I’m trying very hard to rest my wrists and I’m failing because I want to interact with the world and the only way I do that is through typing.  Damnit.

Apparently on March 1, 2012 the following (heavily edited to omit all personalizing details) letter was sent to Amazon Corporation, On-Demand Publishing LLC, Book Surge LLC, and On-Demand Publishing LLC.

DEMAND TO CEASE AND DESIST PUBLICATION OF:
NO SECRETS, NO SHAME, NO SILENCE    by: Kristine Gibbs


Dear Sir or Madam:

This notice is to call your attention that your organization is publishing and distributiing (sic) a book authored by Kristine Gibbs entitled “NO SECRETS NO SHAME NO SILENCE”.  The book puts forth information about myself which are misstatements, untruths, and SLANDERIOUS (sic).  This information can adversely affect my professional repretation (sic) as well as the professional repretation (sic) of other family members.  The information contained in the book has NOT been authorized by any member of my family and has not been vertified (sic) for accuracy.

DEMAND IS HEREBY MADE that your organization Cease and Desist from the publication and distributuion (sic) of said book forthwith.  Failure on your organizations’ part to comply with this demand immediately can subject your organization to general damages as well as punitive damages.

Dated: March 1, 2012   Signed: ________________________________

In response Amazon sent the following letter:

Re: NO SECRETS, NO SHAME, NO SILENCE by Kristine Gibbs

Dear Mr. ____________:

I am Senior Corporate Counsel for Kindle content matters at Amazon.com, and I am responding to your March 1, 2012 letter to Amazon Corporation, On-Demand Publishing LLC, and Book Surge LLC regarding the book No Secret (sic), No Shame, No Silence, by Kristine Gibbs.

As a bookseller, Amazon.com cannot be charged with reviewing, investigating, and determining the truth or falsity of the innumerable statements made in the millions of titles in our on-line catalog.  The title you identify, which is just one of many thousands of titles independently published and offered for sale directly by a user of the KDP and CreateSpace services, illustrates that reality with particular force.  In addition, we believe strongly that providing open access to written speech, no matter how controversial, is one of the most important things we do.  It’s a service that the United States Constitution protects, and one that follows a long tradition of booksellers serving as guardians of free expression in our society.

We do not take lightly the serious concerns you have expressed regarding this title.  Your remedy, however, lies in pursuing those concerns directly with the authors.  Please find the author’s contact information so that you can contact her directly:

Kristine Gibbs (my gmail address)

You can be certain that, if the author elects to withdraw this title or a court determines based upon review of a full factual record that the book infringes your rights, we will promptly honor any corresponding direction not to distribute the item.

Please feel free to let me know directly of any such determination.

Sincerely,
Matthew Kline

To this I say: Amazon, you have made me very very happy.  Very happy.  So happy I think I’m going to cry.  Every single line of that book was written with my absolute best ability to tell the truth.  The book is not very dramatic and there isn’t a lot of “characterization” because I didn’t want to exaggerate and say something that wasn’t true.  I wrote the truth.  I will stand by it.  And now I feel like I had a fire lit under my ass.  I’m going to call a print publisher today and get a quote.

It’s time to start approaching bookstores.  The book is kind of hard to find in the kindle store.  I need to start talking more.

I wish he had called me on the first day instead of sending that letter.  If he had laid a huge guilt trip on me I could have edited the book when only thirty-something people had downloaded it.  Now eight hundred people have downloaded it.  The cat is out of the bag.