4.09.2008
Updates on Past Stories
Darla Wynne's Political Aspirations: Wiccan priestess Darla Kaye Wynne was not successful in her run for a seat on the Great Falls Town Council. Wynne, who famously sued the town over sectarian prayers back in 2001, garnered only 32 votes.
"A dozen candidates ran for office in this year's town election, including a former mayor, a school resource officer and the Wiccan priestess who sued the town in 2001, claiming Great Falls violated church and state separation by using the name Jesus Christ in prayers."
Wynne was in a three-way race for a vacated seat. Todd Smith won the seat with over 130 votes, while fellow contender Donna Bryan came in second with 61 votes. Meanwhile, speaking of Pagans running for political office, Sacramento, CA mayoral candidate Muriel Strand has a blog up espousing her views on various issues.
The Theological Necessity of Goats: The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty has filed an appeal on behalf of Jose Merced, a practitioner of Santeria who sued the city of Euless, Texas over the issue of animal sacrifice.
"Why is it okay to butcher a deer in Euless, but not a goat?" said Lori Windham, legal counsel at the Becket Fund, a Washington-based civil rights law firm that defends all religious faiths against government interference. "The issue of Santeria and animal sacrifice has already been decided by the United States Supreme Court. I'm pretty sure the Constitution of the United States still applies in Euless, Texas."
The appeal will be heard by the federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. Depending on the outcome there, it is very likely this could go to the Supreme Court. For more on this development, see the Houston Chronicle's article on the appeal.
Vancouver Sex Cult: I originally blogged about this story way back in 2006. It involves a Pagan man who was denied a chauffeur's permit by the Vancouver police due to unfounded accusations that he would use his position to "recruit" people into an imaginary S&M "sex cult". Since then, the Vancouver Police Department has been trying to block the case going to a B.C. Human Rights Tribunal, a course of action that has been stuck down by the courts.
"A B.C. Human Rights Tribunal can investigate sexual practices involving "bondage, discipline and submission, sadism and masochism" to determine whether the Vancouver Police Department discriminated against a self-described pagan, the B.C. Court of Appeal says. For the past two years, the department has wasted our tax money trying to prevent the human rights watchdog from investigating a complaint from Peter Hayes, a Vancouver man refused a chauffeur's permit. The province's highest court said it would be wrong to interfere with the tribunal's process at this point and that the objections of the police force were premature."
A preliminary ruling by the Human Rights Tribunal two years ago stated the case had merit and should go forward. The VPD had argued that BDSM-activities weren't an "orientation", and therefore not protected by Canada's human rights laws, a waters-muddying exercise the courts didn't accept as valid. Hearings will now resume unless a settlement is reached.
Will Amazon Hurt Small Pagan Publishers: In a final note, news about Amazon's move to monopolize the Print-On-Demand market (and why that is bad news for small Pagan publishers) has continued to spread. For further Pagan commentary relating to this issue, check out Lupa's journal (particularly this post), and The Spiritual Eclectic's Amazon-related posts.
"We have always lived by our convictions and if not submitting to the monopoly that Amazon.com is trying to create-not just over bookstores and publishers but over the entire publishing industry-means we never sell another book on Amazon.com, then so be it. We sell primarily through our websites as it is, and we will find other alternatives to Amazon.com."
For an extensive overview of this matter, check out the WritersWeekly Amazon BookSurge Information Clearinghouse, anything you could need to know about Amazon's coercive tactics to seize control of publishing's "Long Tail".
Labels: Amazon.com, animal sacrifice, books, California, Canada, Darla Wynne, human rights, Muriel Strand, Paganism, politics, Print on Demand, Sacramento, Santeria, South Carolina, Texas
3.28.2008
Will Amazon Hurt Small Pagan Publishers?
In the past few days news has emerged that Internet book-selling giant Amazon.com has been pressuring small publishing houses who use print-on-demand services like Lightning Source (owned by Ingram), Lulu, and PublishAmerica to switch to Amazon's own in-house POD service or have their "buy" button removed.
"Reports have been trickling in from the POD underground that Amazon/BookSurge representatives have been approaching some Lightning Source customers, first by email introduction and then by phone (nobody at BookSurge seems to want to put anything in writing). When Lightning Source customers speak with the BookSurge representative, the reports say, they are basically told they can either have BookSurge start printing their books or the "buy" button on their Amazon.com book pages will be "turned off." The book information would remain on Amazon, and people could still order the book from resellers (companies that list new and used books in Amazon's Marketplace section), but customers would not be able to buy the book from Amazon directly, nor qualify for the coveted "free shipping" that Amazon offers."
This policy was confirmed by Amazon spokeswoman Tammy Hovey, who called the move "a strategic decision", and that it wasn't "an ultimatum" for smaller publishers to switch to Amazon's POD service. While it may not be an "ultimatum", it does put smaller publishers who use POD services between a rock and a hard place according to Lupa, an author and employee of Immanion Press.
"So why not just switch over to [Amazon's] Booksurge, you may ask? Two reasons ... They're more expensive - they want a significantly larger cut of the profits than many others ... Their distribution isn't as good ... So why not just have accounts at both Lightning Source and Booksurge? Because the cost to upload books would double ... So why not just use offset and other traditional forms of printing? Because you need thousands of dollars up front, even for a small run, plus warehousing space--and you have to hope that they all sell or else you're out a good deal of money. Given that the big box stores are already biased against small presses, big losses are a major possibility ..."
Lupa's concerns are echoed by Virtualbookworm, a Lightning Source customer who was recently on the receiving end of an Amazon "strategic" strong-arm call.
"I'm going to refrain from editorializing on this move, since any talk of a monopoly could be dangerous (wink, wink). Instead, I just want you to think of what this could do to your title(s) and, eventually, your pocketbook. When you let everyone know your book was available, many of them probably went to Amazon to purchase it. If this new move (I won't say threat) goes through, the only way readers will be able to purchase POD titles that haven't also been set up through Booksurge/Amazon is through a reseller. The availability of your title will be choked, readers won't be able to take advantage of free shipping (when the requirements are met) and the retail price will skyrocket (and just do a web search on the complaints about Booksurge's quality)."
If this policy continues, it could conceivably hurt a number of smaller Pagan presses (Immanion/Megalithica, Asphodel, Waning Moon, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, etc) who utilize professional POD services to publish niche books that larger companies aren't interested in due to a lack of mass-market appeal. For some of these publishers, revenues from Amazon is what keeps them solvent, since many book distributors don't reliably carry POD titles. This trend could mean a big reduction in publishing diversity within modern Paganism, and may even result in some small publishing houses closing down.
For now, the POD publishing community seems to be waiting for the inevitable showdown between POD-heavyweights like Lightning Source and the Internet giant over the legality of this move. In the meantime, Lupa has some excellent suggestions for those who wish to support small Pagan publishers and voice their opinion of this development.
"In the meantime, you may want to consider alternate avenues to Amazon.com, such as Powell's City of Books, Magus Books, Mystic Intentions and, of course, B&N, if you must order online. Additionally, some small pagan/occult shops, such as Edge of the Circle in Seattle, have excellent selections of books, including small press fare. And, if you feel up for it, contact Amazon (third box down on the right hand column) and let them know how you feel about this."
Expect this news to break big as more and more publishers receive their "non-ultimatums" from Amazon reps, and POD companies consider legal action. If Amazon gets away with this recent move, the ecology of the smaller Pagan publishers could be irrevocably changed, and not for the better.
Labels: Amazon.com, books, Lupa, Paganism, Print on Demand, publishers
