So if you’re a little behind, here’s my initial article on the whole Amazon Rank issue as of last night. I also did include some updates to the issue in today’s news post.
But now, I’ve found a response from Amazon at the Associated Press:
On Monday, Amazon spokesman Andrew Herdener called the deletions an “embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloging error for a company that prides itself on offering complete selection.” He said that 57,310 books had been affected.
“This problem impacted books not just in the United States but globally. It affected not just sales rank but also had the effect of removing the books from Amazon’s main product search,” Herdener said. “Many books have now been fixed and we’re in the process of fixing the remainder as quickly as possible, and we intend to implement new measures to make this kind of accident less likely to occur in the future.”
Now granted, they still haven’t apologized and there are some who say they don’t have to, but it seems the giant is working on getting everything fixed. But I have to ask, why shouldn’t Amazon apologize for this “embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloging error”? Many people may say that Amazon has the right to sell whatever they want, but they are the largest online book retailer and there are a ton of authors out there clamoring for every bit of royalty they can get. Writing isn’t a luxurious career. Authors don’t strike it rich with their first novel. It takes years and years with dozens of great novels to really make it pay off. At the same time, readers know what they want to read. I happen to like a little erotica in my books and to find out that Amazon doesn’t think it’s worth selling is kind of insulting and does make me want to take my business elsewhere. This whole issue may seem idiotic to some, but it was still offensive to a mass majority of people and a lot of the public won’t be happy with “it’s a glitch” for long.
But I’m still wondering if this was really an accident as they’re claiming. I mean, author Craig Seymour noticed this happening to his book, All I Could Bare: My Life in the Strip Clubs of Gay Washington, D.C., way back in February. Granted, he received his ranking later, but why did it occur in the first place? Did Amazon think they could slowly get away with something like this and that’s where the glitch came from? Instead of happening slower (and thus possibly staying under the radar), the glitch was that it made it happen 10x faster? I still find it odd that, why a lot of genres were covered, pretty much all of the GLBTQ novels were affected and none of the anti-GLBTQ novels were.
A whole different take on this is that a hacker was behind “the glitch”. According to both PC World and Wired Magazine, there is a hacker out there claiming responsibility for the whole #amazonfail. I guess it could be possible, but with over 57,000 books affected in a wide array of genres, I don’t think it’s the cause behind this event.
The Seattle PI Blog has had a conversation with a former Amazonian regarding this fiasco and some of the comments made on the article are amazing. The guy the SPI is talking to hasn’t worked for Amazon for awhile, so I’m not going to take what he says his sources inside Amazon are saying too seriously. However, some of the comments are kind of derogatory too. One person actually said:
Oh, get off your high horse. Amazon offended no one. Only folks with an over inflated ego of self importance made an issue out of this……
I’m sorry, but people have a right to be offended when someone tries to censor what they can buy. No one has given Amazon the right to do that and it is kind of offensive that they thought that we couldn’t think for ourselves. Plus, an author has the right to complain about a sales ranking that was there and has now been taken off for no real reason. They’re not on a high horse, they are trying to sell their novels so they can make a living. They want to know what has changed in relation to their novel and when they’re not given a satisfactory response, then why can’t they get mad? I mean, how is that having an over inflated ego?
There are still a ton of articles popping up all over regarding this clusterfuck, but I’ve come across a few that seem to be a little different or at least more interesting to read. It’s not everything, so if there’s an article out there I should see, let me know, but here’s what I have for today:
- Science Blogs
- The original Seattle PI article
- An update from Lilith Saintcrow
- The LA Times talking about how fast news can spread online
I think the hacker claim was just about instantly debunked.
To tell you the truth, I do rather believe that the internal code could be as hacky and band-aided as the ex-Amazonian claims. The company I work for dates from the same era and I recognize a LOT of the woes being discussed– and our company is far smaller. With Amazon’s growth, I could definitely see how Bad Software Things have happened over time.
I emailed a friend of mine today who works there who said the the problem had been designated a Severity 1 priority and basically every programmer in the place has been working on it.
I really hope they find a way to communicate the root cause of the problem, the priority they’ve placed on fixing it, AND an apology. Lilith Saintcrow makes a really solid case against them– and I can’t rule out the possibility that she’s right– but I just can’t figure out WHY Amazon would bother. I cannot figure out how this could possibly have a positive bottom-line impact.
I could see that a combination of code problems, wingnut users who tag “Heather Has Two Mommies” as offensive/sexual/OMG-the-children!, and poor judgement about *using* those tags internally could lead to this kind of skewed weirdness.
Oh, I’m not saying it couldn’t have been a problem with someone editing their code, but with reports about this happening for the last 3 months, you would think someone would have already caught it. Especially since the authors who have been affected over the past couple of weeks have contacted Amazon about it.
Personally, I think they were trying to pull something like this, but the glitch was that rate at which they did it was jacked up instead of going at a slow pace.
Hey Jackie ~
Thanks for all the time and hard work you’ve done to keep us up to date on this bizarre Amazon ranking issue.
I was shocked Sunday night to read about this. Gay/Lesbian titles aren’t my cup of tea in fiction or non-fiction, but I was deeply offended that a huge retailer like amazon would manipulate or tweak books and rankings according to a certain social or political agenda.
What made me even MORE angry was learning that some of my favorite authors were affected (Larissa Ione). So far I’ve just read two of her first three Demonica series books, and don’t recall any gay or lesbian content — other than a slight inference between two characters. From reading your blog here, it sounds like amazon’s issue with Ione has to do with her pen name Sydney Croft (Ione plus author Stephanie Tyler) and the ARCO paranormal series, which I’ve yet to read.
Being a fan of erotica, including author Maya Banks whose books were targeted, I got REALLY steamed and decided to opt out of amazon emails “You May Like These Books”, [Current Month] Recommended Reading, and so forth.
Amazon gets 95% of my book buying $$, or should I say, GOT. We don’t have a new bookstore in my small town, and the nearest B&N is 15 miles away. Our local K-Mart and drug stores rarely stock the kind of books I want to buy.
Despite amazon’s attempts to “explain” or defuse this controversy, I’m still going to email them and say, I’m taking my book buying $$ elsewhere. After scanning several articles and blogs, I don’t know quite what to believe, but I don’t believe this was a mistake.
I really hate to do this, as I am *very* fond of amazon. It’s the first place I go to get the details on books old or new, to browse, play with my wish list, etc.
Sure, they probably have every right to sell only what they want to sell, being a private company. But their limiting my choices because of THEIR social/religious/political beliefs is enough to leave me with a bad feeling about amazon.
And what about authors like Jeanine Frost? Her second pnr book contained a very explicit gay sex scene. (I was quite shocked to see that in a mass market PNR book … it’s not my thing … but that’s where the reader can simply decide to quit reading that author, right?) My point being, will authors like the very popular Ms. Frost be targeted as well?
p.s. re: Jeanine Frost
While a certain author may write something that isn’t “my cup of tea” or is outside my comfort level, I feel strongly that any author should BE ABLE TO write and offer what they want to the book buying public, and I strongly oppose attempts to manipulate or restrict that content by ANYONE.
Off I go to email amazon. I saw Jeff Bezos’ email addy posted somewhere.
I’m a huge fan of Jeaniene Frost, but I don’t remember any gay sex scene in any of her novels. Which one are you talking about?
I certainly believe amazon has a right to sell whatever they want, but I’m a consumer and an author whose books were affected and the ones that kept their rank are two with explicit scenes between men.
I don’t believe a hacker did it – hello, so this hacker answered phones and emails too? Before this all went public and to hundreds of people? Sorry, don’t believe it. I also think for a “glitch” it was very specific.
In any case, my ranks are back but I’m not really thrilled with the response by Amazon. I’d appreciate an apology, but we won’t get it.
In the end, if they sell it, they shouldn’t make anyone ashamed of writing it or buying it. If they want to protect under 13ers from seeing a cover or something and we’ve just given up on parents to do their job, why not make an under 13 amazon site with just kids books listed? Minors can’t have credit cards anyway, it’s their parents doing the purchasing – all it takes is a tiny bit of effort on a parent’s part.
Correction to my previous post re: author Jeanine Frost
Jackie and other readers at yahoo’s PNR group have pointed out that there is NO explicit sex scene between two men in J. Frost’s second book, One Foot in the Grave.
I don’t have the book to refer to, but Jackie Morgan reread it, and found nothing. So, *blush* apologies, my memory is incorrect.
Ladiibbug