For those of us who also post at SciFiStories.com - in the author agreement, it has Rule 9 about sexual activity must be between someone 14 years and older.
I was just putting into the queue over there a new work (ATHB4), and under the 17 & older it says No Graphic Sex. I don't recall that in the past. And my series sure has graphic sex in it, albeit B4 will disappoint the strokers. I don't recall that warning in the past. Did that recently change?
No, not a recent change. However, you're mixing up two different aspects of the site. (a) Rule 9 relates to the ages of the characters in the story. (b) The section with the Age Rating is where you select the intended audience age. So a story with graphic sex should be for older than 17, while a story with no graphic sex can be for a younger audience.
Thus it's two different rules applying to two different aspects.
So a story with graphic sex should be for older than 17, while a story with no graphic sex can be for a younger audience.
Thus it's two different rules applying to two different aspects.
That's still a significant change, if I'm reading it right. Before it was 'no explicit sexual descriptions for any characters younger than fourteen', while now it suddenly seems to be 'no explicit sex for ANYONE younger than seventeen!' So, which is the age limit, 14 or 17? (i.e. are the age limits specific to Sci-Fi, or should they be the same across the various related sites?)
while now it suddenly seems to be 'no explicit sex for ANYONE younger than seventeen!'
Nope, or at least not the way you are thinking.
The way I read EB's explanation:
One rule deals with the ages of story characters (14 minimum).
The other rule deals with the age of the intended audience. No graphic sex in stories intended for a youth (under 17) audience.