SFWA And Chuck Wendig Attack Disabled Readers

It’s unbelievable how dishonest and destructive SFWA is as an organization toward both readers and authors alike. Over the years, we’ve detailed on the blog their lack of standards for entry to the organization, their abject lies about minority authors, their troubles with pedophilia — and now they’re taking another step in their point and shriek mob tactics: targeting disabled readers.

There’s a website called the Internet Archive, which is a non-profit organization specializing in creating a free library — universal access to all knowledge — a noble endeavor to give the people the chance to be educated through reading. It’s got a treasure trove of knowledge, almost every ancient text under the sun, plus a ton of public domain works from the early 1900s which would be considered “problematic” for publishers to get out there today. The archive works with various libraries for ebook lending programs and the like also, really the library of the future today.

SFWA, an organization which is anti-literature and anti-free thought, of course has a history of rabble rousing about this site. Instead of actually helping authors, they work to remove sources where people actually read where they don’t control the content — thought police in action.

They attacked the Internet Archive in 2018, but started again yesterday claiming the Internet Archive was “pirating” Chuck Wendig’s work.

Wendig — who has attacked your favorite Hispanic author unprovoked on social media — went ballistic on social media, documented here:

Chuck Wendig: Capitalism is bad unless its "muh books."

He has 12 total downloads on the Internet Archive Library. pic.twitter.com/moT68yMNIA

— Dataracer (@Dataracer117) March 30, 2020

Their President Mary Robinette Kowal also joined in the fray attacking the archive, spending her time as president chasing windmills like this rather than actually doing anything to help authors in these times.

What’s ridiculous about this whole situation, and puts even more egg on SFWA’s face for this, is the internet archive is NOT pirating Wendig’s work. The Library of Congress uses the site in a library capacity — and they have a program for disabled people to be able to get access to literature. There is an encrypted code someone needs to have access through the Library of Congress to obtain Wendig’s work through this site.

So Wendig is attacking libraries as “piracy.”

12 disabled people downloaded his book through the program. Wendig and SFWA do not want disabled people to be able to legally have access to fiction, apparently.

It’s also important to note that SFWA place politics with who they “defend” in such instances. Award-winning and highly regarded author Richard Fox had a legitimate piracy complaint in 2019, where the hate website, File 770, launched an attack on Fox and tried to distribute his work for free from their website. SFWA was largely silent on the matter. Kowal did not make twitter posts about it. Fox is a member in good standing of SFWA. So why wouldn’t they protect him from a legitimate piracy case?

It’s all outrage mob of the week — SFWA hates authors who are productive, hates disabled people, hates minorities. Their track record is clear. This organization is a complete disaster and has absolutely no purpose other than to harass and troll.

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