Oh dear, another morning spent reviewing United States obscenity laws, wondering whether my magazine is going to be rejected by all the internet self-publishing companies! It’s not that the companies are prudes; they just don’t want to end up with a lawsuit. So they have all these guidelines on their sites about what they won’t publish. And I’m not sure exactly where Burn Book stands. (Or, good heavens, an Action Athena collection, should I ever decide to go there…)

The way they determine obscenity in court is with the Miller test. Do you think I pass?

Last fall I took a Hampshire law class called “Freedom of Expression.”  It was all about the first amendment.  We spent weeks discussing obscenity law.  That shit is crazy.  I think in some ways I’m more confused now than before I took the class.

No worries, things will work out eventually. Erika Moen’s DAR collection got rejected for being too obscene at one point (as mentioned in this lovely Lucy Knisley comic), but she got published in the end. Hopefully so shall I.

PS Look at this dorky video of me talking about how much I love the Northfield Public Library.  It’s from last summer, on Crazy Daze.  The library was celebrating its 100th birthday.  I volunteered my amazing techie skills to help them film a bunch of little kids talking. I had just bought that dress for five dollars.  I have not worn it once since.