To our friends, readers, and supporters:

Recently, we released The Artifact, and decided to test the waters with a few ads through Google’s AdWords system. We hoped to reach a few new groups, now that we have an actual finished book to offer.

What we discovered was… well, perhaps it’s best if you just read it for yourself.



We’ll save the outraged ranting and raving for the end; plus, there is nothing with as much impact as actual facts. This is a long post, but we urge you to read it through because it is important for you as a reader and (probable) Google user.

Introducing Google’s Gay-Free World.

The issue: Google accepted ads without the word “gay” for a detective novel with LGBT characters. When the same ad campaign was submitted including the word “gay,” the exact same ads were rejected. The grounds for rejection were: [Family status] Unacceptable Image/Video Content: Currently, we do not allow image or video ads containing adult content. As noted in our advertising terms and conditions, we reserve the right to exercise editorial discretion when it comes to the advertising we accept on our site.

But in actual fact, neither the ads nor the landing page contains any adult content. We present to you our rectangle ad as an example:

Without the word gay – APPROVED



With the word gay – DISAPPROVED (family status):

You can see the rest of the ads here.

Conclusion:

Google considers anything to do with the word “gay” to be inherently adult (as in sex), and therefore, non-family-appropriate. They have said it, themselves.

Taking this to its logical conclusions, the world according to Google has no:

gay children

gay parents

gay sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, and grandparents

gay teachers

gay babysitters

gay police officers, firefighters, doctors, and “people in your neighborhood.”

Do we need to point out how problematic this is? Are we alone in feeling incredibly insulted?

For one, their reasons for rejection are just not true. Though they rejected the ads on grounds of containing adult image or video content, you can see that there is no adult image or video content in the ads or the landing page, which goes to our shop.

Our ads contained the following “adult content”:

Three men’s heads.

If men’s heads are considered non-family-friendly, well, so many ads should be taken off their network that Google would be out significant amounts of money.

Google is allowing its own discomfort with non-straight, non-mainstream sexuality to whimsically — and incorrectly, based on their own reasoning — ban ads. This lack of visibility for advertisers results in restricted choices for Google consumers, even people who are explicitly searching for gay-related content.

What if we were a gay youth ministry? A gay health clinic? A gay children’s support group?

Would we be allowed to use the word “gay” in our ads? It would severely restrict the impact of our outreach.

And we ARE doing outreach.

Two years ago, we made a conscious decision to not just a business, but a leader in entertainment for adults. Not only does this mean providing the best quality of entertainment that we can, but it means going to bat for our readers.

Helping them get to what they want, and standing up for their right to make their own decisions as adults about what they want to see and read.

While running this could conceivably get us banned from Google and other advertising networks, we cannot let this slide. We are lucky in that we have the membership, which allows us to not cave under the “moral” discomfort of publishers and distributors.

We have the money to advertise, unlike many indie authors, and we realize that we are not just advertising for us, but we are doing a small part to push the entire LGBT entertainment forward, if only just an inch.

Just to be clear, our novels and manga do contain some sex, but usually not any more than the average Harlequin novel — or even a lot of teen paranormal romance, both of which people of any age can purchase in a bookstore. In fact, Raythe Reign stories usually have MORE story and LESS sex than the average Harlequin! But the intimate scenes just happen to often be between two characters of the same gender, though not always. We also do not advertise to anyone below the age of 25 whenever it’s possible to filter by age, as it is in Google. This is because people under 25 don’t have a lot of money! Why sell to people who squirm at spending $4 – $5 for a book? We also choose our search terms to reflect our material accurately, such as “gay detective novel,” “LGBT novel,” “gay superhero story,” etc. Anything else does not make monetary sense. Though many people read both straight and LGBT fiction, we don’t have so much money for ads that we can just throw it away on the chance that a Sherrilyn Kenyon reader will be interested in our stuff. We can only afford to advertise to buyers over 25 who are searching specifically for what we actually sell.

Why our readers should care.

Of course, this is annoying for us, but the issue actually extends far beyond Raythe Reign.

We’ve found the trick to getting around Google’s censors — which ironically makes more people click who might be offended at gay content — without any real penalty to us. To be honest, Google advertising is “experimental;” it’s just too expensive to advertise a $5 product through Google AdWords. We only use it to judge interest for a week or two.

You can see that we are small potatoes compared to many Google advertisers. But we are a bigger fish in the world of authors who write alternative-sexuality and LGBT fiction.

That means that writers of LGBT books are still in the gay content ghetto, and unless these barriers of unfair discrimination are lifted, they’re not likely to get out.

Because when a business can’t advertise, they can’t sell, even when there is proven demand. No matter how large and active the slash fandoms for Harry Potter and Supernatural are, if interested readers can’t find us, they can’t buy from us. When authors know that they can’t sell their books, they stop making them. (Practically, this is about money, but it’s also about so much more than that. We talk about that here, especially in the last two paragraphs.)

They turn to something else that is a compromise, but their true voice is stifled. What you get instead are derivative (and traditionally-gendered) novels… and artists who become dispiritedly ground down, resigned to being thankful that they can get their work out there to the audience at all.

There’s no plainer way to say it: Google is an active force in suppressing LGBT artists’ voices.

We’re only at the beginning of entertainment that contains non-traditional gender roles. People who do this are still mostly in part-time or hobby/business status. Granted, that’s true of many writers, but if we aren’t even allowed to advertise, we will never get out of “cottage industry” status and into the mainstream to serve our members.

Even if writers never want to go fully pro, even if they write on a part-time basis, they deserve the same treatment that their heteronormative-fiction-producing siblings have.

Why even people who aren’t into LGBT entertainment should care.

But this issue still affects you whether or not you care about LGBT entertainment. Google is a global information power, controlling the lion’s share of online advertising and information display.

And they are acting as the global “content police” — coloring your online experience to reflect their outlook. Influencing what you see, not just based on your preferences, but theirs.

More questions raised…

Just for a philosophical exercise, let’s go back to our earlier question about if ads with “gay” in them would get approved for gay services.

We actually suspect that they would be allowed to run, even if they contain the word “gay.” Our own material is much more “dangerous” because it depicts gay people in a naturally positive, non-controversial light.

LGBT people have written to us to express their appreciation for how our novels don’t contain any of the typical gay angst plotlines. No AIDS, no coming out stories, no gay bashing, no automatically-tragic gay figures (not that there is ANYTHING wrong with any of these stories). Just good old-fashioned storytelling with guns, fighting, ghosts, magic, and Hollywood-style romantic subplots between same-gender characters. That’s exactly what makes people uncomfortable. Our books promote the message that gay people are, well, just like straight people in that they deserve romance and a chance to kick ass and save the day. That is far more threatening than any factual material, because most of that factual material still operates on the premise that gay people need “help.” Anything outside of this is rather rare, even by today’s standards (see “Bury Your Gays” TV Trope here: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BuryYourGays.)

Culture spreads ideas, and culture is entertainment.

Our stories are threatening because ideas are effectively spread through culture. Google, the self-proclaimed organizer of the world’s information, knows this. You can have a lot more emotional impact with entertainment than all the lectures in the world. This is why fiction books are banned, and video games are constantly being demonized.

Raythe Reign books are meant to entertain people, but they are also naturally more than that. Not because we aim to produce morality tales, but because all entertainment helps people make sense of their world. It is part of culture, which both reflects and shapes the perception of what’s going on around them.

Any fiction reader has probably had the experience that only books “really understand” them. If a gay teen, looking for a fiction book that will help him understand his feelings and world, searches for “YA gay novel,” his choices are automatically limited.

On Google’s AdWords system, authors of new YA gay novels cannot accurately advertise their product just because they contain gay characters. Even if the works contain no sex at all.

Google is restricting the development of culture.



Google is restricting what entertainment can sell; therefore, Google is restricting the very development of culture. Even if you have no stake in LGBT-related ideas, who knows when your own interests will come under the disapproving eye of Google’s ad-approval staff?

Nowhere is safe.

We’re not conspiracy theorists, so saying all this is painfully dramatic. At RR, we are inherently practical people, which is why we’re actually making money!

The first time this happened, we figured out to take the word “gay” out of or ads to get Google’s approval, and we went on with our business.

But we just can’t leave it at that. Not when the results of our experiment are so clear. LGBT entertainment is so young that it benefits all of us if more of the pack members survive. It’s pretty clear that we are not receiving equal opportunities with other (heteronormative-entertainment-producing) authors.

There aren’t that many alternatives — none, if you count the major players. Amazon, B&N, Facebook, and Apple also pull the same kinds of shenanigans, as we have reported in the past. Mainstream ad networks don’t allow us because of the gay issue (we’ve tried.) Because of our relatively low explicit content, we think we’d just disappoint those looking for true adult material!

With no “corporate sponsors,” so to speak, this is still very much a grass-roots cultural movement.

What you can do.

As a business, we would love for you to spread the word about our stories and graphic novels, but what’s more important is what you can do for yourself.

As readers and buyers, you can stand up for what you want to read. Google isn’t the only name in the game — we can still talk to each other, and help each other connect with what we want to read and see.

Choose Your Weapon: Share this on Facebook and Twitter

Blog about us, even if it’s just a few sentences on your LJ / IJ / DW

Share this with people who may be interested in running this on their blogs.

Interview us (we’re available)

Send this to news outlets that may be interested

Review us and other LGBT books on Goodreads / Amazon — the more reviews everyone has, the more visible it becomes

Put LGBT books on your Amazon and Goodreads lists, and title your lists something descriptive, such as “Gay Paranomal Books I Liked.” These appear in organic Google searches, which they (at this point) do not regulate.

Tell your favorite authors about this. If they write LGBT fiction or anything that might come under fire, they need to know about the invisible forces that could be keeping them back.

Tell us your ideas about how to reach more people with this information.

Affiliate Program

This also spurred us to form our affiliate program at long last. Now, RR-enthusiasts will be able to be affiliates for us. We hope to get this rolling well before Christmas, and we have started a list for people who are interested in becoming a Raythe Reign affiliate. You can add yourself with this form:

We’ll keep you updated; we’re sure there’s more to come.

– Raythe Reign Team.