Tips for Writers – Elizabeth Barone

How age verification laws censor authors (and how to fight back)

Age verification laws have been spreading like wildfire, and now that Bluesky is requiring all U.K. users to verify their identity and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a Texas law blocking minors from viewing porn, authors need to prepare.

Here in the States where I live, we are under a christofascist administration. Evil people have been passing laws targeting immigrants and transgender people, and if you’ve read Project 2025, you know what’s coming next. I believe this administration and other fascist lawmakers are using age verification and children’s safety to push their agenda. Don’t get me wrong—as an auntie of nine, of course I want kids to be safe online! But let’s leave that up to their parents to monitor, rather than instilling sweeping legislation that strips adults of privacy and access to information, and violates authors’ freedom of speech.

Age verification violates internet users’ privacy. If you use anonymous social media accounts to protect yourself from an abuser or simply because you want to talk about romance without your co-workers discovering your guilty pleasure, age verification will make it impossible to remain so. It can also be used to target authors, especially those writing romance, erotica, or LGBTQ+ characters. Fascists love labeling anything they don’t like as porn.

These laws are already effecting authors. If you live in the U.K. and use a pen name, you’ll have to provide photo ID, scan your face, or upload a pic of your bank card to continue using Bluesky starting July 25th. That’s only two weeks away.

There are a few things you can do.

I know I’ve been beating on this drum forever, but seriously, if you’re an author, you need your own website and email list. When you own your platform, it can’t be damaged by social media algorithms changing or new laws passing. Too many of us got dicknotized by Facebook/Instagram/Meta and the like; it’s time to take back control. Make sure you have a way of contacting your readers no matter what.

It’s only a matter of time before platforms like WordPress.com and SubStack require age verification, so if you post chapters or excerpts of your spicy romance on these platforms, you could be fined millions of dollars. From the Verge article I linked above:

The UK passed the Online Safety Act in 2023, which privacy advocates have warned will “lead to a much more censored, locked-down internet for British users.” Another part of the law is coming into force on July 25th, requiring sites and apps containing porn and harmful content to provide “highly effective age assurance.” Platforms that don’t comply with the new rules will face fines of up to £18 million ($24 million) or 10 percent of their worldwide revenue, whichever is higher.

These laws, as written, are insane. Who decides which content is “harmful”? And why are lawmakers hiding behind the very same children they won’t pass gun control laws to protect? I digress, but what the actual fuck?

I’ve been posting excerpts, chapters, and whole texts from my romance books for years. Right now I have this content on my website freely available to everyone, some locked to my email subscribers, and some locked to paid members. Under these laws, authors won’t be able to post such content on our own websites or social media without some sort of “highly effective age assurance” if someone deems it “harmful.”

I’ve long been against self-censorship on social media to bypass bots flagging and people pettily reporting posts. I believe that in this political climate, with a convicted rapist in the White House, it’s obscene to soften the word rape to “grape.” Rape is real. It happens to 1 in 3 real people, probably more. It happens to children. It happened to me. It should be shocking to hear. And from an artist’s perspective, it’s fucking silly to use symbols or emoji to write words like sex or cock. Yet everyone just rolled over and complied, adopting ridiculous terms like unalived instead of killed (another word that’s supposed to be shocking).

An age verification bill just passed in Ohio, despite criticism from the ACLU that the way it’s written is vague and could be weaponized. The “blue” state I live in, Connecticut, is considering passing a similar law. We all need to be pushing back on these laws. Call and write your senators and representatives, submit comments on bills being written, attend town halls. We cannot rollover.

You can choose to not verify your identity, but unfortunately this results in a restricted account. Bluesky won’t allow unverified users to send or receive DMs, or view content that is “adult appropriate.” Considering Bluesky flags stock photos as porn because a woman is showing her *gasp* stomach, and doesn’t answer DMs or appeal requests, I don’t have much faith.

It’s only a matter of time before the other social media apps follow suit. Instagram has long been working on tools for age verification. I believe our best bet is sticking together and fighting these laws, while amending our own business plans and practices in preparation for a more restricted internet. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best, and fight like hell to protect privacy and information.

Do you think you will be affected by age verification laws? Let me know your thoughts in the comments, or send me an email! I’d love to hear what you make of all this.

Photo by Jansen Yang on Unsplash

NaNoWriMo canceled

I’m so out of the loop since I left social media (and I like it that way, far less stress from all the drama). I was quite surprised to learn today that the organization National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) has been canceled.

It seems like a lot of things contributed to a mass exodus of support from authors and board members, including allegations of: no background checks on municipal liaisons (MLs), MLs engaging in child grooming and bullying, and the organization’s advocacy for the use of A.I. to generate manuscripts.

I haven’t participated in a NaNoWriMo since, well, my everyday became NaNoWriMo. While the contest—which encourages writers to write a 50,ooo-word manuscript in 30 days—helped me jumpstart my writing routine, I haven’t advocated for that pace in quite a long time. It doesn’t work for me, and I find the “write fast, publish faster” mentality toxic for a lot of reasons. In the last few years, I’ve opted for sustainability and a holistic approach with my own writing, prioritizing my mental and physical health over my word count.

Still, it’s sad to see what NaNoWriMo has become.

I had a fantastic experience with both the organization and local chapters during the years I was active. I found the writers it attracted to be supportive and encouraging. I still see my old ML in writer-ly events around our state, and it’s always lovely to chat with her. That doesn’t mean that NaNo could never attract people with malignant intentions, though. It’s upsetting that the organization would protect child predators. Unfortunately that just seems to be the way of things (I’m lookin’ at you, Catholic church and Hollywood). Our culture talks a lot about the children, but actually does very little to protect them.

I’m still grateful for everything I’ve learned from participating in past years. I still enjoy chatting with the writers I met. Hell, I even still look back on those early novels I wrote with nostalgic fondness. What NaNo’s bitter end does for me, though, is reinforce my belief in sustainability rather than burnout, and building a holistic writing life rather than running myself into the ground.

Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash

I’m on Kobo Writing Life!

This is a “pinch me” moment, for sure.

This week, I’m a guest on the Kobo Writing Life podcast! I’ve been listening to KWL for years while building my writing career, never imagining that one day I’d be listening to myself. Craziness!

Thank you so much to Rachel, Vanessa, and both the KWL and Kobo Originals teams for this incredible opportunity. I was so nervous going in, because I knew I needed to talk about mental health in the writing community, but it can be really tricky doing so. I once approached a mod in a writers’ forum about starting a thread, and she DMed, “We so need to talk about this stuff—I’ve struggled with mental health, too, even had to take a break—but we don’t talk about that here.” Well, where else are we supposed to talk about it, if not in the same chat rooms we discuss writing while flexing our substance abuse issues? 🤦🏻‍♀️

Thankfully KWL practices what they preach. Kobo truly supports authors, and I’m so grateful for them sharing their platform with me and letting me talk about this important issue.

You can listen everywhere podcasts are available.

I’ve Been Publishing for 10 Years! Here’s What I’ve Learned

On October 11th, 2011, I published my award-winning short story, “Moon Prayer,” to the Kindle and Smashwords stores. Only a handful of people bought the ebook edition, but I was hooked. Over the next 10 years, I chased my next high over and over.

My first ever signing, sometime in spring 2012.

Writing is my addiction. It’s also the way I figure out the world, and myself. Hemingway once said, “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at the typewriter and bleed.” He was right. Writing is my release; after the gush and then stanch comes the rush of endorphins.

In the 10 years since I started this journey, if I’ve learned one thing, it’s that this career is not romantic or glamorous—it fucking hurts. To survive, you have to be strong and resilient. It helps if you’re really stubborn. It really helps if you’re a little crazy. Most days, I don’t even know why I’m still going at it. So many writer friends have disappeared, never to publish again, because the mental toll is too expensive.

It scares me, that something I love could destroy me.

But then I remember why I write: for me. I write the kinds of books I want to read. I’ve been entertaining myself with stories for as long as I can remember. Some of my favorite memories are the elaborate soap operas my sister and I played out with our action figures. (We had a whole tiny town built out of shoe boxes, doll houses, and chairs, full of all these characters with individual backgrounds and lives.) Eventually I taught myself to type on my mom’s word processor, and I started writing fiction. (I still don’t type properly today.)

I started writing for me, but other people really like my stories. It’s hard for me to find readers, because I’m not writing for the standard person. I’m writing for the people like me: the outcasts, the black sheep, the ones who paved their own road.

So, on my 10-year anniversary, I give myself the gift of a new manifesto. This list is for me, but maybe it’ll resonate with you. Take what you need and leave the rest.

Don’t give away everything.
Learn the rules of your genre, and then break them in ways that make sense.
Protect yourself, your IP, your privacy, and your mental health.
Figure out what you do best, then keep doing it.
Ads don’t work for all books, or even all authors.
Build and manage your own ARC team.
Don’t forget about local readers.
Make your newsletter your #1 marketing priority.
Set yourself up for success.
Let go of the things you can’t control.

My most recent signing, at RomantiConn 2019.

A Note on Making Money: Every author wants to know to make a living from writing. There’s no timeline or instruction manual that fits everyone. I’m still trying to figure out how to do it; I came close in 2019 when I released A Risky Prospect. There are so many factors involved, and even two authors writing the same sub-genre and tropes are going to have completely different career experiences. It can be maddening, so try not to compare yourself to others. That’s easier said than done, and I know it also sounds like a cop out. But there truly is no secret, one-size-fits-all answer. It’s something you have to figure out as a business, through time, experimenting, and commitment.

A Note on Burnout: This gig is stressful. I’ve seen a lot of authors come in hot, publishing and rising fast, and then crashing just as quickly. Make sure you’re pacing yourself. Make sure you’re refueling your soul. Make sure you’re on top of your mental health. Set your expectations and goals at a reasonable place, with actions you can actually control (like “I will write and publish this book by this date,” instead of “I will make this book a bestseller that pays my bills”).

Writing isn’t just a career; it’s who we are. The world needs us because we put into words the things that many people can’t say. We tell it like it is, and we build a better tomorrow, all with the power of our words.

I don’t know what the next 10 years hold for me, but I hope they give me 10 more things I’ve learned and dozens more books on the shelf under my name.