Dear Amazon: Sexy Bastards

[LadyVer]

http://www.pennyromance.com/2015/12/dear-amazon-im-pretty-sure-that-sexy.html

I've given up searching on Amazon for a good romance, or anything else.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

http://www.pennyromance.com/2015/12/dear-amazon-im-pretty-sure-that-sexy.html

I've given up searching on Amazon for a good romance, or anything else.

So write one.

 

[NaokoSmith]

http://www.pennyromance.com/2015/12/dear-amazon-im-pretty-sure-that-sexy.html

I've given up searching on Amazon for a good romance, or anything else.

Hooray! the word on Amazon's useless attempts to just sell the topmost selling item is spreading; readers are leaving the service because their tagging is so exploited. That's going to hurt sales and Amazon might even do something about it then.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

I don't know.

Romance isn't my thing.

None of my daughters read it.

But the wife and sisters in law were devotees.

Soap opera went away, too.

In male fiction things come and go.

 

[NaokoSmith]

In male fiction things come and go.

Come, mostly, in my reading experience

 

[lovecraft68]

Amazon is doing this on purpose. They don't seem to want anyone to buy anything that's not by a major big six author and at that point you will search them by name.

And a letter like that? Know what that leads to even though its certainly not the intent?

We must ban more indy erotica because people are complaining about them.

What's really 'funny' about the link is the Step Brother books that kept showing up...hmmm....back in the last witch hunt of fall 2013 Amazon declared you can no longer use step anything or mom dad anything in an erotic title. Obviously they are back to letting a bunch of titles through, but will still block someone random;y for breaking their rules. They have lit style screening and diligence with their rules, except there they will block your account

This is the continuation of the indy squeeze where they will look for any reason to ge rid of them including people screaming about mis-categorized books and at this point no one would be surprised to find out amazon is doing this deliberately.

They only want you searching for King and Rice and Clancy etc...

As I mentioned on the indy numbers thread my amazon numbers have gone way down, but I have seen matching increases on SW/B&N and a couple other sites. Many people are doing what the author of the article says they will do, bye amazon and fact is

They don't care. Amazon makes a fortune across the board and have always seemed willing to lose money on the e-platform.

Again, things like this in their eyes translate into....well let's get rid of the indy publishers so all people see are what we and the big six want them to.

 

[Carnal_Flower]

I'm upset that they seem to have gotten rid of Listmania. That was always my favorite way to find stuff.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

Amazon is doing this on purpose. They don't seem to want anyone to buy anything that's not by a major big six author and at that point you will search them by name.

And a letter like that? Know what that leads to even though its certainly not the intent?

We must ban more indy erotica because people are complaining about them.

What's really 'funny' about the link is the Step Brother books that kept showing up...hmmm....back in the last witch hunt of fall 2013 Amazon declared you can no longer use step anything or mom dad anything in an erotic title. Obviously they are back to letting a bunch of titles through, but will still block someone random;y for breaking their rules. They have lit style screening and diligence with their rules, except there they will block your account

This is the continuation of the indy squeeze where they will look for any reason to ge rid of them including people screaming about mis-categorized books and at this point no one would be surprised to find out amazon is doing this deliberately.

They only want you searching for King and Rice and Clancy etc...

As I mentioned on the indy numbers thread my amazon numbers have gone way down, but I have seen matching increases on SW/B&N and a couple other sites. Many people are doing what the author of the article says they will do, bye amazon and fact is

They don't care. Amazon makes a fortune across the board and have always seemed willing to lose money on the e-platform.

Again, things like this in their eyes translate into....well let's get rid of the indy publishers so all people see are what we and the big six want them to.

The whole economy is going for an American form of USSR marketing. They had premium goods and services for the elites, crap for the peons, and meh for the middle incomes.

 

[NaokoSmith]

I wrote a comment on this blogpost, btw. Someone had commented that maybe they need an app for finding good reads, so I suggested a review blog.

 

[LadyVer]

So write one.

I'd like to. I get lots of ideas, but it's hard to stay focused most of the time. The thing is with the search issue on Amazon, it's not just with Romance. The search results are just as screwed up when I search for medieval mysteries, medieval history, etc.

 

[LadyVer]

LC, I think there's more to it than an indy squeeze, but you could be right.

 

[LadyVer]

I'm upset that they seem to have gotten rid of Listmania. That was always my favorite way to find stuff.

Is that the sidebar thing?

 

[LadyVer]

I wrote a comment on this blogpost, btw. Someone had commented that maybe they need an app for finding good reads, so I suggested a review blog.

Somehow I missed this comment. I'm half awake. I forgot to look for blog comments last night when I was reading the post. Will read them today.

 

[lovecraft68]

LC, I think there's more to it than an indy squeeze, but you could be right.

I am from the school of just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you

 

[LadyVer]

I am from the school of just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you

Good point.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

I'd like to. I get lots of ideas, but it's hard to stay focused most of the time. The thing is with the search issue on Amazon, it's not just with Romance. The search results are just as screwed up when I search for medieval mysteries, medieval history, etc.

Amazon does suck.

What I do is google THE BEST 'WHATEVER' IN THE HISTORY OF EARTH, and I usually get blogs that do reviews or offer recommendations for what I want. Today I found and bought a collection of old boxing stories by A.J.Liebling. Who knew he was a boxing fanatic! I like Liebling and had no idea. That's how I get around bad search engines.

 

[DreamCloud]

I just use Goodreads.
Anything else seems to be futile.

The top results of "BEST OF" searches in google will lead you there anyway.

Here's the 'Women's Fiction' results on GoodReads.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

If you're looking for computer equipment Amazon is fantastic.

Anything else, unless you know the author or title of a book, ebook, forget it.

 

[HandsInTheDark]

I'd like to. I get lots of ideas, but it's hard to stay focused most of the time. The thing is with the search issue on Amazon, it's not just with Romance. The search results are just as screwed up when I search for medieval mysteries, medieval history, etc.

Amazon is *incredibly* market-driven. They are a data run company. If they are opposed to incest it's because people complained in large enough numbers that the numbers said to quell the category. Remember, people buying there aren't looking to get off. They shopping for their families and friends. When erotica pops up by accident, they'll tolerate it unless they find it offensive, then they complain. It's not like Lit, where even if you are careful there's an expectation of hitting something that offends you and you know you should just move on (and some people STILL complain here).

If they are channelling you in certain directions it's because the data says that most people want to go in those directions. You're looking at the tyranny of large numbers and the tragedy of the commons, not an evil plot.

Face it, the mass market doesn't operate like Lit readership. Data driven companies maximise for revenue and predictability, not diversity. Most people think diversity sucks.

 

[JagFarlane]

I wrote a comment on this blogpost, btw. Someone had commented that maybe they need an app for finding good reads, so I suggested a review blog.

Certainly one of the better ways to go about it, that's for sure.