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The pulling of a couple of books doesn't in itself bother me. If the books themselves are mainly erotica I can even admit that I don't feel a tremendous sense of loss (my apology to those authors). Of course, at least one of the books mentioned in the original post does not seem to be erotica from its description - I still think that Amazon made a bit of a judgement error in this case.
But I think it's a bit simplistic to claim that because Amazon is a business that sell what it likes, issues like this don't/can't have more profound effects on literature.
It's correct that Amazon is only one company and such decisions may be advantageous to competitors. However, that can depend on the place Amazon holds in that market.
You don't really have to examine many facts and figures to at least get the impression that Amazon is a huge presence in the business of selling books in the U.S. in particular. Just being a member of this forum shows that at least for eBooks the name is almost 'omni-present'.
If you are an author - at least of electronic books, the decision to bypass Amazon for integrity reasons (eg story depicts graphic scenes of gay rape) is a costly one I would imagine.
I just wonder if actions like this can result in authors self-editing in an attempt to be 'acceptable' to Amazon's content guidelines. In this case, I'm not as worried about the impact on the author, but more on the impact on literature in a wider context.
Yesterday, the red button was adult incest in an erotica setting. Today it's gay rape in a non-erotica setting. What is it going to be tomorrow?
If we're lucky, it means that alternatives to Amazon flourish and authors feel they have a wide range of choices available to them that are viable and potentially profitable. However, in a slightly less desirable outcome you could start seeing stories white-washed and diluted before consumption.
That may well satisfy a large body of readers who prefer sanitised content - but is it what we all want? And should we be slightly more concerned - even if just academically, in the possibilities?
Regards
Caleb
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