Erotic Incest-Themed Fiction Deleted From Kindle Store

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Here’s one problem with a Kindle: Amazon can just make your stuff disappear. And they’ve now decided they want to yank one woman’s incest-themed erotica, among other books. Is Flowers In The Attic next? Or the Bible?

There are some key differences between this and the last Amazon controversy, involving a guide to pedophilia: This one doesn’t involve minors, is fictional, and isn’t instructional.

According to Ars Technica, self-published author Selena Kitt saw two of her books removed from the Kindle store, and told a third book violated Amazon’s content guidelines. She soon discovered she wasn’t alone — there was a whole support thread of other authors.

“I want to be clear that while the subject of incest may not appeal to some, there is no underage contact in any of my work, and I make that either explicitly clear in all my stories or I state it up front in the book’s disclaimer,” Kitt wrote in a blog post. “I don’t condone or support actual incest, just as someone who writes mysteries about serial killers wouldn’t condone killing.”

She also quotes one author pointing out, “I just re-read Genesis 19: 30-38 and realized that Lot’s daughters got him drunk, had sex with him and bore sons. I demand you follow your clear precedent and remove The Bible from Kindle.”

Amazon previously settled a lawsuit for deleting unauthorized copies of, of all things, 1984 from Kindles. It didn’t respond to Ars Technica’s response for comment. But we could all name several major works of fiction with which this blunt enforcement of an as-yet-inarticulated policy would interfere. Oh wait, someone already did — on Amazon lists. How convenient!

Amazon’s Latest Kindle Deletion: Erotic, Incest-Themed Fiction [Ars Technica] Amazon In Book Banning Business [The Self Publishing Revolution]

 
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