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Amazon Claims "Glitch" to Blame for De-Ranking LGBT Authors

Over the weekend, "hundreds of gay and lesbian books" written by authors from James Baldwin to E. Lynn Harris "simultaneously lost their sales rankings" as Amazon.com arbitrarily re-classified the titles as "adult". Author Mark R. Probst made the discovery while searching for his gay youth-themed novel The Filly. After contacting Amazon, he received this response:

In consideration of our entire customer base, we exclude “adult” material from appearing in some searches and best seller lists. Since these lists are generated using sales ranks, adult materials must also be excluded from that feature.

Much of the outrage spread across the internets via Twitter and by Sunday "it took just an hour for the hashtag #amazonfail to become the top trending topic on the site", Publishers Weekly reports.

LiveJournal community MetaWriter is tracking de-ranked LGBT titles. Classics such as James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room, Annie Proulx's Brokeback Mountain and E.M. Forster's Maurice were among those losing their sales rankings, as well as numerous contemporary titles by black gay authors such as E. Lynn Harris, Frederick Smith and Nathan James.  "I am incensed, because ALL of my books have lost their Amazon rankings," James tells Rod 2.0. "The Flesh To Flesh anthology has actually been made unavailable.  The page says "we don't know when, or if, this book will be available again."

Flesh to Flesh anthology edited by Lee Hayes, as well as some other titles, are now available.  Contrary to the explanation given to Mark R. Probst, an Amazon spokesperson tells Publishers Weekly  "a glitch had occurred in its sales ranking feature that was in the process of being fixed. The spokesperson added that there was no new adult policy." Glitch or not, making books harder to find on the basis of their content is never a good idea. And at the same time many LGBT titles were randomly de-ranked and re-classified as "adult", Amazon had "vibrators and anal plugs available in their search system with sales ranks attached."

How you can contact Amazon AFTER THE JUMP.

Catching Up With ... Lee Hayes

Lee Hayes, author of the popular Passion Marks and A Deeper Blue: Passion Marks II (read our review), shares his lit picks and favorite beats with Rod 2.0. It seems that we enjoy not only the same musical artists, but, have the exact same tracks on heavy rotation:

On the Bookshelf: As far as new authors, I'm a big fan of Dayne Avery who wrote I Wrote This Song and Blair Poole, the author of Breathe. I just finished Angels & Demons by Dan Brown which is the precursor for The Da Vinci Code. Not sure what I'm reading next.

On the iPod: As far as my iPod, it's Jill Scott all the way, baby! In particular, the CD entitled Beautifully Human and the songs, #6 "Cross My Mind", "Bedda at Home" #7, #11 "Whatever," and #12 "Not Like Crazy." Hell, the whole damn CD!

Later this week, look for our review of Dayne Avery's I Wrote This Song.

Passion Marks and A Deeper Blue: Passion Marks II (PassionMarks.com)

A Deeper Blue: Passion Marks II (Rod 2.0 Review)

I Wrote This Song and Breathe (Amazon)

I Wrote This Song (Official Site)

Blair R. Poole (Official Site)

A Deeper Blue: Passion Marks II by Lee Hayes

Okay, it's time to come clean.

We’re only just discovering author Lee Hayes, whom so many have raved over these past few years. But good things come to close who wait so now we’re excited to read and review A Deeper Blue: Passion Marks II, Hayes’ sophomore effort and the dramatic follow-up to Passion Marks. The author continues exploring themes of love, passion, betrayal, and, most notably violence and abuse. But this time there is a twist—we’re served a healthy dish of revenge, which makes for much more dramatic pacing.

A Deeper Blue: Passion Marks II neatly picks up where Passion Marks ended. It has been three years since the end of Kevin Davis' violent relationship with James Lancaster, who was once the ambitious CEO of a rising Houston software firm. Kevin is handsome, educated, and caring—he was also a kept lover who endured a nightmare of abuse at the hands of his seemingly perfect man. Later, in a hail of gunfire and a burning building, James was killed while trying to take the life of Kevin and his friends.

Now, Kevin has put those turbulent years behind him and moved to Washington DC to start a new life with Daryl Harris. But their love is being tested. "Daryl is the man who I have always loved and dreamed about. I have built my life around him, and I thought we'd be together forever. Now, I'm not so sure. Why is it so hard for people who fall in love to stay in love?

Kevin was the main character in the first book. This time around, for all practical purposes, it is Daryl whom we see the most. That's because Daryl is forced to choose between two men: Kevin, his longtime lover and a new temptation, drop-dead gorgeous Temple, whom he meets at Washington’s ultra-cruisy Fireplace. “At that moment, with Temple gazing lovingly at him, his love for Kevin wasn’t enough. Temple grabbed one of the cards off the table and wrote down his name and his cell phone number. Daryl then grabbed a pen from his bag, wrote his cell on a cocktail napkin, and quickly exited The Fireplace, partly ashamed, partly excited, and fully aroused. He had made a decision to play with fire. He hoped he wouldn’t get burned.”