Sci-Fi And Fantasy BookFunnel Promo Bans Author Over Associating With "Known Racist/Homophobe" In The Based Book Sale
Being associated with conservatives or libertarians gets you blacklisted in science fiction and fantasy circles, as author M.S. Olney found out when an author was kicked out of a BookFunnel promotion for associating with him and the Based Book Sale.
BookFunnel is an app that allows easy sharing of downloadable files from authors. They facilitate delivery to all kinds of e-readers and are used by a lot of authors as a result. Many use the system to send out advanced review copies and utilize promotions that are organized within the app with other authors to generate email lists.
M.S. Olney saw an author being targeted for associating with him, and posted a screenshot of such. He posted about the matter on his Substack. The author is currently anonymous who claims he was kicked from the promotion.
EJ Fisch, whose novel, Dakiti: Ziva Payvan Book 1, was alsokicked out of a promotion because of such guilt-by-association political targeting by activists. She reached out to Fandom Pulse who said she was removed because she stood with author Devon Eriksen in regards to his recent cancelation.
The promotion titled “Fantasy and Sci Fi series starters at free or 99 cents promo” was being run on BookFunnel, and he got this notice from them:
Dakiti: Ziva Payvan Book 1 has been removed from the Fantasy and Sci Fi series starters at free or 99 cents promotion on BookFunnel by the promoter. If you have other books in this promo, those books may still be included. Check Your Promotions to make sure.
Reason for removal:
As a queer, POC, and female author, I refuse to do free labour for nazi apologists who can’t distinguish between free speech and hate speech.
According to Fisch said that he was told by the organizer he was kicked out of the promotion “because I’m in the Based Book Sale alongside a known racist/homophobe. When I asked who that person is, the organizer said, ‘M.S. Olney.’”
Olney’s currently promoting his Heir to the Sundered Crown in several different book promotions, a three-book series that is likened to Raymond E. Feist.
The Based Book Sale features hundreds of books by different creators and doesn’t litmus test, but organizer Hans Schantz simply lists anyone who wishes to be included, making it one of the more fun events quarterly that authors can participate in.
Author Hans Schantz of The Wise of Heart emailed BookFunnel to see if the company had any policy on such matters, and a representative replied:
BookFunnel admins do host promos, but none of them are political in nature. All BookFunnel authors are allowed to organize promotions. We do not oversee what books are accepted or rejected in promos organized by BookFunnel users.
Organizers are allowed to set their own criteria for entry, accept or reject books as they see fit, and otherwise moderate at will. You are welcome to host your own promo or join any others that are a better fit, as well as avoid submitting to promos from organizers whose views may not be inclusive of your platform. If you ever experience a situation in which a promo organizer is abusive, please let me know. :)
Let me know what questions you might have!
It's encouraging that BookFunnel itself remains apolitical and doesn’t discriminate against authors, but the environment within science fiction and fantasy still is problematic because of the extreme left trying to force their agendas to harm other authors in the industry.
What do you think of EJ Fisch being banned from a BookFunnel promotion over association with M.S. Olney and the Based Book Sale? Leave a comment nad let us know.
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That woman on BookFunnel probably isn’t smart enough to realize that lunatics like her are the reason that projects like the Based Book Sale exist in the first place. Conservatives need to get serious about supporting a parallel economy and Hans G. Schantz is doing important work in this regard. As Brian Niemeier says, “Don’t give money to people who hate you.”
I like when creatives announce that they're retarded. Saves me time wading through the slop. Now I know everyone participating in that promo isn't worth looking at, because the person running it was kind enough to announce that it's only for tards. Good info!