This is important if you’re involved in romance in any way, and especially for writers.
There’s a bill in the Oklahoma senate, Bill 593, that wants to “restore moral sanity” and prohibit the circulation of obscene material. But this bill has extended the definition of “obscene” to make it so that the definition can encompass anything that a person believes to be obscene. So this is where romance novels come in, because if someone believes that a romance novel contains obscene material, they can bring a suit against the person who wrote it, published it, and/or distributed it (i.e. booksellers and librarians).
So, if this law passed, and someone has a hate-on for romance (or for a particular romance author), they could bring a suit against anyone involved in the production and distribution of said book. This law would carry steep penalties, including prison time (up to 10 years) for possessing and/or distributing obscene material, and fines (up to $10,000)—and that’s PER VIOLATION, so per book.
Obviously, this is a free speech nightmare, and a huge threat to romance—and particularly romance books with LGBTQIA+ representation and any sort of diversity, because you KNOW they’ll target those ones first—if it passed. And it would create an atmosphere of fear around books that explore sexuality, queerness, and diversity, leading to fewer people writing them, fewer publishers picking those books up, and fewer booksellers and libraries providing any that get through for fear of the personal and financial hit if a suit was brought against them.
If you’re not in Oklahoma, why should you care about this law? Because if it passes, it emboldens other states to try similar bans, and further limits free speech while further threatening the state of romance.
So what can you do?
Americans, I know you are probably so sick of hearing this by now, but call your reps—particularly if you’re in Oklahoma, but also if there are book bans being threatened anywhere in your state.
See what your local libraries and booksellers are doing to fight against book bans. They are the front lines for this. Volunteer and get involved if that’s something you’re able to do.
There are lots of organizations that you can join to take up the fight against book bans and censorship. Authors Against Book Bans is a great starting point.
Make sure your community knows about the Oklahoma bill and the threat to romance so they have the information to get involved. Use your newsletter and your platform to spread the word.
I do get that you might not want to bring in politics to your audience and that you might be afraid of losing people who will unsubscribe because of it. But your politics are imbued, explicitly or implicitly, in your writing, in what you consider a happy ending, in what makes a hero or a villain, in the kind of world you’re building in your books, so it’s already there and they probably unconsciously already know where you stand. To me, marketing is about attracting and repelling—you attract the people who get you, and you repel the people who aren’t going to love you. If you happen to repel some people, that’s okay—they aren’t your people.
And I know I might lose some of you with this newsletter today (and that’s fine—come on back whenever you want). I had to really consider if I should be talking about this because I’m not directly threatened by this as a non-American. But a threat to free speech anywhere is a threat to free speech everywhere. If it’s eroding in the States, which so many countries look to as a bastion of free speech, it can erode elsewhere.
Also, quite selfishly, I like having a job, and about 85% of my clients are American, so I would love for them to continue to produce amazing, impactful romance. More importantly, I’m a reader of romance, and I like having a never-ending TBR of amazing, impactful romance.
I don’t want to live in a world without romance. Do you?
This was originally published in my newsletter. If you want more on what’s new and important in romance writing, marketing, and the romance industry at large, join me and get my Romance Resource Roundup, a collection of the BEST romance books/websites/podcasts you should be consuming as a romance writer.