Brandon Varnell
patreon
2nd July 2020 Newsletter
🕑 Added 2020-07-16 16:26:22 +0000 UTCI've got some bad news.
First things first, new chapters have been updated for WIEDERGEBURT. You can find them on the WIEDERGEBURT Index.
I am not sure how many of you are readers of Japanese light novels, but something very serious is happening over on Amazon right now--something that could affect my entire career as an author and has precipitated this newsletter and some changes I have to make to Patreon to accommodate what's happening.
If you want the full story on what happened, you can read this news article published on Crunchyroll.
The basics of this article is this: Amazon has removed several Japanese light novels from their catalog without any word or warning. Amazon has made no statements about this removal and the publishers were not even notified about the books being removed. They had to learn about it from concerned fans.
This honestly has me frightened. Amazon can arbitrarily decide what can and cannot be published, and they can remove books that have been on their catalog for reasons that are as vague as "because we can." As someone who writes erotic harem fiction, there is a very real chance Amazon will remove my stuff from their catalog, which is why I currently will not be publishing any of my more erotic content on their website until I understand more about this situation.
This is not a decision I have made lightly nor is it a decision I even WANT to make, but the fact that Amazon has removed books that are less erotic than mine and not made any statements regarding why has me very concerned. Right now, the only books I know for a fact that I will be publishing are WIEDERGEBURT (because of its popularity) and Man Made God. Catgirl Doctor and Incubus will be placed on indefinite publishing hiatus until this situation is resolved.
Because of this, I am being forced to make some changes to Patreon as well. Human patrons will not have any changes to their rewards. However, if you are a Yuki-Onna or above patron, please note the following change.
Since I won't be able to publish a book a month as I have been, I will be removing the eBook reward and will instead be posting chapters of my stories on Patreon. This change will start on July 22nd. Anyone who is at the Yuki-Onna Tier or above will be able to read the chapters I post. Right now, the books I will be posting chapters for are A Most Unlikely Hero 9 and Catgirl Doctor 2, but I will also post chapters for Incubus 2 and Man Made God 002 in the near future. I don't know how many chapters I will post a week, but I promise that you will be able to read the full story here on Patreon, albeit, it will not have the illustrations and will be unedited content.
I sincerely apologize to all of my patrons. This is a terrible situation and something I feel awful about. I wish there was something I could do, but with Amazon being what it is, I can't afford to make any careless moves until I know what will happen to my own stories. I will understand if this makes some of you want to leave or edit your Patreon to a tier that suits you better.
Saying that, I will still be delivering WIEDERGBURT 4 to my patrons since that was part of the rewards promised for this month.
Comments
It really does suck. That's why I changed my rewards. I'll be posting chapters of my latest books on Patreon.
Sucks that Amazon is pulling this. Have had more then one preorder cancelled on me so I wish you the best of luck. Still trying to figure out why My Next Life As A Villianess got cancelled. There was nothing wrong in that volume. Any thoughts on maybe making the new books Patron Exclusive until things sort themselves out? Would that even be a possibility?
Thank you. I hope I don't get my account banned too.
I do think Amazon has way too much power. Sadly, there isn't much we can do right now. I'll try my best to make sure people can enjoy my stories even if I hold off on publishing them for the time being.
I plan to use a Kickstarter for some things like maybe my T-shirts, but because it's something that takes away from my writing time, I would like to use it sparingly. I really just want to write and let other people enjoy my stories.
Steven Alexander
Kickstarter could be used both as a gauge of interest and as an alternete method of advertising your name and your work.
Greg Harbican
Not just ME2, but every book MSE has put on Kickstarter and Indigogo has hit its base pledge amount just within a couple of days, and usually second tier, by the end of the campaign.
Thanks for the update. Amazon just has too much power and abuse their authors by not treating them like human beings, when they are actually valuable customers. I am happy to know the chapters will be available on Patreon, as it would be a crying shame if you chose to wait until you could publish again.
Looting Pillager
Yeah the weird Crap going on with U.S. tech companies seriously sucks. I upgraded to a higher tier to support you. I really hope they do not go Michael scott earle on you.
Aaron harris
Gotcha. Got live to love computers right
KDP doesn't review the content for the paperbacks. It only reviews the kindle version. J-Novel Club thinks the reason their books have been de-listed is because Amazon has switched over to a fully automated review system for KDP. I also think the manga were listed under "erotica" now, which they weren't before. Honestly, Amazon's review system is like a black box. Not even Amazon seems to know what is going on.
Aaron harris
Yeah, except that doesnt explain why like for how to not summon a demon lord it is only the light novels taken down, but not the manga. Unless they r on a different server
I didn't think it was. Sadly, MSE has a much bigger following than I do. He can afford to publish outside of Amazon. I am looking into other publishing options, but honestly, I might be fucked if Amazon decides to remove my stories.
Thank you. :-)
J-Novel Club thinks Amazon has switched over to full AI content reviews and it's just doing a really shitty job. But no one knows for sure, not even Amazon itself.
No one knows, but the theory is that it's an AI system that is simply scanning books for art of naked women. Thank you for continuing to support me. I hope this issue will be resolved soon.
Aaron harris
I am just curious is if it is not the automated system, why do they do this now after all this time. A lot of these series have been around for years and they would have had plenty of time to make a dispute about them not following there guidelines. Also i am with you all the way man. Do what u need to do. As long as i am able to read ur stories, i am happy.
Steven Alexander
Are prudes in charge at the Kindle Content Review team? Here is another question. Is a prude just a type of bigot? The definition of bigot is: a person who is intolerant towards those holding different opinions.
I am with you all the way. Do whatever you need to protect yourself. I will continue to support you and your work and read your books.
Steven Alexander
My mention of Michael-Scott Earle was not intended as an advertisement of his work but as an example of a way to make money outside of Amazon.
I am very sorry to hear this, but on a brighter note I have always wanted to be able to read ahead in some of your other amazing novels and now I get to! WIEDERGEBURT's weekly chapters really make me look forward to Tuesdays and Thursdays so I am super excited we will be getting others!
Steven Alexander
After Michael-Scott Earle's work got de-listed at Amazon he put up his own web site where he sells both eBooks and audio books. He also made money with a very successful Kickstarter funding for his Monster Empire Book 2.
