# Worried my Books will get Burned.



## Scales (Aug 15, 2013)

Please move this if in the wrong section.

The Zipangu Trilogy has a fictional version of a controversial war event, also figures and it could cause burning. Is there anything an author can do to stop it happening?

Plot of the Zipangu Trilogy:
A dingo called Claw gets taken to a fantasy version of Japan by a dragon called Safaia to stop occupation. There are seven knights protecting the realm, but there are four remaining.


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## Steerpike (Aug 15, 2013)

If someone wants to burn a copy of your book, there's really no way to stop it. As long as they bought the copy, let them burn it. If enough of them do it, the publicity might be good.


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## BWFoster78 (Aug 15, 2013)

If you've managed to gain enough of an audience that some of them are burning your books, I say, "Great job!"


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## Devor (Aug 15, 2013)

I'm a little confused - you mean if they're literally going to burn the books? Then the thing to do would be to put out some kind of statement-of-intent so that people wondering "what's all this about?" would have the author's take and a link to the sales page.

Or do you mean, like, burned in the reviews because people are seeing the controversy and not the content?  I suppose the best someone could do is a disclaimer of some kind that reviewers would see before they review.


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## Caged Maiden (Aug 15, 2013)

yeah, I was confused, too.  If the subject matter is so controversial that you believe your book will be outright hated, I'd be more concerned with the time I spent with something an agent is probably going to reject within minutes of reading.  

I guess you have to be prepared to offend if you're writing something extremely controversial.  In my books I deal with morality a lot.  I expect some readers will see my version of morality as distasteful, while others will feel emotionally connected to the difficult situations my characters find themselves in.  SO will some people hate it?  Probably.  Hopefully not most.  

If you really fear people will be outraged enough to destroy your book either by burning or reviewing or speaking out about it, I'd say carefully consider whether publishing it is the best choice.  I recently mentioned how difficult a tarnished reputation is to polish, and I think this far exceeds the worries of maybe turning in something sloppy.


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## Scales (Aug 15, 2013)

Steerpike: [If someone wants to burn a copy of your book, there's really no way to stop it. As long as they bought the copy, let them burn it. If enough of them do it, the publicity might be good.]
Great publicity. never thought of that.

Edit: Great messages, everyone.


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## Philip Overby (Aug 15, 2013)

By controversial war event do you mean WWII? There have been plenty of novels that deal with approaching WWII in different ways. So I wouldn't worry about that if that's the case.

Also, if someone burns your books, or bans them, that's some of the best publicity you can get.


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## wordwalker (Aug 15, 2013)

_"If there's one thing I've learned from video games, it's that when you start meeting enemies it means you're going in the right direction."_ --Unnamed guy on Tumblr.


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## Mindfire (Aug 15, 2013)

It might help if you told us what exactly is controversial about your book.


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## wino (Aug 16, 2013)

So what's the controversy?


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## Amanita (Aug 16, 2013)

So far, I don't get the controversial part either. So far, most modern time book burnings have been done when some major religion felt offended by the book's content and the book was popular enough. It's probably not avoidable if a book containing something like magic in the real world, uses the term "witch" in a positive context or contains overt criticism of any religion becomes highly popular. 
I don't think war-related stories carry the same potential for trouble. With the German part of WWII, almost any approach has been taken already. The only thing that would cause trouble would be anything trying to glorify the nazi-side, this wouldn't be burned but outright banned though, at least in Germany. Well, as long as the names and situations aren't changed well enough so no one will recognise it for what it is. 
This seems to be true for yours, I have no idea what it's supposed to refer to.


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## Scales (Aug 16, 2013)

A fantasy version of the atomic bombings, Operation Downfall and the people behind it.


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## Jess A (Aug 16, 2013)

I knew a woman who bought Harry Potter just to burn it.

You're going to offend somebody, no matter what you do.


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## Mindfire (Aug 16, 2013)

Scales said:


> A fantasy version of the atomic bombings, Operation Downfall and the people behind it.



That's... not very controversial. You'll be fine.


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## SeverinR (Aug 16, 2013)

Mindfire said:


> That's... not very controversial. You'll be fine.



I believe you can offend or make people irate about any topic. All it takes is taking a non-traditional approach to a well established position.
Such as- Hitler was a really nice guy, and the Americans were the extreme war criminals.

Use of religion in a book can cause extreme reaction, even if it isn't the main theme.


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## Mindfire (Aug 16, 2013)

SeverinR said:


> I believe you can offend or make people irate about any topic. All it takes is taking a non-traditional approach to a well established position.
> Such as- Hitler was a really nice guy, and the Americans were the extreme war criminals.



That's not so much "non-traditional" as it is twisted and insane. Consequently, I wouldn't be so much offended as I would be gobsmacked by the absolute insanity. To be truly offended to the point of ire, one has to give the offensive thing at least a shred of credence. Otherwise it could simply be ignored or ridiculed. I cannot bring myself to give your example any credence whatsoever.


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## Steerpike (Aug 16, 2013)

Mindfire said:


> That's not so much "non-traditional" as it is twisted and insane. Consequently, I wouldn't be so much offended as I would be gobsmacked by the absolute insanity. To be truly offended to the point of ire, one has to give the offensive thing at least a shred of credence. Otherwise it could simply be ignored or ridiculed. I cannot bring myself to give your example any credence whatsoever.



All it takes is a little imagination to come up with fiction scenarios.


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## T.Allen.Smith (Aug 16, 2013)

Worrying about the controversy your book might cause before its published, or even written, is a "cart before the horse" scenario. 

You can't waste any thought about who might be offended about what. Write the story you want to tell. If you censor yourself, in the interest of avoiding offense, your tale will read bland and lifeless, devoid of power. If you give these notions much thought, you're only stifling creativity.

What you want to do is write with unabashed honesty. It took me awhile to reach a point where I no longer cared about what people (family and friends mainly) would think about the stories I wrote. 

Would they think I had the same thoughts and cravings of that depraved character? Would they disapprove of the genre or content? You'll have to grow beyond those concerns if you're going to write with unrestricted honesty, and that's an essential trait every artist needs to develop.


"Maybe the hardest thing in writing is simply to tell the truth about things as we see them." - John Steinbeck


"What people are ashamed of usually makes a good story" - F. Scott Fitzgerald


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## Scales (Aug 16, 2013)

The characters speak out against the attacks and the invasion, but those are not going to get the books burned.

Thanks for the messages, everyone. This thread might be finished.

Edit: Great post, T.Allen.Smith.


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## Chad Lynch (Aug 16, 2013)

The answer seems obvious.  Just like those that would like to stop the burning of flags, invent a material that explodes when exposed to flame, then print your book on it, or make your flag out of it.  Eventually the natural process of negative feedback will end the unwanted practice.


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## Shockley (Aug 16, 2013)

I don't think taking a nuanced view towards the atomic bombings will get you in too much trouble. Even at the time it happened there were people with diverse opinions - Truman saw it as tragic but necessary; Eisenhower was absolutely disgusted and publicly so; Curtis LeMay, in essence, wanted to baptize the whole Axis with nuclear fire.

 So yeah, just handle it well and you'll only be reflecting the real world.


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## psychotick (Aug 17, 2013)

Hi,

And if they could burn them while the cameras are rolling it would be even better!

I mean they say there's no such thing as bad publicity and maybe they're rght. I haven't read it, but seriously would anybody know who Salman Rushdie was if The Satanic Verses hadn't caused such an outcry? Not that I recommend doing anything that controversial.

Cheers, Greg.


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## wino (Aug 17, 2013)

Mindfire said:


> That's not so much "non-traditional" as it is twisted and insane. Consequently, I wouldn't be so much offended as I would be gobsmacked by the absolute insanity. To be truly offended to the point of ire, one has to give the offensive thing at least a shred of credence. Otherwise it could simply be ignored or ridiculed. I cannot bring myself to give your example any credence whatsoever.



History is written by the winners.  

I'm sure making Hitler more "human" would upset a lot of people, but that's why it would be fun.


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## Scales (Aug 17, 2013)

Wino

There is a humanized Hideki Tojo in the books.


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## Shockley (Aug 17, 2013)

Yeah, well, Tojo was a human. I mean, I just watched a documentary yesterday that had Kenneth Branagh reading all the sad, lonely parts of Joseph Goebbels journal - didn't make me want to burn said documentary.


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## Scales (Aug 17, 2013)

Hideki's fantasy counterpart wants to control his pack - he is a wolf the story and his name is changed to Hideyoshi. He later teaches the protagonist, Claw his signature attack.


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## Scales (Sep 4, 2013)

Now I wonder how my editor and publisher will think about the character.


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## Sam James (Sep 5, 2013)

When I read the first page I thought you were going to do the Raping of Nanking. So I was relieved to see otherwise.

I'm not sure who would be offended by the re-telling of the atomic bomb drops. The Japanese have already played off the events in a speculative setting. For example the Animation movie Akira opens with a nuclear explosion in the center of Tokyo (although it's later found to not be from a bomb).

Fun fact. When I was 7 or so years old I "invented" a new Sonic character who happened to be a Dingo called Claw.


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## Scales (Sep 5, 2013)

That was Woorak's beta name.

The Nanking Incident is in the story - written in a few weeks ago, but is controlled by the main characters.


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## Sam James (Sep 6, 2013)

Well, that's a much more controversial incident, although occurring before WWII, that still divides China-Japan relations.


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## Scales (Sep 6, 2013)

So, that will get banned? It is portrayed negatively.


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## Sam James (Sep 6, 2013)

Only if you're planning to get published in China 

I say you are worrying over nothing, just get the book written, see if an agent or publisher is willing to take it on, and then in the final editing process worry if things need to be taken out.


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## Scales (Sep 7, 2013)

The publicity will be good.


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## Scales (Sep 19, 2013)

I am fine if I do not get to change Hideyoshi's character design.


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