech into consideration or how important anonymity is for many readers who aren't bullies and who prefer to remain discreet. But it's not that simple for me. As much as I despise anything even remotely connected to bullying, I don't want to take that right away from my readers.

If you are an author who writes in a discreet genre, I urge you to consider all the options before you sign the petition. You might be silencing the free speech of the very readers who would leave you good, honest reviews, too.

Update: The signatures for this petition just keep increasing in number and I'm starting to see this all over social media. Evidently, this issue is very important to people and I'm now starting to wonder if Amazon will actually address it. In spite of my own misgivings, I'm leaning toward signing it more each day just because so many people feel so passionate about it. And I've always believed in doing what's best for the majority, as a rule.

Cover Preview

This is an unusual cover preview for me because it's not finalized yet, but I wanted to share because readers tell me they like being involved in the process. I often drive cover artists up the wall with these things, and this is just one example of how I torture those wonderful people to the point of frustration. These are two examples, out of ten others I won't post now :)

When I say I'm having a blast with indie publishing I'm never joking about that. A publisher would never allow me to drive them this crazy.

Log Cabin Gays

For those who may not know this, the Log Cabin organization is a group of all gay Republicans. I don't know why I find this so fascinating, but I do. I don't get political here on the blog, but I have stated I'm a registered Democrat who usually votes independently. I find that on a local level I can't always stick to one party because some local Republicans are often more open-minded about issues I find important. I think if you live in a larger city it's different. But in small towns like New Hope, PA, there really are about 50 shades of gray.

Log Cabin Republicans executive director Gregory T Angelo made the announcement in a column for the Daily Caller in which he decried CPAC organizers the American Conservative Union’s (ACU) failure to allow gay conservatives to participate openly in the conference’s program of events.

You can read more here. If you're open-minded to all things political like I try to be, I think you might find this interesting. There's also a brief history about the Log Cabin Republicans and Abe Lincoln's alleged gay relationship.

Disney Dumps Boy Scouts; Dancing with Cats; Audible Lowers Royalties

Disney Dumps Boy Scouts

Due to the ban the Boy Scouts of America have with regard to not allowing openly gay leaders and employees, Walt Disney World in Florida has discontinued contributions to local Boy Scout chapters. (You can be an openly gay Boy Scout...until you're eighteen, and then it stops.)

Disney World, located in Orlando, did not make an announcement regarding its dumping of BSA. Reuters reports that the news came via an email to local members from Scouts' Central Florida Council Board President Robert Utsey.

Utsey wrote: 'We recognize that many Scout Units have received financial  support over the last several years from this grant opportunity and are sad to see it go.

Once again, the right to freedom of speech is a wonderful thing that often comes with consequences. Especially when that freedom of speech is geared toward anything discriminatory or defamatory. And Disney can choose to donate its money wherever it wants. Just as the Boy Scouts can continue to discriminate against gays.

You can read more here.

Dancing with Cats

I'm not always a huge fan of book trailers because I've seen authors spend way too much money and they'll never see a return on that investment. I rarely buy a book because of a book trailer. But I also think that sometimes some book trailers work and this is one of them.

Chronicle Books is releasing a  15th anniversary edition of Dancing With Cats.

The book, which was originally published in 1999, is dedicated to photos of humans dancing with cats. The book sold more than 100,000 copies, in an era when Internet was less widely adopted and before Keyboard Cat hit the scene.

To celebrate the anniversary of the book and the latest edition, the publisher has created a playful book trailer. We’ve embedded the video above for your entertainment.

This not only proves that sometimes book trailers work, but also that some books are timeless.

You can read more here. You can watch the trailer, too.

Audible Lowers Royalties

Audible is a web site where publishers and self-published authors can launch the audio versions of their books. I don't know much about it personally because I only have one on audible, An Officer and His Gentleman and it was launched through a publisher. It's one area of self-publishing I haven't ventured into yet because I'm not certain there's a huge market for it. But I'm really not sure and I haven't discounted doing more on Audible by any means. Most of all, I think it could be fun. In the past, several readers have told me they've listened to my book on audio and enjoyed it.

Amazon owns Audible. They purchased it not too long ago and launched the ACX Platform. Amazon has recently lowered royalties.

Up until now, Amazon was offering an escalating rate of 50%–90% on ACX titles sold exclusively; now it is dropping the rate to a non-escalating 40%.

You can check out the link above, but that's about it for now. There are, however, several other news briefs with that link that are interesting. I like Publisher's Weekly, but it is paid content and I know most of my blog readers don't have memberships.

As I said, I have no idea how this will affect authors. But I do predict that Amazon will continue to lower royalty rates as time passes. I have no comment on that one way or the other. It is what it is.

Hugh C. Howey Author Report; Death to Gays; Pussy Riot Arrest

I like to post about everything on this blog from the most serious human rights issues to the most ridiculous pop culture happenings involving Justin Bieber and his little monkey. I think the information to which I'm linking about Hugh C. Howey's Author Report falls somewhere in between. Hugh C. Howey, an aggressive self-published author who some refer to as an advocate for all self-published authors, and some even claim as their hero, launched a web site called Author Report that discusses "data" about author earnings in these changing times in publishing. He makes many claims in the report, with an unnamed source, but also states up front that the information is not conclusive. Ever since the web site launched, it seems everyone has an opinion either for or against the information posted. There's already been so much written I'm mainly going to link at this point. I think it's good information for some of my readers, and it would be counter-productive to bore the rest of my readers to death with too much commentary about "data."

First, here's a link to Author Report. If you're interested in self-publishing I think you should read it in full. And as I stated above, Hugh C. Howey makes no claims that this is conclusive or perfect.

We expect many to disagree with our analysis. We expect flaws will be found in our reasoning and our sampling methodologies. Discovering those flaws will lead to better data, and we look forward to that process.

Romance author, Courtney Milan, offers an eloquent blog post on the topic, here. Milan is both trad published and has indie pubbed her books to great success. In fact, I think she was one of the first to enter the .99 e-book forum in romance. Milan is also an attorney.

I believe it’s incorrect to say that the authors are using a days’ worth of sales. As best I can tell from the methodology, they used a single snapshot of sales rank–so that would be ranks for one hour on Amazon, not one day.

Now, here's a more positive post about Author Report, but keep in mind there's really nothing substantial either. It's basically an opinion piece supporting Hugh C. Howey.

Publishers in the future will still have a lot to offer, but the conditions have already changed. The power has shifted to authors and readers. The “self-publishing stigma” is going away, thanks to people like Howey and thousands of others like him who are working hard at their craft to produce good work and form real connections with their audience.

Here's a blog post that really challenges Howey and if it's accurate tends to make him look a little foolish. She seems to know what she's talking about and gives solid examples.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about: self-publishing evangelist Hugh Howey and a silent partner went and scraped a bunch of Amazon data.  That’s fine.  That could be cool, even.  But then they made a bunch of pretty charts and used it to bang their pro-self-publishing / anti-trade publishing drum, and wrote a whole lot of paragraphs next to the pretty charts as if they were Conclusions, when, in fact, those paragraphs were not in any way implied by the data collected.

And this blogger makes an interesting point about self-publishing in general that I've always agreed with.

Perhaps the greatest lesson to take away from all this is one that does not rely on the specific nuances of the numbers Howey crunched. It’s a more general realization, summed up by blogger J.W. Manus (found via the Passive Voice): no matter what the percentages are, it’s abundantly clear there are plenty of people making a go of self-publishing now, in ways that simply were not possible before e-books and especially the Kindle.

If you just do a simple search you'll find even more opinions and comments all over the web on this topic. And I think that's because self-publishing in general is still something many authors find amazing and confusing. I've posted many times why I wanted to self-publish, and about how difficult a decision that was for me to make.

The only comment I would like to add here is that I am in touch with many authors behind the scenes and we take all these things very seriously even though we don't post about them all the time in public. Last summer a self-published author posted that she'd checked her data and she had over 100,000 book sales. I think this was meant as a promotional update on Facebook to impress readers/fans. Several of us found that status update interesting and we did a small study on our own and we all drew the same conclusions. It made no sense. And she was either lying or getting some very bad information. Either way, it wasn't accurate and her book sales were as far off as her promotional skills. In other words, some might have believed her but we're all not that innocent.

There are also other factors to consider. As I said, I know a lot of self-pubbed authors and authors who work with publishers. We talk behind the scenes casually and discuss things like Amazon ranks and sales. Many of us wonder how some of these authors can garner so many excellent average ratings and reviews when no one's even heard of them. We just can't seem to figure this out. I honestly don't know why this is, but I do know there are many excellent self-published books out there right now that aren't making money and are not getting the ratings or reviews. These are some of the best authors around, but they fall short with promotional skills. And marketing and promotion still rule.

I agree with some of the statements in Howey's report, others I question just like everyone else. And I question them from my own experience, not hearsay. But one thing is for certain about this report, it's the best damn self-promotional piece I have seen in years. Think about it. It's not conclusive, which Howey admits openly. He's safe. You can't fault the guy for that. If it's this inconclusive why are we even reading and discussing it? Because it's amusing and entertaining. But aside from that, this little gem has garnered him more attention than if he were to save a basket of kittens left in the middle of Times Square. And I think that's the most *important* lesson all authors can learn from this report.

Learn how to market and promote yourself. As long as you admit it, you don't even have to be accurate. You just have to come off looking good.

Death to Gays

In a far more serious post compared to the one above this about Hugh C. Howey, in Malawi Muslims are now calling for death for gays. The country is in the process of decriminalizing homosexuality and The Muslim Association is not only fighting this but wants the death penalty enforced.

Malawi’s Government said in November of 2012 that it would not enforce its law criminalizing gay sex with up to 14 years in jail so that debate could occur but it appears the country’s Muslim minority is now pushing back against efforts to strike the offense from the criminal code.

 ‘Malawi is regarded as a secular state but the country is blessed with God fearing citizens who can’t afford to deviate from God’s commandments for the sake of pleasing others who practice the act,’ MAM Secretary General Dr Salmin Omar Idrussi told MalawiMuslims.com.

You can read more here.

There are far worse things happening now than author sales and ranks. It's important to write about them because the mainstream isn't doing their job. Which is why I've always considered myself a writer, not an author.

Pussy Riot Arrest

There's a protest group called Pussy in Russia who were recently freed after doing two years time. They were recently detained in Sochi for questionable reasons.

‘We have been arrested ... and are accused of robbery,’ Tolokonnikova wrote on her Twitter account.

Both women said police used force and threw them in a police van.

You can read more here.

Penis Politics; 1-800-Flowers, Rush Limbaugh; Huge Tech Firms Ruling Us

Penis Politics

This article to which I'm linking talks about the way some gay men tend to exaggerate when it comes to penis size. And, how studies have shown penis size has a direct correlation to capitalism and money. It also discusses Grindr and how it's hard to depend on anything at a glance, so to speak. But most of all, it talks about the unrealistic expectations most gay men have when it comes to penis politics.

Instead of holding out for an unrealistic fantasy, Justin Huang believes gay men should start embracing each other for exactly who they are. “Gay men need to stop expecting each other to be porn stars,” Huang said. “If you dump a guy just because of his penis size, you are an asshole. So if you love your man, tell him that you like his penis. After all, when you’re dating a guy, you’re dating two people: You’re dating him and you’re dating his penis. We need to start valuing and appreciating both of them.”

What Huang says makes perfect sense, and for the most part I think this is something gay men learn as they grow and mature. In other words, after you've gone through enough bad partners because of your unrealistic expectations (and judgments) there comes a time in life when you start to realize you have to stop thinking that way. It happens to most of us under the age of thirty. My grandmother, in her blunt way, used to have an old saying about this: if you want to live happily ever after you'd better lower your God damn standards or you're going to wind up old and alone.

You can read more about penis politics here.


1-800-Flowers, Rush Limbaugh

I guess you can't be too careful about anything these days. Last week I ordered a flower arrangement for Valentine's Day from 1-800-Flowers.com to be delivered to my mom from Tony and me. I've used them before, most recently in December for two gay friends...a couple who've been together for over thirty years...who got married in New Jersey. When my mom got the arrangement she sent me an e-photo and I posted that on Facebook with a comment about 1-800-Flower.com. One of my FB friends saw it an commented that 1-800-Flowers is a major advertiser for none other than anti-gay Rush Limbaugh.

I did a simple search and found this:

On the eve of Valentine's Day, this is to remind consumers, that after spotlighting these three Limbaugh sponsors last week, they have all chosen to ignore the thousands of requests to move their ads from just one show. They have opted to support his racism, sexism, bigotry, gay-hating and smut for the chance to make a few more dollars. In the end, they lose.

One of the three sponsors is 1-800-Flowers.

Then I found this:

Many of you may be contemplating ordering flowers for Valentine’s Day, and I wanted to remind you that when you place an order with 1800Flowers you are helping to support Rush Limbaugh.
Help spread the word and buy your flowers elsewhere.

I only wish I'd known before I placed the order. There are plenty of  supportive florists right here in Bucks County, PA I would have used had I known 1-800-Flowers supports anti-gay pundits. And while I have no issue with Limbaugh or 1-800-Flowers exercising their right to free speech, I personally will never support 1-800-Flowers again in response to their free speech. I think I have a right to free speech, too, last I heard.

I'm not a huge fan of boycotts. I'm not sure they work and they aren't always productive. However, in this case, knowing how Rush Limbaugh takes advantage of his platform to sensationalize and spread hate for money (because he knows he can), it would be counter-productive to support any business affiliated with the likes of Rush Limbaugh. And for the record, I'm not a huge fan of any pundits or circus clowns. I'm not even fond of Rachel Maddow. They will do anything for money, and unlike prostitution what they do is legal.

Stay away from 1-800-Flowers and pundits making millions of dollars at our expense.

 Huge Tech Firms Ruling Us

This next article talks about how large tech companies like Apple, Amazon, and Google are continuously branching out into new fields and slowly taking control of everything in sight. It's reaching a point where it's getting harder for smaller companies to compete.

Increasingly, American technology is dominated by a handful of companies allied to a small but powerful group of investors and serial entrepreneurs. These firms and individuals certainly compete but largely only with other members of their elite club. And while top executives and investors move from one firm to another, the big companies have constrained competition for those below the executive tier with gentleman’s agreements not to recruit each other’s top employees.

This is a long and in-depth article that covers a lot of ground, from the way Amazon is getting into space travel, to the way our geographical power centers like NY and LA have shifted to places like Silicon Valley, to how journalism and news is changing almost daily.

While there is no way to stop this kind of progress, I don't always understand why consumers are so faithful to some of these companies. It's just as easy to order from a smaller online business as it is from a mega tech firm. Maybe it's time for a consumer watch for all purchases online, where there are guides and examples to show consumers they are NOT at the mercy of these big companies and the more they fuel them the harder it's going to be for smaller online retailers.

You can rad more here.

Amazon Alternate Universe; The Fosters; LGBTI Arrests in Russia

Amazon Alternate Universe

I'm not clear on this, so I'm just posting facts. The article to which I'm linking talks about how Amazon is having success with alternate universe fiction...which is like fan fiction, but not absolute fan fiction. (I think)

Here's an explanation that might put all this into perspective. I'm not going to attempt to define it in a short post.

Also, the article to which I'm linking mentions author, Hugh C. Howey. I've posted about him before, here, with regard to alleged (keep in mind alleged is the key word and nothing has been proven by any means) paid book reviews and aggressive author promotion that includes influencers. He's one of the alleged amazon .99 millionaires and works with literary agent, Kristin Nelson, in Denver. The Nelson Agency was one of the first to start an e-publishing service for its clients/authors, working with clients in partnership to self-pub digital books. NLA’s Digital Liaison Platform was mentioned in a post here, by Nelson, that discusses how literary agents are changing with the times.

And then Amazon.com opened a creative door for him (Howey). The book-publishing unit at the online retail giant created an imprint devoted to fan fiction, Kindle Worlds, last May. Fan fiction is often dismissed as mediocre writing by wannabe authors.

If there is a bottom line to all this, I think it has to do with the fact that readers want these books and they don't always care as much about originality as they do about storyline. Readers want to be entertained. I know a lot of writers who have a problem with it. I don't. If readers want this I see no reason why they shouldn't get it.

Amazon is betting its alternative universe will succeed because its business model is different. The company doesn’t need blockbusters to offset the duds in its library. That’s because the lion’s share of the books it publishes are read digitally. Amazon doesn’t have to worry about printing costs, distributing books to stores and buying back unsold books from those stores.

You can read more here. It will be interesting to see if this really does take off. I have a few alternate universe stories I'd like to execute but I've been fearful of the review police who might try to shoot me down. And they do that, especially if you aren't a promotion aggressive author like me who is willing to do anything to get reviews. I also have to make a point of actually reading one of Hugh Howey's books to see what everyone's talking about. When I do, I'll post a full review here on the blog.


The Fosters

Friends of mine turned me on to a new TV show called, The Fosters. It's about a same-gender couple fostering kids and it's breaking many gender boundaries, educating people, and getting into topics we normally don't see anywhere.

There are two people in the picture above. Callie is on the left. She is a young, straight woman who was born female and identifies as such (also known as 'cisgender'). She's bounced from foster home to foster home with her little brother, always with a protective watch over him. She is currently living with the Fosters, a same-gender couple, and is "in love" with one of her foster brothers. Unless you watch the show, how could you know such personal details? Is it visible? Can you just "sense" it, whatever that means? No? Ok.

You can read more here, and check The Fosters out on the ABC Family Channel. It airs Monday nights, 9/8c.

LGBTI Arrests in Russia

Unless you read publications that are LGBTI oriented you are not going to get all the news about what's happening in Russia during the Olympics. On Friday, more than a dozen LGBTI activists were arrested in Red Square and why they were arrested is sketchy at best.

Police arrested 10 activists near Moscow’s Red Square who held rainbow flags as they sung the Russian national anthem just before the games opened. Authorities have released the advocates, but reports indicate police beat and threatened to sexually assault them while they were in custody.

I've read various comments about them being arrested because they didn't have permission to protest. But even if that is the case an arrest is something completely different from sexual assault and beatings.

Unfortunately, it might take months to find out what really happened. And that will be long after everyone has forgotten about how "exciting" and "heartwarming" the Olympic games actually are.

You can read more here.

Johnny Weir Slammed; Boy Failed 4 Gay Porn: His Only Choice on Amazon

Johnny Weir Slammed

There has been a great deal written about Johnny Weir in the past year or so and I've posted a few things here. Now columnist Louis Verrecchio has weighed in on the topic with a few interesting comments I thought were newsworthy enough to share. And, what's most interesting is that even though I don't support Weir's position and I think he should be more concerned about human rights than he is, I can't by ANY means support what Verrecchio wrote about Weir this time. It's not only homophobic, it's a misguided slam, with an agenda, that could happen to any gay person anywhere.

In a fiery column on the Renew America website, Catholic News Agency columnist Louie Verrecchio slams Weir as "a flamboyant, cross-dressing, homosexual man" who was hired by NBC simply to "provide color commentary (presumably rainbow)" during the Winter Olympics.

The article devolves from there, claiming that kids shouldn't watch the winter Olympics because of Weir and LGBTI influence, and even drops to an all time low by slamming figure skating as a sport.

As I said, I don't fully understand Weir's position, and I think we should all boycott the Olympics based on what's happening to LGBTI people in Russia, but Louis Verrecchio is way out of line and if he thinks the LGBTI community won't speak up in favor of Weir this time he's very sadly mistaken.

You can read more here.

Boy Failed 4 Gay Porn

A high school boy in Florida allegedly was in a gay porn movie to make money to help support his family. When people found out, he was bullied by other boys in the school, but instead of suspending the bullies the school failed the boy who did the porn. The boy is eighteen years old, of legal age to do a porn movie, and pornography is not illegal in Florida.

 A large group of students reportedly skipped 7th period on Friday and gathered to stomp and shout his name in the school’s quad in protest.

A classmate posted a photo of the protest action to social media, writing ‘All these people be protesting and stomping and yelling [Noel’s real name] like there be an earthquake.’

If this were a case of protest about the fact that someone so young had to make a porn film of any kind for money, gay or straight, it would be a completely different story altogether. But it's about a protest that was geared toward bullying a kid for making gay porn. Had he made straight porn I doubt he would have been bullied by the other kids. He might even have become the school star. And instead of the school failing him and keeping him from getting his diploma, maybe they should have been more proactive in finding out why this student had to go to those extremes to make money. I think the difference between eighteen and twenty-one years old is highly significant in cases like this, and I'm not a fan of eighteen year olds making porn films. Young adults having sex with each other isn't the same thing. We're talking about gay for pay and I wish someone had been around to talk to this kid instead of bullying him and failing him. I don't like to see kids bullied, or exploited.

You can read more here.

His Only Choice on Amazon

Here's an Amazon link for my newest release, His Only Choice, the third book in my Second Chance series. It's also up on Smashwords, ARe, and other places where e-books are sold.

Here's the blurb:

 In this third installment of the Second Chance series by Ryan Field, His Only Choice, Lance has to figure out a way to deal with the fact that his partner, Davis, of twenty years will be traveling extensively in Asia and leaving him alone for long stretches at a time. So Lance plunges into making important changes to the small brick and mortar bookshop he owns in New York's Hudson River Valley to keep it competitive with the rising popularity in e-books. He's also trying to deal with turning forty years old and it's not working out well. In order to fill the lonely hours when he's not working, Lance joins a gym and meets a very young personal trainer named Sergio who makes him feel so young and desirable again he starts lying about his age and telling Sergio he's only thirty-five years old.

Like other books in the Second Chance series the story bounces from present to past a few times and the choice Lance has to make to get his second chance isn't clear until the story is in full swing. But there are more than a few sexy gay surprises to keep m/m readers wondering what will happen next, which include whether Lance will ultimately choose his safe, quiet life with Davis. Or will he choose to go another round with dark, sexy Sergio with the weight lifter's body and scruffy rough beard?

Peculiar Author Predictions for 2014; Amazon Pulls Anti Gay Book?

Peculiar Author Predictions for 2014

Although they are not the grand publishing predictions of author Joe Konrath for 2014, there's something unsettling about how American scientist and sci-fi author, Isaac Asimov, nailed more than a few predictions over fifty years ago that have actually been realized today.

One of which is...

"By 2014, electroluminescent panels will be in common use."

You may not realize what electroluminescent panels are, but these thin, bright panels are used in retail displays, signs, lighting and flat panel TVs.

There's a list of several others, along with a few things he mentioned that didn't come true.

You can read more here.

My predictions:

I predict more and more LGBTI celebrities will come out this year, George Clooney will remain a bachelor, we'll see even more nude male calendars for the holiday season of 2014, the movie version of Fifty Shades of Grey will suck but will garner millions at the box office, and there will still be people writing about how e-books are only a passing trend.

Amazon Pulls Anti-Gay Book?

Actually, not. According to this article it wasn't Amazon that pulled an allegedly anti-gay book it was the publisher.

But after contacting Amazon, GSN was told it was in fact the publishers that chose to no longer stock the book on the website. 

Author and anti-gay radio host, Linda Harvey, wrote a book that suggests parents should ignore gay kids in what sounds like an attempt to pretend it's not there. It really doesn't make sense to me, but there's something about parents telling kids to realize their bright futures and not to pay attention to the fact that they might be gay. I could be wrong, but it's really not all that clear.

On coming out, Harvey says many young people think it is a ‘new civil right’ to be ‘who you are’. ‘But there’s a problem. Are we sure this is the truth?’ she says. ‘Does this identity bring the promised liberation and the key to a whole new life?

I don't get it. You're either gay or you're not. If you're a young adult male and you're attracted to women nothing is going to change that. The same thing goes if you're a young adult male and you're attracted to men. At least that's how I remember it when I was a young adult male. I know for some there are gay areas, but for most there aren't.

In any event, Harvey has made claims there is no proof there ever was a gay young adult or kid. Well, I'm living proof, Harvey, and that's all you need to know. I knew it at three years old, but I went to proms with women, pretended to like women, and didn't come out until my early twenties. All that didn't scar me for life and I actually do have fond memories of my prom night and my high school years, but I would rather have gone to the prom with a football player than one of the cheerleaders if I had had the choice back then.

You can read more of this here.  

Judith Regan CEO; Independent Booksellers Lose; App For Kids

Judith Regan CEO

I haven't seen much about Regan in the news since that debacle with the O.J. Simpson book she tried to get pubbed a few years ago, a book for which she was eventually fired. But she's back in the headlines and she's just been named CEO of a new division at Phaidon called "Regan Arts."

Regan, who has a reputation as a publisher of highly commercial work, was infamously fired in 2006 from her job overseeing an eponymous imprint at HarperCollins, Regan Books, over conflicts with Rupert Murdoch and then HarperCollins CEO Jane Friedman after Regan acquired the O.J. Simpson book, If I Did It. Regan's past hits run the gamut from lauded literary fiction by authors like Wally Lamb to books by celebrities and pop culture fixtures, such as the burlesque dancer, Dita Von Teese, and the talk show host, Howard Stern.

I've always found her drive refreshing and I think we need more like her in publishing. You can read more here.

Independent Booksellers Lose

A federal judge, Jed Rakoff, recently dismissed a case with a lawsuit filed by independent booksellers targeting Amazon and the biggest publishers. Judge Rakoff saw no supporting evidence or viable motive to continue. So he tossed it.

“The evasiveness of this allegation is remarkable,” Rakoff wrote in dismissing the booksellers’ claim. “Plaintiffs do not allege an unlawful agreement, only vague ‘oral discussions or agreements regarding the use of restrictive DRM.’ Plaintiffs do not even allege that any such discussions or agreements actually occurred, only that they may have occurred. And plaintiffs do not specify who participated in these hypothetical discussions or agreements, only that they may have involved ‘one or more’ of the Publishers and Amazon.”

You can read more here. The allegation is interesting.

App For Kids

Oxford University has a new App for kids that's supposed to help them with spelling. It's interesting because in a way it shows how even the youngest children are going digital instead of print...in spite of all the reports we often hear.

The app features a parrot named Pip who does somersaults when the player correctly places a letter. When the word is misspelled, he squawks and loses a feather. Pip serves as a kind of guide through a jungle of letters and spelling games. The app has more than 3,000 words, all of which were taken from the Oxford’s First Dictionary. The app is Oxford University Press’ first children’s dictionary app.

My prediction is this is the first of many to come, and we'll see kids reading and learning even more digitally. You can read more here.

Self-Published Authors Big Sales; Baker Scorns Gay Cakes

Self-Published Authors Big Sales

I've been saving this to post because I wanted to read it over first. It's interesting because it's the first time I've seen something like this, and I never actually thought I would (in my lifetime). Things are changing, and fast. If it's accurate, and I have no reason to believe it's not, one quarter of Amazon the top 100 kindle books are self-published.

Orna Ross, director of the Alliance of UK Independent Authors, said this:

"We are in the middle of a major change. I wouldn't be at all surprised if we reached a situation where the majority of the top books are author-published. I don't see what would stop that," Ross said.

That's a strong comment I don't think I would have made at this point. But she could be right. Who knows?

The article goes deeper into why this is, and explains a few things with examples. I would recommend reading it if you are interested in self-publishing, if you have already self-published, or if you are still a snob about self-publishing and think that your small start up e-press is going to make you look better. I'm not being snarky about that. I've seen small writers with small presses turn their noses up at self-published writers more than once and I don't think they are getting the full impact of why we're starting to self-publish. I'm going to write a longer post on this and give a few more reasons why I was forced to self-publish very soon. And I'm not saying that lightly. I would prefer to work with a publisher at all times. However, things came up that left me no alternative but to self-publish, and a good deal of that was because of my readers. Different authors work in different ways. I'm more of a reader oriented author, and my readers come first. The publisher doesn't. And I expect certain things from publishers, big or small, that I don't often see.

In any event, you can read more here.

Baker Scorns Gay Cakes

A Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a gay ceremony was ordered by a judge they have to serve the gay couples. Judge Robert N. Spencer ruled the baker will face fines if he doesn't follow the law.

 An attorney for Masterpiece Cakeshop did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Shop owner Jack Phillips had argued that making cakes for gay wedding ceremonies violates his Christian beliefs.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint against Phillips with the Colorado Civil Rights Commission last year on behalf of Charlie Craig and David Mullins. The couple was married in Massachusetts and wanted a wedding cake to celebrate in Colorado.

Tony recently had a cake made for our anniversary and to celebrate our upcoming marriage. The baker was so excited he made it his top priority. Why we live here instead of there. And if a bakery in New Hope were to pull something like this, they'd be out of business within six months.

You can read more here.

American Horror Story: Bestiality, Incest, Pedophilia...Huh?

American Horror Story: Bestiality, Incest, Pedophilia...Huh?

For the past couple of weeks I've been posting about my own experiences with censorship at retail web sites where e-books are sold like Amazon, Kobo, and Smashwords. These web sites started censoring self-published e-books thanks to an article in a questionable UK publication called The Kernel. The self-published e-books targeted allegedly contained topics like rape, incest, bestiality, pedophilia, and other topics most romance publishers will not publish. As a result, several web sites removed all self-pubbed titles to suss out the e-books with "taboo" topics. One web site even shut down. Amazon started clearing out their "taboo" topics through search engines, and e-books without the said "taboo" topics were removed for no reason, and without a viable explanation. And guess what I saw last night on American Horror Story: bestiality, incest, and pedophilia.

This article I'm linking to now discusses American Horror Story in an almost light-hearted way. If an author of erotic romance were to do this he/she would be slammed from one end of the Internet to the other.

Death, incest, bestiality, the gang's all here!

We're sure this is going to be a weekly occurence, but American Horror Story: Coven had its most insane outing yet on Oct. 23 with "The Replacements," which found Supreme witch Fiona (Jessica Lange) making her first big kill of the season in an attempt to protect her witchy throne. Plus, the recently-resurrected Kyle (Evan Peters) finally spoke and one of the girls got a little too close to the Minotaur monster for our comfort. Seriously, does anyone have brain soap?!

I did see the show last night and I just sat there watching it wondering how the fuck they can get away with all this on TV and authors like me who don't even go near "taboo" topics like that have been dealing with the worst brand of censorship since PayPal in 2012. I'm not judging American Horror Story and I'm not judging authors, publishers, or e-books that contain these "taboo" topics. However, I am questioning the actions of the large retail web sites where e-books are sold who made these recent mass sweeps of all books without taking into consideration that many of the books in question never violated one single guideline. I had a book removed from Amazon titled, "Internal Desires," and the reason why it was removed was because of words like "young" in the book description. And the characters in that book were all well over the legal age limit and it contained nothing that's considered "taboo." This week I had a book titled, "Young Doughy Joey," taken down at another web site for the same reason. It contained nothing "taboo."

So in their quest to censor the "taboo" topics all authors are now targets of retail web sites where e-books are sold, innocent words like young have become "taboo," and we've basically entered a police state where freedom of speech means nothing anymore.

And the most ironic thing of all is bestiality, incest, pedophilia, and other "taboo" topics are now being treated lightly on television and no one seems to find any fault in that at all. As I said, I'm not judging American Horror Story. They have every right to do what they want. But when I saw one scene where one character lifted her dress, crudely shoved her fingers between her legs, and invited some kind of half man half beast to have sex with her I cringed for several reasons. One, I cringed for the actress. She's not very good, and that scene seemed to diminish her even more. Two, I cringed because the producer of the show took advantage of a young woman's need for love and turned it into something disgusting with an animal. Three, because it took the character completely out of context. And four, because television shows like American Horror Story make millions of dollars and small self-published authors who don't write about bestiality, incest, and pedophilia, and who struggle to make ends meet just to pay for copy editors, can't even use words like young anymore without fearing their books will be censored by Amazon, Kobo, or Smashwords.

It will be interesting to see how this all turns out with e-books. And even more interesting to see what "taboo" topic Ryan Murphy will sensationalize and diminish next.

Photo of Mr. Murphy, here.

Mixed Reviews for "The Butler" Book on Amazon

Mixed Reviews for The Butler Book on Amazon

There are 120 reader reviews for The Butler on Amazon as of right now. There are 37 5 star reviews, 10 4 star, 21 3 star, 19 2 star, and 33 1 star reviews. The main reason why I'm curious about the reviews is that I've been thinking about buying the book because I love things like this, and reading about topics that deal with civil rights and the entire movement.

However, two family members recently bought The Butler and both said the same thing at two different times. They were disappointed because it was so short, they were disappointed with the content and wanted to read more about Eugene Allen, and they both felt as if they had paid too much money to read a digital book that felt more like the advertisement for a film.

And from what I've read in the lower ratings a lot of Amazon readers seem to agree with the two people I know.

 A complete waste of money. Nothing more than a promo news release for the movie. This is the worst excuse for a book I've ever read. Read the movie reviews, you'll get more out if it for nothing.

And this one is similar to the one above, and many others:

Very disappointing waste of money. I hoped to read the book before seeing the movie. The book was essentially how the movie was made and not the story itself.

On the other hand, there are matched 5 star reviews to the 1 star reviews. Some are long and politically charged, and I passed them over because I was more interested in reading about the book, not someone's personal political opinions. But not all of them are political. This 5 star review is excellent as far as reviews go. Frankly, I think it's better than the book's product description.

Contrary to some readers' expectations, this is not a novelization of the film. It's the author's firsthand account of finding and befriending the real-life butler and his family, paired with an illuminating essay on black representation in Hollywood. Haygood's words are chosen with economy and care. He distills emotion masterfully, never belaboring the story's significance or reducing the butler himself to a symbol. He emerges, like the book itself, as courtly but containing multitudes. A short read that lingers long in the heart.

Now, take into consideration I know nothing about the book and I depend on the book product description to know what it's about.

Description:

From Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Humanities fellow Wil Haygood comes a mesmerizing inquiry into the life of Eugene Allen, the butler who ignited a nation's imagination and inspired a major motion picture: Lee Daniels' The Butler, the highly anticipated film that stars six Oscar winners, including Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey (honorary and nominee), Jane Fonda, Cuba Gooding Jr., Vanessa Redgrave, and Robin Williams; as well as Oscar nominee Terrence Howard, Mariah Carey, John Cusack, Lenny Kravitz, James Marsden, David Oyelowo, Alex Pettyfer, Alan Rickman, and Liev Schreiber. With a foreword by the Academy Award nominated director Lee Daniels, The Butler not only explores Allen's life and service to eight American Presidents, from Truman to Reagan, but also includes an essay, in the vein of James Baldwin’s jewel The Devil Finds Work, that explores the history of black images on celluloid and in Hollywood, and fifty-seven pictures of Eugene Allen, his family, the presidents he served, and the remarkable cast of the movie.

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Now, this is where I find it interesting. That book description really sucks. They mention all the names of the film stars in the movie, which is not relevant to the book at all. Whoever the PR genius was who wrote it, should be fired.

And this is why I'm always talking about vetting books, especially the more expensive digital books released by large publishers, because you never know what you're going to get unless to check around in more than a few places first. The two people I know who read this book felt cheated, and they will be watching out the next time a book like this comes along.

As of today, The Butler is number one in three different categories on Amazon in spite of the one star warnings. And even after all this, I'm still on the fence about whether or not I'll buy the book and read it. And that's because of this review in the Washington Post.

The book also describes how African Americans are woefully underrepresented in the motion picture industry. “Filmmakers are, after all, ultimate gamblers,” Haygood writes. “Throw race into the gamble, and the predictions get a lot trickier.” He notes that while many African American-themed films feature a white savior, “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” (as it’s being called because of a copyright dispute) will break that mold.

From that description is sounds like something I'd enjoy, especially the part about how Hollywood is always screwing over all minorities. If I do read it, I'll post my review here. As for those who say the book is too expensive, it's listed for $5.50 in the Kindle version right now. I know people who spend more on one drink on a Saturday night and don't even think twice about it.

Russia Defends Gay Hate Law; Free Excerpt Doughy Joey

Russia Defends Gay Hate Law

In the latest development from Russia with regard to the anti-gay law that has sparked outcries from many parts of the world, a letter was sent from Russia stating that there would be no discrimination, according to the rules of the Olympic Charter. However, a good deal is still unclear, and Russia stands by its anti-gay law.

The letter still leaves open the question of what would happen to Olympic athletes or fans if they made statements or gestures that could be considered propaganda.

Couldn't a simple rainbow pin be considered propaganda?

The law has provoked harsh international criticism ahead of the Feb. 7-23 Winter Olympics in the Russian resort of Sochi. Some activists have called for a boycott of the games, though President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron have ruled that out.

As I've said before, if this were any other minority in the world I have a feeling we would be boycotting and most would be agreeing with the boycott. But because it's LGBT oriented and the shame and stigma associated with being LGBT is still there, we don't receive that kind of treatment or respect. Not even from our leaders who claim to support us.

You can read the piece in full, here.

Free Excerpt Doughy Joey

Most of the back listed books I've been re-releasing this summer have been fairly simple from an editorial POV. All were professionally edited at the time of the original release. But with Doughy Joey I'd never received an arc from the publisher and all I had was the original file in raw form. So I've been editing all day, and I figured I would put up an excerpt here for the weekend. It's not available yet, but will be next week as a .99 e-book. I did have to self-censor a little for blogging reasons, however, the uncensored version will be be released in full.

Joel Roman did not eat carbohydrates. On the day of his thirty-fifth birthday he announced to all his friends he was starting one of those all protein diets so he could become ripped, as he’d read in the fitness magazines. This was five years earlier and he hadn't touched a single starch or sugar since then (well, you couldn't really count the occasional piece of chocolate).

So was it any wonder one of his oldest friends in town, Gerry, was shocked to see him enter the new soft pretzel shop on a Saturday afternoon in mid-January. "Soft Philly Pretzels", said the shiny green and gold sign on the small, two lane highway, "We Bake'm Better". Though this wasn't actually in the city of Philadelphia; more like the far northern suburbs where city people took day trips to visit expensive candle shops and admire the leaves in autumn.

"I knew this would happen one day," Gerry said. His cheeks bulged, vigorously chewing a soft pretzel on his way back to the car. "You'd finally go off that protein diet and eat ten pounds of mashed potatoes and four dozen soft pretzels in one sitting." His round face still flared red from the cold wind and there were feathery wisps of salt and pepper hair sticking out beneath a navy knitted cap. His weighty body was zipped and snapped right up to the bottom of his double chin in a puffy red ski jacket with a faint white goose feather sticking out from the shoulder.

Joel smiled and slipped his hands into the side pockets of his smooth black leather (always a short jacket so other guys could check out his butt in tight jeans; it had never happened, but Joel liked to imagine a guy would one day walk up from behind and slither a firm hand down his pants). Though Gerry sounded as though he were joking around, he'd always been slightly jealous that Joel looked more like thirty than forty. "I'm here for the hot sausage," Joel said. "Someone told me they have these hot sausages wrapped in pretzel dough that are fantastic. I figured it would be simple enough to pull the wrapping off and just eat the sausage."

"Ah, well, I don't think the dough of one small sausage wrap…"

Gerry was about to say he didn't think a little soft pretzel wrapping would cause Joel to gain any weight because he was so trim and fit already, but he didn't get a chance to finish because of a loud crash toward the back of the store. This was one of those completely open bakeries, where the ovens and freezers and wooden work stations are exposed. You couldn't miss that the young guy who was working had just dropped a full tray of frozen pretzel dough onto the red tiled floor.

There was a lot of white noise; fans and ovens and freezer motors all running at the same time. "Are you okay?" Joel shouted to the guy.

"Oh, yeah," he said, "I'll be with you in a minute; I'm the owner…I can't get fired." He bent down, giving his gray sweat pants a jerk at each knee, to pick up the doughy mess as though this was a perfectly normal occurrence, but his bright red cheeks suggested chagrin. At a glance he couldn't have been more than eighteen or nineteen years old.

"I've gotta run," Gerry said. There was a small white piece of wet pretzel stuck to the bottom of his bulbous chin. "Now don't you go crazy and eat too many pretzels. Haha."

"I promise," Joel said, as awkward Gerry guffawed and loped toward the exit door. It occurred to Joel that although they both were the same age, Gerry looked more like fifty than forty (too many soft pretzels, no doubt).

But the baking pretzels did smell so good on a brisk winter day: doughy and floury and fresh. The ones already arranged on the warming counter were covered with specks of white salt; next to them rows of small plastic containers filled with melted cheddar, soft butter, and several cream cheese mixtures were dwarfed by a quart sized yellow mustard dispenser filled to the rim (in Philadelphia yellow mustard was the topping of choice). All of a sudden Joel was starved. If he could have made a quick exit out the door he would have driven down the road to the Gourmet Just Food and bought a small salad instead. But the guy behind the counter had already seen him; he had to buy something.

You could tell this guy was new at running a business. He should have just left the mess and taken care of Joel. It would have served him a good lesson if Joel had actually walked out. But when he took a closer look, while the young guy swept loose flour into a dust bin, it occurred to Joel there was something quite attractive about this young man. He wasn't tall, no more than five eight in running shoes. Though his body was thin, and you could see from the outline of the white t-shirt he wore he wasn't a body builder, he had that natural, messy type of sex appeal. His dark brown hair was longish and wavy…parted in the middle; all one length and cropped bluntly at the middle of his neck. Dark shocks kept falling in front of his face when he bent over. When he spread his legs and squatted to pick up the aluminum tray the fabric of loose gray sweat pants stretched.

He rinsed his hands and then jogged back to the counter to wait on Joel. "Sorry you had to wait. What can I get you?"

His eyes appeared hazel: small and dreary without much light. And his features were thin with that turned down look of a turtle face. But there was something about the entire package that caused Joel's heart to beat a little faster.

"Ah, I think I'll try one of those hot sausage wraps, and maybe a dozen pretzels," Joel said. Oh well, he couldn’t just order one tiny little sausage wrap like that. How would it have looked? The poor young thing didn't have tons of people knocking down the front door for hot pretzels, after all.

"Coming right up," said the pretzel guy. His voice flowed forth like the hum and buzz from an old transistor radio; deep and low, yet soft and pleasant, too. He wore no underwear. The outline of his junk kept protruding through the gray sweat pants.

While he awkwardly shoved a dozen salted pretzels into a brown paper bag his expression remained blank, as though he wasn't quite sure whether or not he liked running this new business of his. The poor guy worked fast; his arms flailing bags and pretzels and napkins, as though there were fifty people standing behind Joel, when in fact no one had entered the shop the entire time Joel had been there. There was a thick glass warming shelf next to the cash register. When he reached inside for a hot sausage wrap, Joel noticed his thick, strong fingers. They were meaty and firm just like the hot sausage he placed into a foil wrapper.