So… all the time I used fixing my titles to conform to Amazon's hidden guidelines. All the titles I got approved. Forget about it. I woke up this morning to find pretty much everything they'd just approved blocked and removed from the store. It's been a big day across the board for erotica writers, I'm not the only one affected. Back to the drawing board…
Such a waste of time.
Oh, no! Scarlett, I am a big fan of yours, and I was heartbroken to see that your catalog on Amazon has been decimated. It looks like Cassandra Zara has been clobbered, too. You and Cassandra were the inspiration behind my getting started in this “biz.”
I write under a pseudonym myself, and I have been blocked by the Amazon censors, too, including a student-teacher romance, pseudo-incest lesbian lactation erotica, and some titles with the word virgin in them.
Do you suppose all fictional virgins should hold off on having sex until after fictional marriage?
It seems that fictional 18-year-olds can no longer have sex with fictional in-laws, either. Yikes. How did this happen?
I’m not sure what my next move will be, but I am trying not to panic.
By the way, KOBO has deleted all content submitted through Draft2Digital and other self-published content as well. I just got the email.
Scarlett, thank you for sharing your story with other writers, like me, who might otherwise feel alone in this mess.
Hi Annabelle, thanks for your condolences, and right back at you too. The fight isn’t over, but as I’ve now had several titles approved and then subsequently reblocked I’m going to be sitting back and waiting for Amazon to stop throwing the toys (my stories) out of the cot before I begin (again) the process of putting them back in, in whatever form Amazon will accept.
Annabelle, I’m glad I could be an inspiration to you as well. I’ve been struggling to get titles back up as well. I’ve only tried on a few, but every one I have tried has been slapped back down. I hope you have more luck than I! Take care!
Scarlett, tell Amazon to go to hell, take down your wares, and put them all up on Smashwords. Make it all very clear to us Why you are deserting Amazon, and strongly urge your fans to go to Smashwords, and find what we want there. That’s where I buy everything I want. Amazon are scum, they act like the world revolves around them. Maybe it’s time to fight back, and get a “stick it to Jeffy and his clowns” movement going. I’d love to see those supposed high and mighty taken down a few pegs.
Hi Gerald, I wish I could sometimes. Well technically I can, of course, but Amazon is where the audience is and if I want to live the lifestyle I’ve become accustomed to (like eating food) then I have to be their reluctant bitch.
I hate the idea, I hate how vague they are, I hate that they have all the power. A boycott by myself and every single erotica writer that I know (and I know a lot) would not even be a blip on Amazon’s radar. That’s assuming everybody joined in the boycott, and they wouldn’t. Like me, most of them need to eat and almost nobody buys books on Smashwords (approx. 1% of my sales, as a data point)
There are frustrating aspects to dealing with all the other distributors too… pimpin’ and writin’ smut ain’t easy.