As many as 57,000 titles were affected by the error and the list included books like James Baldwin's "Giovanni's Room" and Jeanette Winterson’s "Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit. The sudden, unannounced change frustrated numerous book writers and Amazon users as well. The move was described as homophobic by many. 

 

Amazon spokesman Drew Herdener said in a statement that the change was an “embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloging glitch.” He mentioned that the issue was not limited to books with lesbian- and gay-related themes. Mr. Herdener added that among the 57,310 books that were affected by the change, there were also many books in categories such as health, mind and body, reproductive and sexual medicine, and erotica. 

 

It all began on Sunday when Amazon users noticed that the changes and used Twitter, the micro blogging site that seems to explode in terms of popularity, to report the affected titles. From there to boycott petitions and accusations of censorship it was just a small step and it was done. Even the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) in New York became involved and its president contacted Amazon for explanations. 

 

Many market watchers suspected that the giant online retailer made the change on purpose to test the reaction of the customers. It seems that they can not afford to make this king of changes as being homophobic these days is almost equal to being a witch or a Jew during the “holly inquisition.” 

 

The Amazon.com sales rank is very important because it shows how good a book sells compared to other; turning it off means that the books will no longer show up when potential customers search for them. When found, the titles would no feature the sales rank, the most important number in the equations for authors because it shows the success of the book. 

 

It seems that the change did not affect the titles on amazon.co.uk, although some authors complained about being affected, according to BBC News’ Rory Cellan-Jones. Book author Mark Probst reportedly contacted the online retailer to find out why his book was affected. The reply he received sounded like this: ‘In consideration of our entire customer base, we exclude 'adult' material from appearing in some searches and best seller lists. Since these lists are generated using sales ranks, adult materials must also be excluded from that feature.’