Quote:
Originally Posted by Crusader
That's the thing. Where do you draw the line.
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Yes, I agree that's the problem. While there is something to be said about a good search tool that includes exclusion of "adult" content, simply banning it is not the solution. We won't be able to debate the writing in
50 Shades of Grey if we can't buy a copy.
Barnes & Noble bought Fictionwise, and promised the transition would preserve the content. Today, thousands of books have been purged from B&N, they even have a web page that lists them. (
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/conta....asp?pid=45600 ) While many of these books may be adult, the first screen-full shows a couple of books about Pakistan. These are probably not bodice-rippers, though I suspect they were culled for too-graphic descriptions of sexual abuse.
The real danger in what the brick and mortar booksellers are doing in the ebook market is eliminating books that they can't get on paper. They are self-censoring themselves to "real books from real publishers". So much for ebooks lowering the bar to new authors, at least new authors that want to get paid. Fictionwise provided a unique platform to buy self-published work from a single site and pay the authors. Now every author has to also run a bookstore, and hope Google leads readers to their site. Now ebooks are moving back to walled gardens with DRM fences that keep out anybody with a non-sanctioned voice.
This is not progress.