It’s disconcerting sometimes to realize how many people read this blog.  There’s a strange kind of power online … the power to spread information, to get help for those who need it, to challenge unacceptable behavior, and so on.

When I stir something up online, I feel obligated to follow up.  I raked Library of the Living Dead over the coals at the start of the week based on their editor’s announcement. When their story changed, I felt like I should share that new information with the same people who saw the initial post.

It just seems like the right thing to do.  It’s only fair to get the corrected info out there, and this blog reaches a lot more people than the LLD forums.  Except that things kept changing…

This is my final update, and if things change again, I don’t care.  I’m done with these guys.  So for clarity, here’s everything I know.

1.  LLD canceled their LGBT zombie anthology.  The editor posted an announcement saying, “It is with deep regret that I must inform you that the publisher has pulled the plug on this anthology. It seems that homophobia had reared its ugly head..NOT from the publisher, but with some authors that are contributers to the publisher.”  (This announcement has now been deleted, but is cached here.)

2. I and a few others posted about this.  In my case, I was quite pissed off at the idea of letting bigots kill a cool project, and didn’t hold that back.  Dr. Pus, who owns the publisher, posted his explanation.  “I was the one who gave the go ahead for the Anthology. But with all the things that are going on in my life right now I didn’t think it all the way through. I became afraid I would upset people by publishing the book. That’s the reason in a nutshell.”  Full post here.

3. People were still unhappy.  Dr. Pus returned to offer a third explanation here. “The reason I pulled the LBGT Anthology was NOT from complaints from the straight community, it was from complaints from the LBGT community. They were upset that an Anthology written by straight authors could cast a bad light on the gay community … Some of the complaints from my LBGT authors were ‘gays will be displayed in a bad light’, ‘This is a gimmick’, ‘No good can come from straight people writing about gays.’”

4. This morning, I found another announcement on my LJ from Dr. Pus. “I plan on green lighting the GLBT Anthology. My Editor, who you’ve drag through the mud, will be in charge of it. We will accept both gay and staight authors for the Anthology. I trust my Editor. He will present the best of the submissions. No homophobic or slanerous stories will be in the Anthology.  If you plan on boycotting the Anthology, be my guest. I am doing this for my support of the gay community. It’s a shame that you have an axe to grind againt the ‘Library of Horror Press’. You are only hurting the authors, not me as the publisher.”  Full post here. 

So it looks like we’ve come full circle.  Lovely.

FWIW, I never called for any boycott.  I still think an LGBT zombie anthology sounds like an awesome idea, if handled well.  If you want to contribute a story or buy the book, great!  If not, I can understand that too.  Me, I’m done.

Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.