That One Time a Publisher Sued a Blogger

By now, you have probably heard that last week Ellora’s Cave sued Dear Author and Jane Litte for defamation.

When I first heard about the lawsuit, I thought it was a joke. My second thought was that my blogging days were over, because I was suddenly very afraid. Not only was EC suing a blog, they were also suing a blogger and using her legal name*, effectively doxxing her. Other things I briefly considered were stop posting negative reviews or stop the reviews altogether and just write general articles that didn't mention specific books. That’s not going to happen, but for a moment there it felt like the only viable option. Even if EC just wants to gag DA and frighten their authors into silence, the chilling effect, as Sunita puts it, is likely to inhibit other voices and criticism including authors, readers, and bloggers, which is why this is an issue that affects and concerns us all.

So today I post this to help spread the word, because sometimes silencing works, but sometimes, like in this case, all it does is make people speak louder. DA, Jane, and the authors and employees affected have my sympathy and support.

I hope this situation gets resolved as quickly and painlessly as possible.

People who said it before and said it better:

Smart Bitches, Trashy Books: Ellora’s Cave Sues Dear Author: Hello Streisand Effect 

Sunita: Chilling Effects 

Wendy: Little Miss Crabby Pants Is (Almost) Speechless

The Book Pushers: Our reply to Ellora’s Cave’s recent actions

Kaetrin: Echoing the Streisand Effect

Bad Menangerie: We’re Small Bloggers, but We’re Feeling the Fallout: Ellora’s Cave and the Suit Against Dear Author

The #notchilled twitter hashtag.

Here's a link with a list of non-EC books by EC authors, and authors can submit their books here.

*The fact that her name is now being mentioned in several articles is the reason why I'm not liking to them here. This isn't just about respecting her privacy, but also about her safety.