Support for Indie Authors discussion

Argh! I really just need to vent, but I do have a question.

I have been running an Amazon Ad for my book Home Again for about six weeks and I have been seeing positive results, enough to make it worthwhile to continue. As the current ad was going to expire at the end of the month, I created a new ad and submitted it. It was basically a copy of the existing ad. Long story, short....it was rejected! I sent a request for review to AMS explaining that I was currently running the ad and I didn't understand why it was now being rejected. Their response? First they abruptly ended the current ad and then said that the reason it was rejected was because "it contains characters in sexual situations, showing too much bare skin, or contains overt sexuality". Is a simple, little kiss really suddenly overt sexuality? By the standards of many books in the romance genre I think my cover is rather tame. It's not like they didn't have a problem taking my money for this ad a day ago (and for the last six weeks). It's all so frustrating. Just when I found something that was actually working in getting books sold and pages turned.

Has anyone else experienced this?

No, I haven't heard anything like this, but I also haven't heard of anyone using Amazon ads really. As for why they might reject the picture, not that I personally think there is a problem with it, but think of where her hand would be resting by the angle of her arm.
My advice, wait until tomorrow and resubmit it.

I guess my real problem is that this cover has been featured in an ad that has been running since March and now suddenly it's unacceptable? The whole reason I pulled my book off other distributors and listed it in Kindle Select was so that I could try advertising. If I can't advertise, I guess I'll be pulling it out of KS.

They might end it and not allow you to run another ad because your only allowed so many at a time..

But to cancel it because of the content of the book when it's been running already? yeah that is strange.

Maybe they are referring to the book description and not the cover? I really have no idea how Amazon ads work though.

I would simply resubmit it. The rules are highly subjective and you might have just been unlucky and encountered an approver who was overly sensitive.

I've had mild success with AMS and would recommend authors use it. Good luck!

Many things about AMS are flaky and inconsistent (especially reports). Give it a few days, as others said, and then try resubmitting.

I have run into Amazon nuttery with keywords.

I had several readers tell me they actually search for 'books like 50 shades' in Amazon. So, I hate that series, but they tell me what they are looking for is 'CEO BDSM erotica' which this one series of mine is, and so I used 'like 50 shades' in my keywords.

It was fine for a while, weeks, then I made another change and they rejected it and told me to take out the keyword as it was false advertising. I changed it, emailed them, explained my rationale, this is something people really use to search and the person who responded THREATENED me! Said I was purposely trying to manipulate Amazon, violation of ToS, which could result in my entire catalogue of books being rejected. They said using, 'like 50 shades' would be having "The Hunger Games" I think it was and comparing it as ' like Harry Potter'.

I emailed back and said it was a straw man argument that held no water, explained why, said I had immediately complied, and I was no way manipulating, (that made me angry, I was NOT), but trying to use terms I KNEW people used to describe books similar to mine. I was kind of shaken, to be honest, and wondered whether or not my time at Amazon could be determined by some angry, capricious person. Your tale, Lisa, unfortunately reinforces the notion of really erratic service there.

Sometimes I wonder if it's worth it in being confrontational, except if the issue is a core value such as morality, beliefs, or rights. In your case of advertising, it might be better to state your opinion that your ad was not objectionable, then move along and advertise some place else. Good luck.

Holly wrote: "I have run into Amazon nuttery with keywords.

I had several readers tell me they actually search for 'books like 50 shades' in Amazon. So, I hate that series, but they tell me what they are looki..."

This is actually in the ToS that you agree to when you sign up with Amazon. Using the title of another book to sell yours is in fact, false advertising and misdirection according to Federal Trade Commission guidelines. It's perfectly fine to compare your book to another, but not in the keywords or in any way that would misdirect search engines.

Um... did my comment get deleted?

We've never run into this precise problem, although we did run a couple of Amazon ads for several months, but we did once have one of our books inexplicably tagged as "adult" material and filtered out of searches. I contacted Amazon and asked the reason for this. They responded promptly that it was a mistake, and fixed the issue within a day.

Based on this, it seems entirely possible your book is being confused with another or some other mistake has occurred. As it appears from your cover here on GR that the couple pictured are not in fact even kissing, I might suggest gently asking Amazon to clarify exactly which book cover they are looking at. We've known the first response from Amazon to have their wires crossed on occasion, and a second email asking for clarification of the response has always worked for us.

Hope you get it sorted out.

I just looked at your ad, Lisa. I don't believe it! My grandmother wouldn't have objected to such a picture!

I've tried to appeal their decision but really got no where. I don't even think they have actually looked at it and just keep spouting the same thing. Today's response was that the book description contained explicit sex! The only thing I can think of is that they mean that literally because at the bottom I put a warning that the book was intended for mature audiences and contained explicit sex. So I guess the fact that I say explicit sex makes it inappropriate??? I could try dropping the warning to see if it passes their weird censorship but the reason I put that there is because I was afraid the tame/sweet cover would make people think they were getting a 'clean' romance rather than a spicy one. The whole thing is crazy. I had the book in Kindle Select but it just expired yesterday and since I can no longer advertise there's no point in keeping it exclusive. I'll just have to look for another means of advertising/marketing I guess since Amazon doesn't want my money.

How odd. I'd try submitting it again in a little while. It's been my experience with Amazon as a whole (as an author rather than customer), that it depends on who you get as to the service and reasonability you get.

Drae wrote: "How odd. I'd try submitting it again in a little while. It's been my experience with Amazon as a whole (as an author rather than customer), that it depends on who you get as to the service and reas..."

I've seen that as well. Also, when you receive an unsatisfactory response, if you click the link to mark it as "not helpful" and add a note to escalate the issue, it will go to a higher-level manager.

Ken wrote: "...when you receive an unsatisfactory response, if you click the link to mark it as "not helpful" and add a note to escalate the issue, it will go to a higher-level manager."

Thanks for the tip. I'll try that. I've gotten no where with trying to get a straight answer. I finally just let my enrolment in KU lapse because there was no point on being exclusive if I couldn't advertise.

Lisa wrote: "I've tried to appeal their decision but really got no where. I don't even think they have actually looked at it and just keep spouting the same thing. Today's response was that the book description..."

They have a rule and it's written plainly in the ad section. No ads for erotic works. If you put you have explicit sex in the book, then you are pretty much saying it's erotica. If you didn't have that before, it slipped through and at any point could have been "caught" later.