EDIT: THEY ACCEPTED MY APPEAL. But, I'm not out of hot water just yet. I have to decide the future of my book shop, what the listings are gonna be like, what payments I can accept, etc. Whenever you take away even 1 option for payment, sales get hurt. I've seen it happen a thousand times. Once you're on the shit list for a company like this, you're ALWAYS on the shit list.
Hey all! As you probably know: adult creatives like myself have increasingly become the target of censorship and de-banking. Every artist like myself knows that these policies are just a reaper going from door to door and we never know which one the next will be.
Well, today, it's me. I put up transmasc pride merch that had artistic nudity in my shop -- a mistake, I know -- and either someone narc'd on me (because I had one of the designs up for a while without issue) or something in the system changed that made what I had unacceptable.
This forced me to remove over 20 listings from my shop in order to appeal and hopefully keep my account. I'm trying to keep said account open because it makes specifically Patreon pay-outs easier (and more affordable) for me to do. If I can keep the account, I'll be disconnecting it from my shop -- which won't protect my shop forever, but may delay things enough for policies in the US to change. Who knows. It will absolutely negatively affect my sales on the site though, this I know for sure.
I have no idea yet whether my appeal will go through or not or what this means for my book listings in the future. So hey, either I actually start finding publishers and comic shops who give a fuck about my work or my print books may become "convention exclusive" -- which would fuck me over so bad. Just hoping to make it through this storm without too much damage.
I'm trying not to panic but it's very difficult when I've got anxiety and a bunch of deadlines. I was trying to avoid doing commissions for the time being because I wanna make Anthrocon and SDCC really special but hey. If this happens, it happens. That's life. I'll keep fighting though who knows if I'll be able to get to the other side.
So, I wanted to thank all of you for supporting me. This is not a call for you to up your pledge or anything like that -- as you are all the lifeblood of what I do already and you do PLENTY for me, I'm so fucking grateful -- but to keep you informed on what's happening with me and what's happening in the world of adult work right now.
It sucks. It sucks knowing there's something always looming over my head, trying to destroy me. And it isn't lost on me that trans artists have absolutely been the first targets of these policies.