I unpublished Blow Up the Roses from Smashwords because that site uses Paypal to make their payments and Paypal has told them that if Smashwords has any works for "...which rape, bestiality and incest are the major theme..." that Smashwords will be banned.
I do not consider that rape, bestiality or incest is a major theme in Blow Up the Roses, but it does have a really bad character who is a pedophile serial killer so I thought it best to unpublish from Smashwords. If you want to check out the latest on this issue the Smashwords site update url is here: https://www.smashwords.com/about/beta
Since I've unpublished from Smashwords, I've enrolled it in Kindle Select, which mean Kindle Prime subscribers can borrow for free. It also lets me offer it for free to anyone and I'll be doing that for three days starting March 2.
I like to warn people away from Blow Up the Roses because it does have a serial pedophile killer as one of the characters and I do write realistically. The goal of fiction is to create reality with words. And there is some horrible reality going on in this book.
But the story, and I hope the writing, is compelling. Here's what one reviewer wrote:
After reading the first two paragraphs of this book I wanted to stop because I knew it would be disturbing. I continued reading because I've looked at my neighbors' homes and thought about the possibility that they're hiding terrible secrets in their basements and attics and no one will ever know. Apparently, Randy Attwood has also. Thought about it, I mean. I hope.
The plot in "Blow Up the Roses" is clear and easy to follow, the setting painted a vivid picture in my mind - as I read, I could see the characters. The subject is cringe-worthy but the author's skill in telling a story is worth the read.
The plot in "Blow Up the Roses" is clear and easy to follow, the setting painted a vivid picture in my mind - as I read, I could see the characters. The subject is cringe-worthy but the author's skill in telling a story is worth the read.
This whole PayPal situation is getting out of hand. I hope that with all the talk floating around the internet something can be done.
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http://bridgetsrantsnramblings.blogspot.com/
Thank you Lori M. for a fantastic review of Blow Up the Roses on Goodreads. The most gratifying thing for an author is to learn one's writing has touched another person unknown to that writer!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12499646-blow-up-the-roses
It's unfortunate that you've had to unpub from Smashwords, since you get paid more of your money that way than Amazon. But hopefully the KDP will help your sales a bit!
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