Bisky's Twitterling's Scribbles! discussion

One of the first discussions I remember participating in this group was the Swearing topic.

Now that I have published my first novel, I kind of want to revisit this, even if tangentially.

My first review states: "It's a dark urban fantasy with a strong female protagonist, and lots of (often very graphic) depictions of sex and gory violence--definitely adults only, here."

That last bit is what's got me wondering... again. I had thought about putting in some kind of warning. It's very much a dark urban fantasy with horror elements and the MC swears A LOT (this will change some over the series, but that's another kettle of fish).

There's nothing I would consider triggering and from lists I've checked so I decided against putting in a warning, plus: sample!

If anything the only think I am possibly thinking of adding is a line stating that it is a dark urban fantasy. Some of the similar books listed with it on Amazon certainly fit that realm though, so I am wondering, is it necessary?

What say you?

I can only think back to someone's book I reviewed prior to release. Nearly all negative reviews were because of one particular scene that she'd previously warned me about when she gave me the book for review. However, I found the reviews were a bit over sensitive. People's personal experiences on the matter weighed in and it drove down the ratings on what was otherwise a perfectly written novel. She wondered for ages whether to put a warning, and she didn't (as far as I'm aware)

I personally wouldn't worry about swearing, people's sensibilities seem to change by country. I'd assume that it was going to be gory from just the genre. I think it's an Indie thing. Indie publishers will be judged harsher on everything. Dark urban fantasy story only for adults? Who'd have thunk it.

I think because the audience for Indie Novels is more the age range of 35-70 people are a bit more sensitive to triggering things. In my experience. The true snowflakes :P (jks)

LOL. But we gotta protect the snowflakes!

I'm not fussed about the swearing to be honest, it's more the gore, sex, etc.

Publishers put warnings on YA books (in very fine print right above the barcode), something like "Not suitable for younger readers". But that is YA, a genre that focuses on teenagers (and up, I know). For everyone else I'd say "Fuck it.".
What the hell exactly were they expecting? If you categorized your book into horror and paranormal, they're just going to have to deal with adult content.
You do you, if you're going to try to please everyone, you'll likely end up with herpes.

Stefanie wrote: "You do you, if you're going to try to please everyone, you'll likely end up with herpes."

And nobody wants book herpes! LOL

Exactly!