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All information current as of 00:51:48 Pacific Time, Thursday, 28 April 2005. My Year in Smut: The Internet Escapades Inside Danni's Hard Drive    by Taylor Marsh   Paperback:     Authorhouse     December, 2000    US$15.54       Usually ships in 24 hours Click the button below to . . .      (which will add the book to your Amazon U.S.A. "Shopping Cart") . . . or use your browser's Back button to return to the search-list page.

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Editorial description(s):

Humphrey Pennyworth, AVN.com (Adult Video News), 12.28.00
Cronyism, Duplicity At Danni's Hard Drive? Marsh, a sharp sociopolitical writer, says Ashe insists on soft-core image but never says no to hard-core profits.


Ardice Faoro, Producer of KLSX's "Sexually Speaking"
Thought provoking, candid and funny. My Year in Smut is a lively and insightful romp through the outrageous and lucrative world of sex and the Internet.


Adriana Manov, Prod/Host of KPFK's "Feminist Magazine"
My Year in Smut is an alchemy of the sleazy with the feminist and the results are pure political gold! This is an emancipation proclamation!


Judy Jablonski, Publisher, LA Weekly
Taylor knows her subject. People will learn that even in adult material there are lines you should never cross.


Book Description
Sex. That's the main event, whether you're reading this book or just living life. It's the one subject that fascinates us all. This drama is about the people and the absurd situations that pervade porn, specifically seen through the year Taylor Marsh spent as editor in chief, then managing editor of a neophyte entrepreneurial Internet company, Danni's Hard Drive, which is run by the "Most Downloaded Woman in Internet History" (according to the Guinness Book of World Records).

The story that will unfold is partly about Danni Ashe, a woman who started off as a stripper, but who eventually landed on the World Wide Web, leaving her very first job behind to take on her second job, president and head porn Diva of her own multi-million dollar Internet and video smut company. On the other side of the story sits a strong, authority bucking activist writer who, while accomplishing a lot for her boss, would ultimately become the sequin studded g-string that cut just a little too tight up Danni's derriere.

It's about an industrious former stripper who created and founded the "number one subscription site on the Web," and the gal that she hired to assemble a creative and technical team, recreate and reorganize her content, as well as perform the tasks of managing editor at what was undoubtedly the first and most critical "strategic inflection point" in her company's history. Coined by Intel Chairman, Andrew Grove, it is basically a point in corporate time when something radical impedes a business's standard way of operating so that a fundamental change in procedures must be implemented in order for the company to continue to prosper.

In July 1997, Danni's Hard Drive was going through a strategic inflection point, turning the business away from ad hoc amateur practices, and into a serious money making machine. Danni's contract with the people who provided all of her pictorial and written content, The Score Group, was about to end. When it did, The Score Group was coming on line and about to become her number one competitor. If Danni didn't make it through this critical corporate juncture the future of her company was in serious jeopardy. To say that Taylor was unprepared for the combustible atmosphere at Danni's Hard Drive is a profound understatement.

Debating the realities and opportunities of executive female pornographers, which used to be a non-starter due to the fact that females could only be employed as porn performers, the Internet seemed a perfect place to set up shop as an editor. Watching the new world of gal-driven pornography unfold online, while continuing to accumulate further research regarding the sexual habits of humans, which is actually what Taylor does. Ultimately, Taylor was curious how the Divas of Porn navigated a newly emancipated porn world, even if they didn't call themselves feminists. Because as Taylor sees it, without women's rights these gals would still be relegated to the video set bedroom, the porn boardroom still designated for guys only.

There is also the issue of what constitutes appropriate erotic content, written and photographic, which is particular critical in pornography and especially important on an e-commerce smut site. No other medium offers such immediate access to pornography through anonymous, unknown and unmonitored means, allowing the curious voyeur, regardless of age, to access porn if they but try. So, effective Internet blocking software is important, but not nearly as crucial as a parent's involvement in their child's online activities. Especially since once an adolescent or young teen finds an adult site the homepage is often very innocuous. Oftentimes all they have to do is click on the statement that reads, "I am over eighteen," and "I am not offended by nudity," and presto, he or she is treated to an explosion of adult content free of charge, which is meant to tease surfers into becoming subscribers. This free content can include XXX-rated sexually graph ic advertising banners, full n! udes and topless porn stars.

It's astounding to think of the mounds of money that continually came in during Taylor Marsh's fourteen months at Danni's Hard Drive. But she was completely naïve when it came to the business of pornography, having never been associated with porn in her life, though the sexual and political world of adults is her professional playground. Taylor's conclusions are many, but one in particular rests uncomfortably with her. Whether speaking of Alfred Kinsey, Hugh Hefner or Larry Flynt, and regardless of whether you approve, agree or can stomach their products; along with their capitalistic ambitions, these men also had political passions, purpose and philosophies that each of them believed in and staked their lives on. Mr. Kinsey was brave enough to turn his research towards women at a time when we weren't allowed to speak openly about our sexuality, and whether you agree with his methods or not, he believed that bringing feminine sexuality into the American conversation was philosophically important. Mr. Hefner braved the suburban standards of the 1950s by daring to suggest that men could create a different kind of life for themselves outside the traditions of Puritanical America, and in the process help spark a revolution. Mr. Flynt, as outrageous a pornographer as you are likely to find, was willing to go to! jail for his first amendment beliefs. The current generation of techno smut peddler hasn't the conscience, the heart or the soul of any of their political and philosophically oriented predecessors.

The Internet invites us all to become covert peepers, seducing us with the carnal carnival that is breeding online. It's a vast, ever expanding arena. Peddling porn online is evidently not unlike working with a very large beast, and it didn't take Taylor Marsh long to learn that to satisfy the brute and its paying customers you would have to become enslaved.


From the Publisher
FORMER MISS MISSOURI RELEASES TELL ALL BOOK ABOUT WORKING AT THE INTERNET'S #1 SUBSCRIPTION PORN SITE

What do a stripper, a former Miss Missouri, pornography, and the Internet have in common? They all came together to create Danni's Hard Drive (DHD), the Internet's #1 subscription porn site. The stripper is Danni Ashe, founder and President of a multi-million dollar e-commerce company and now (according to the Guinness Book of World Records) the Internet's most downloaded woman. The former Miss Missouri is Taylor Marsh, a nationally recognized sexual activist and "sexpert" who has been featured in such publications as USA Today, Reuters and The Los Angeles Times.

In her new book "My Year in Smut: The Internet Escapades Inside Danni's Hard Drive" ($15.54 from 1stBooks Library), Marsh describes how DHD burst onto the Internet at the exact moment when e-commerce hit. DHD was one of the first sites that proved businesses could make money online. The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News & World Report, The New York Times, and ABC News with Peter Jennings, among others, covered the site's meteoric rise and phenomenal e-commerce success.

"My Year in Smut" also explores how the first amendment impacts how the world's 370 million Internet users access content and information. As DHD Editor-in-Chief, Marsh conducted a complete content restructuring -- adding new pictorials, interviews, and articles. This also included determining what constitutes appropriate erotic content, which caused continual constant clashes between Ashe and Marsh. Specifically, there was the "Picture of the Week" showing a T-shirt that read, "Even God Loves *@##y," which Marsh refused to publish and Ashe overruled. Another, which sent Marsh running for the exit after only fourteen months at DHD, revolved around a lewd porn star pictorial shot on an elementary school playground!

Editors: For review copies or interviews with the author, contact Patrick East at 812-339-6000 or by email at [email protected].


From the Author
I've been researching or writing about sexuality, politics and relationships for over eleven years. Over that time, I've interviewed, spoken to or traded e-mails (and even letters) with a vast collection of women and men from Rome to Paris and from Amsterdam to Los Angeles and most places in between. The time I spent personally researching 900 lines and anonymous connection was a real eye opener!

My first written piece of smut, now called erotica, came when I was about eighteen, under what pen name I can't even remember-I wasn't paid a dime for it, but I loved writing it anyway. I've used many different pen names, including "Anonymous," a name I now know longer use. "Anonymous" conjures up female writers of the past, women who could not put their own names on articles, especially erotica, because writing and intellectual pursuits at one point in history was reserved only for males. Many women also chose masculine names-like Taylor-to pen their stories under in order to hide their identity, enabling them to procure funds in which to help them live authentic secret existences beyond the socially excepted roles of the day. Image and reality have always been conflicting struggles for women, and that was never truer than with me. I was Miss Missouri on the outside and Mae West on the inside.

"My Year in Smut" chronicles my latest adventure on the newest, most raucous and boundless sexual gateway in the world. Enjoy the ride!


From the Inside Flap
Sex. That's the main event, whether you're reading this book or just living life. It's the one subject that fascinates us all.

This drama is about the people and the absurd situations that pervade porn, specifically seen through the year Taylor Marsh spent as editor in chief, then managing editor of a neophyte entrepreneurial Internet company, Danni's Hard Drive, which is run by the "Most Downloaded Woman in Internet History" (according to the Guinness Book of World Records).

The story that will unfold is partly about Danni Ashe, a woman who started off as a stripper, but who eventually landed on the World Wide Web, leaving her very first job behind to take on her second job, president and head porn Diva of her own multi-million dollar Internet and video smut company. On the other side of the story sits a strong, authority bucking activist writer who, while accomplishing a lot for her boss, would ultimately become the sequin studded g-string that cut just a little too tight up Danni's derriere.

It's about an industrious former stripper who created and founded the "number one subscription site on the Web," and the gal that she hired to assemble a creative and technical team, recreate and reorganize her content, as well as perform the tasks of managing editor at what was undoubtedly the first and most critical "strategic inflection point" in her company's history. Coined by Intel Chairman, Andrew Grove, it is basically a point in corporate time when something radical impedes a business's standard way of operating so that a fundamental change in procedures must be implemented in order for the company to continue to prosper. In July 1997, Danni's Hard Drive was going through a strategic inflection point, turning the business away from ad hoc amateur practices, and into a serious money making machine. Danni's contract with the people who provided all of her pictorial and written content, The Score Group, was about to end. When it did, The Score Group was coming on line and about to become her number one competitor. If Danni didn't make it through this critical corporate juncture the future of her company was in serious jeopardy. To say that Taylor was unprepared for the combustible atmosphere at Danni's Hard Drive is a profound understatement.

Debating the realities and opportunities of executive female pornographers, which used to be a non-starter due to the fact that females could only be employed as porn performers, the Internet seemed a perfect place to set up shop as an editor. Watching the new world of gal-driven pornography unfold online, while continuing to accumulate further research regarding the sexual habits of humans, which is actually what Taylor does. Ultimately, Taylor was curious how the Divas of Porn navigated a newly emancipated porn world, even if they didn't call themselves feminists. Because as Taylor sees it, without women's rights these gals would still be relegated to the video set bedroom, the porn boardroom still designated for guys only.

There is also the issue of what constitutes appropriate erotic content, written and photographic, which is particular critical in pornography and especially important on an e-commerce smut site. No other medium offers such immediate access to pornography through anonymous, unknown and unmonitored means, allowing the curious voyeur, regardless of age, to access porn if they but try. So, effective Internet blocking software is important, but not nearly as crucial as a parent's involvement in their child's online activities. Especially since once an adolescent or young teen finds an adult site the homepage is often very innocuous. Oftentimes all they have to do is click on the statement that reads, "I am over eighteen," and "I am not offended by nudity," and presto, he or she is treated to an explosion of adult content free of charge, which is meant to tease surfers into becoming subscribers. This free content can include XXX-rated sexually g raphic advertising banners, full n! udes and topless porn stars.

It's astounding to think of the mounds of money that continually came in during Taylor Marsh's fourteen months at Danni's Hard Drive. But she was completely naïve when it came to the business of pornography, having never been associated with porn in her life, though the sexual and political world of adults is her professional playground. Taylor's conclusions are many, but one in particular rests uncomfortably with her. Whether speaking of Alfred Kinsey, Hugh Hefner or Larry Flynt, and regardless of whether you approve, agree or can stomach their products; along with their capitalistic ambitions, these men also had political passions, purpose and philosophies that each of them believed in and staked their lives on. Mr. Kinsey was brave enough to turn his research towards women at a time when we weren't allowed to speak openly about our sexuality, and whether you agree with his methods or not, he believed that bringing feminine sexuality into the American conversation was philosophically important. Mr. Hefner braved the suburban standards of the 1950s by daring to suggest that men could create a different kind of life for themselves outside the traditions of Puritanical America, and in the process help spark a revolution. Mr. Flynt, as outrageous a pornographer as you are likely to find, was willing to go to! jail for his first amendment beliefs. The current generation of techno smut peddler hasn't the conscience, the heart or the soul of any of their political and philosophically oriented predecessors.

The Internet invites us all to become covert peepers, seducing us with the carnal carnival that is breeding online. It's a vast, ever expanding arena. Peddling porn online is evidently not unlike working with a very large beast, and it didn't take Taylor Marsh long to learn that to satisfy the brute and its paying customers you would have to become enslaved.


About the Author
Taylor Marsh is a sexual activist who has been featured on the E! Channel special, "Women of the Net," and been interviewed by media outlets from the L.A. Times to Playboy TV to Reuters. She has lectured extensively at high profile events like iHollywoodForum, giving provocative "Politics of Sex" talks at Hustler Hollywood, and hosted chats on AOL. Taylor's been seen in USA Today, covered numerous times in AVN, been a featured guest on international documentaries, TV and nationally syndicated radio shows across the country, and is a seasoned speaker, whether she's talking about sexuality or politics, online ethics, or how the adult industry's net profits affect the mainstream digital world. The Missouri State Senate twice honored her for her achievements.Her book My Year in Smu! t: The Internet Escapades Inside Danni's Hard Drive is now available online through Amazon.com and other online retailers and in over 25,000 bookstores. It is the first-hand account of Danni's Hard Drive, the site featured in The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News & World Report, USA Today, CNN, and why the author left running for the exit! Her mission is to enliven the public debate regarding the politics of sex, as well as help the genders bridge the honesty, sexual satisfaction and commitment gaps found in modern partnerships. Taylor Marsh studies the politics of sex from every angle.

Taylor Marsh first brought her sexual activism to the LA Weekly, the second largest alternative newsweekly in the country, in the mid-1990s. As "advice" columnist, relationship consultant and "personal ad goddess" (as she was wittingly called), her popular sex and relationship column, What Do You Want?®, first debuted online and in the pages of this newsweekly. She created the very popular LA Weekly Alternative Personals, which empowers people to seek out the exact relationship they want to manifest in their life.

Ms. Marsh expanded her turf as editor in chief, then managing editor, to the #1 subscription site on the Web, Danni's Hard Drive, at the exact moment when e-commerce hit. Danni Ashe is listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as "The Most Downloaded Woman in Internet History." As one of the most popular sites on the web, DHD receives between 5-7 million hits per day, Taylor Marsh was one of the most widely read people on the Internet. Taylor changed the voice of DHD, adding original, provocative content and editorials, as well as probing interviews with the Divas of Porn - This from a former Miss America Pageant contestant!

Taylor Marsh has been researching or writing about politics, relationship and sexuality for over eleven years. Taylor's commitment, political savvy and expertise have established her as a new-fashioned leader in the field of sexual activism. She offers a sophisticated guide into the complex realms of the politics of sex.


Reader review(s):

Hot non-fiction, February 25, 2001
If you've ever thought about working in the porn industry, even as someone behind the video camera, photo lens or website, this book gives you a good idea of what you are in for. Take a curious, brave and intelligent woman and thow her together with a very industrious former stripper with excellent business sense and you'll see the sparks fly between this odd couple in this surprisingly suspenseful non-fiction story.

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