Then things got weirder...
Yesterday, news exploded over the interwebs that indie writers were getting e-mails from B&N saying their accounts were being terminated because they *gasp* had erotica books for sale.
Except....here's the really weird part. Several of the indie writers in question, like Bobbie Holmes, haven't had erotica books for sale at Barnes & Noble for years.
Others like Ava Clair were in the process of releasing a new book when the hammer came down.
Yesterday, I had my head buried in edits while fighting the sinus headache from hell, so I didn't hear about the shit flying until very late last night. My first research instinct this morning was to check if B&N had changed their terms of service.
Lo and behold, here's what I found:
WTF! No Terms and Conditions? So, is B&N crashing? Have they lost their freaking minds? Or are they trying to clean up their slutty act for a new suitor?
Hell, I'm not sure I have a dog in this race anymore. Last year, I pulled down everything under both pseudonyms when my payments from B&N were late two months in a row with no explanation. Therefore, I haven't earned a dime through their online retail site since July of 2016.
This year, I've started re-publishing e-books for the print books B&N has decided to carry online. So far, none of them have been Alter Ego's books. Still haven't earned a dime, much less a tuppence.
Nor have I received the infamous, vague e-mail yet.
So I'm going to sit back with my iced raspberry white mocha and see what happens next in the train wreck that is Barnes & Noble.
And work on my super-sexy sword and sorcery novel. You know, the one that fades to black, LOL
Oh, good grief. [headdesk] What a pack of idiots.
ReplyDeleteBad enough they're going after (anyone who has ever published sexy books at any time?) but doing it without Terms and Conditions backing up their actions? Wow.
I would hope that anyone looking to buy a bookstore that sells online would understand that you make serious money on sexy books, and that banning them is stupid. Except we have plenty of evidence that a lot of folks in the bookselling business are, indeed, just that stupid. So.
At least you're out of it. Glad this isn't going to affect you financially. [sigh]
Angie
Yeah, this fiasco got to be a running joke between me and a couple of friends today about when I'd get an e-mail. I'm almost disappointed I didn't get one of B&N's letters.
DeleteThe T&C is back up tonight. The odd thing is it's not much different than it was before. There's been a bunch of speculation of what prompted the BS, but I've heard nothing I would consider concrete. B&N is also backpedaling on the issue, and has reinstated a bunch of accounts. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out through the rest of the week.