Amazon Account Blocked

[PrincessErin]

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[PennLady]

Have you been able to ask anyone at Amazon why?

 

[PrincessErin]

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[PennLady]

They simply said my stories had graphic sex and that was not allowed.

Well, that's crazy. You cite any number of e-books available that have graphic sex in them. Geez. It's crazy if they can't give you a better reason than that.

 

[PrincessErin]

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[PennLady]

Hmmm. Did someone complain, maybe? I dunno. All I can think to say is try to get more info from Amazon but I realize that's easier said than done.

 

[Firebrain]

Are they incest, or do they make reference to incest? Amazon takes a lot of those down. Or another "questionable" fetish?

If not, I wonder if you're simply unlucky--they absolutely can't, and won't take down everything with "graphic sexual content." They'd lose too much business.

 

[Handley_Page]

Perhaps you should ask for the set of their Rules and advice about content ?

 

[michchick98]

Exactly. And the fact that most of these stories have been online since January-February. I mean I'm not making a fortune on these books but it was a nice little incentive.

I was gonna ask the same thing Firebrain did. If any of your stories contain incest or references to it, they'd pull it and more than likely flag anything else without knowing the complete content.

Also, check the tags. Lots of times users can add tags to books they buy and if that's the case, maybe someone added tags that would flag your stuff with Amazon.

Keep at them about it. When they give you vague answers, ask them to elaborate on exactly what's prohibited since there are thousands of titles (in print AND e-book) with graphic sex. Speaking as a regular shopper at Amazon, if they're pulling your content for graphic sex, then the "save for later" section of my shopping cart should be nearly empty.

If all else fails, I've heard of people having success with Smashwords.

 

[sr71plt]

My Doubled anthology was recently banned by Amazon. There's no incest in it. I'm not sure how/whether that is being pursued. I'm letting the publisher, eXcessica, handle it.

 

[SydneyBlake]

I'm definitely interested in hearing how this plays out. Amazon was going to be my target, but I most certainly have graphic sex in mine. I mean, what's the point if it isn't graphic?

 

[PennLady]

I'm definitely interested in hearing how this plays out. Amazon was going to be my target, but I most certainly have graphic sex in mine. I mean, what's the point if it isn't graphic?

I have to say, this is bizarre. I've gotten a number of free/cheap e-books from Amazon for my Kindle, most of them romances, and nearly all of them have graphic sex. I mean, it's all straight stuff (except for one GM werewolf thing), and no incest or non-con, but still -- one had BDSM, one had anal, etc. And it was none of that euphemistic stuff either. Weird.

 

[lovecraft68]

I'm definitely interested in hearing how this plays out. Amazon was going to be my target, but I most certainly have graphic sex in mine. I mean, what's the point if it isn't graphic?

They usually only target underage and incest. Occasionally some BDSM if it is extreme. So pretty much not an outlet for yours truly.

 

[PrincessErin]

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[sr71plt]

No underage in my banned Doubled either.

I'm not particularly upset. The book has been in circulation for more than a year and has done very well. In the mainstream world, it would probably be out of print by now. Such books banned at Amazon tend to more than pick up slack at other distributors. You just have to mark their blurbs "So hot it was banned at Amazon."

 

[PrincessErin]

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[sr71plt]

Only problem is that at the moment Amazon is my only option for selling my stories. But I do like that idea of saying I'm too racy for Amazon

No, it's not, really. If you write well, it's not all that difficult to land an e-publisher and let them worry about distribution.

 

[michchick98]

I received a response from Amazon today. They said my account is back open but every submission must follow the guidelines or all my books will be removed. I posted the link below.

https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help?topicId=A2AH1EAPH0YKI9

Clearly my stories fall under the category of pornography but then the argument of erotica versus pornagraphy.

In any case I'm just mad because now I have to be very cautious of any other story I put up there and of course it's my more sex laden stories that are the most popular.

Blah!

And unfortunately, there's nothing you can do about it either, especially with this line:

"We reserve the right to make judgments about whether or not content is appropriate and to choose not to offer it."

Which means if they don't like it, they can pull it and fuck you.

 

[driphoney]

I have to say, this is bizarre. I've gotten a number of free/cheap e-books from Amazon for my Kindle, most of them romances, and nearly all of them have graphic sex. I mean, it's all straight stuff (except for one GM werewolf thing), and no incest or non-con, but still -- one had BDSM, one had anal, etc. And it was none of that euphemistic stuff either. Weird.

Maybe these writers haven't be reported?

 

[PennLady]

Maybe these writers haven't be reported?

Possibly, but I'm not going to do it. There's no reason to.

 

[driphoney]

Possibly, but I'm not going to do it. There's no reason to.

Of course not. I wasn't suggesting it, just speculating as to why some stories and writers get pulled and/or monitored and others don't.

Personally, I don't get the brouhaha these days over written porn. Bookstore isles are full of really heavy-hitting porn disguised (or not) as romance these days. I'm sure you could check out the romance section of "legit" writers on Amazon and find a lot of sex.

 

[michchick98]

I'm sure you could check out the romance section of "legit" writers on Amazon and find a lot of sex.

She's not as graphic, but even Nora Roberts novels can get pretty steamy.

I think this whole thing with Amazon boils down to customers who might complain about certain authors and not others, and the fact that from what I've seen, most books can have tags added to them by the readers/buyers.

I think the tags can raise a flag if someone tags a story and someone else sees the tag and reports it for whatever reason. And there's no stopping someone from having issues with the author, adding a couple tags and reporting the story/author to get Amazon to scrutinize things more closely. As far as I can tell, it only tells you number of people who added the tag, not specifically the user name. Although, even with a user name, there's no telling who it could be.

It's a possibility that's what happened. Anyway, I got off on a tangent there. Sorry.

 

[DeeZire]

And unfortunately, there's nothing you can do about it either, especially with this line:

"We reserve the right to make judgments about whether or not content is appropriate and to choose not to offer it."

Which means if they don't like it, they can pull it and fuck you.

Rightwing columnist Jonah Goldberg just published an op-ed about banned books, claiming:

"Any citizen can go to a bookstore or Amazon.com and buy any book legally in print — or out of print for that matter."

I just wrote a letter to the editor of the local paper that ran the piece, pointing out the fact that JG is big fat liar. Okay, I didn't put it in those terms, but I did quote Amazon's submission guidelines mentioned above. I actually thought JG's piece was quite comical in its attempt at pretending book banning doesn't exist. It's like these rightwing blowhards spend their whole lives trying to deny the obvious. No wonder that get paid so well - it's hard work.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinio...umn-Banned-Books-Week-is-just-hype/50265238/1

 

[sadangel]

Are they incest, or do they make reference to incest? Amazon takes a lot of those down. Or another "questionable" fetish?

If not, I wonder if you're simply unlucky--they absolutely can't, and won't take down everything with "graphic sexual content." They'd lose too much business.

My thoughts:
They may not be targeting the author for banning so much as the publisher. I think Amazon is aware that eXcessica publishes a lot of incest. Therefore, if someone is publishing through them, it could be that Amazon is targeting these authors for that reason, and letting the authors decide if they want to fight it to get the books reinstated.

Is it fair? No, but life isn't fair. Anyone who reads the rules before publishing through Amazon is already aware that certain topics are taboo, as they are with many of the mainstream publishers, both print and e-book. If people are going to push the limits, don't be surprised when Amazon pushes back. If you know your stories are more porn than erotica, why be shocked they are being pulled? Don't poke the bear. The Amazon bear is known to poke back, and usually wins.

As an author, it may not be you personally they were going after, but if you publish with a company known to put out incest, with a large number of books about incest as part of their catalog, don't be shocked that Amazon targets you.

Flame away. I know at least one of you will.

 

[PrincessErin]

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