[Kemp]

By their nature as fiction, like in KC's story, some novels might need to explore alternate ideas of human sexuality. I think of the part in Orson Scott Card's Ender series, when they're talking about the difficulty in colonization. What some of the colonies end up with is stable monogamy based upon a lottery, as they agreed it was the best way to ensure the biggest amount of their primary resource (children) with a minimum of strife. It was never spelled out, but there was an implication that some of the women would marry/reproduce quite young.

I wonder if something like this is more of an issue for independent authors. It might be from not having the direct validation from "professional" sources (I say that with a mote of irony). In addition, controversy reigns supreme and can be more of a friend to the average well-known writer, but I don't get a sense of cuddliness from Amazon or other retail places. One half-toe out of line, and BAM, so long whoever you are. There's no publicist, agent, or editor to defend it, and Amazon sure isn't going to lose any sleep on the subject; they can simply spam legalese until the cows, and then spam legalese with the cows.

Am I wrong, or does an indie looking for more of a mainstream audience have to be twice as careful about controversy? Though I suppose it might be more about erotica than anything else. Maybe that's what was discussed in the Amazon is Evil topic.