I have to thank Nigel Mitchell for this link to a story about authors complaining about Kindle Unlimited. Kindle Unlimited is the program that allows users to pay $9.99 to get as many books from Amazon's Kindle Select Program as they want. Basically it's Netflix for books. There are already services like Oyster that do the same thing, though I looked at Oyster and its selection kind of sucks.
Anyway, I've already gone on record as saying Kindle Unlimited has been awesome for me. It has just about doubled the money I get every month. Sure I might not end up getting as much per book with Unlimited, but would the people who get it through Unlimited actually buy the book otherwise? Or would they buy it and then "return" it since Amazon's system is so pathetic about returns?
In reading the article, I think the people who are complaining are those who are having success beyond Amazon. If you're considering whether or not to enroll in Kindle Unlimited that's what you need to consider. If you've have good success with other sellers like Smashwords, B&N, or Kobo then you don't want to use Kindle Unlimited because you have to take your book off sale from anywhere except Amazon for three months at least.
If you're like me and 95% of your sales are coming from Amazon, then Kindle Unlimited makes sense. With it I can double my revenue stream and people who might be on the fence about spending $2.99 for a 50-page book or considering doing something shady might not if they think they're getting it "free" with Kindle Unlimited.
As for whether Kindle Unlimited will change the world of bookselling and so forth, it's really too early to tell.
A group of independent science fiction/fantasy authors who support each other and share their love for the genre.
Monday, December 29, 2014
Monday, December 22, 2014
The Confusing World of Amazon's Content Guidelines
Last Tuesday I was supposed to release Transformed Into a Cougar Too (Transformed #20) on Amazon. But they rejected it for "offensive content." What is offensive content? Only Amazon knows and they ain't saying.
Here's how the page it links to describes offensive content:
Gee, that's really helpful. So basically it could be anything.
I asked what specifically the problem was and got this long-winded yet unhelpful reply:
Earth's most customer-centric company? LOL. We've confirmed there's offensive content and you can resubmit it...but we won't say what the offensive content was. So how do I know what to change to resubmit?
I'm pretty sure when directors send movies to the MPAA, they actually tell you what content causes it to get the rating it gets. I don't think they say, "There was offensive content that's probably what you think it was." Because really that's not very useful to anyone.
So I tried twice more to get someone to explain to me what was wrong and got these useless responses:
Wow, that's really Customer-Centric of you. Basically I don't think anyone there knows, at least after the first drone who flags the book. So after that all they do is shield themselves with bureaucratic double-talk and form responses. At the very least they could better define what offensive content is. Their definition is so vague that it's useless.
I did resubmit the book. I think some drone had a problem with a cigarette on the cover, sort of like how the MPAA gives movies an R-rating now if they have a cigarette. I mean when I submitted it with a new cover they accepted it. It just would have been nice if they'd said that at the start. That and didn't lock the book down so I couldn't just replace the cover.
Anyway, the gist of this is that if some Amazon drone flags your book, you're pretty much on your own to figure out how to fix it. For such a "Customer-Centric Company" they really need to be more helpful to authors.
On December 7, 2014, at 4:03 PM, Kindle Direct Publishing wrote:Hello,We’re contacting you regarding the following book:Transformed Into a Cougar Too (Transformed #20) by Filler, Eric (AUTHOR)(ID:5539262)During our review process, we found that this content is in violation of ourcontent guidelines. As a result, we cannot offer this book for sale. If weidentify additional submissions with similar content that violates ourguidelines, we may terminate your account or you may lose access to optional KDP services.To learn more about our content guidelines, please visit our Kindle DirectPublishing Help page at:Best regards,Kindle Direct Publishingkdp.amazon.com
Here's how the page it links to describes offensive content:
Offensive Content
What we deem offensive is probably about what you would expect.
Gee, that's really helpful. So basically it could be anything.
I asked what specifically the problem was and got this long-winded yet unhelpful reply:
On December 8, 2014, at
1:03 PM, Kindle Direct Publishing wrote:
Hello,We're contacting you regarding the following title:Transformed Into a Cougar Too (Transformed #20), ID: 5539262We’ve confirmed that your book(s) contains content that is in violation of our content guidelines and we will not be offering this title for sale in the Kindle Store. As stated in our guidelines, we reserve the right to determine what we consider to be appropriate, which includes cover images and content within the book.If you wish to re-publish your book(s) with content that meets our guidelines, it will need to be submitted as an entirely new ASIN and go through our standard review process. Previous customer reviews, tags, and sales rank information are not transferable because the title will essentially be a different product.Our content guidelines are published on the Kindle Direct Publishing website.To learn more, please see: https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A2TOZW0SV7IR1UWe appreciate your understanding.Best Regards,Dakota K.Amazon.comYour feedback is helping us build Earth's Most Customer-Centric Company.______________________________Connect with KDP and other Authors and Publishers:Like us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/KindleDirectPublishingFollow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/AmazonKDP
Earth's most customer-centric company? LOL. We've confirmed there's offensive content and you can resubmit it...but we won't say what the offensive content was. So how do I know what to change to resubmit?
I'm pretty sure when directors send movies to the MPAA, they actually tell you what content causes it to get the rating it gets. I don't think they say, "There was offensive content that's probably what you think it was." Because really that's not very useful to anyone.
So I tried twice more to get someone to explain to me what was wrong and got these useless responses:
On December 9, 2014, at 3:32 PM, Kindle Direct Publishing wrote:Hello,Publisher feedback is important to us as we strive to improve our services and programs for our publishers. However, as we have previously stated, your book will not be made available in the Kindle Store at this time.Best Regards,Sophie L.Amazon.comYour feedback is helping us build Earth's Most Customer-Centric Company.______________________________Connect with KDP and other Authors and Publishers:Like us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/KindleDirectPublishingFollow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/AmazonKDP
Hello,As stated in our content guidelines, we reserve the right to determine whatcontent we consider to be appropriate. This content includes both the cover art image and the content within the book.We’re unable to elaborate further on specific details regarding our contentguidelines.Sincerely,Amazon Kindle Direct PublishingAmazon.comBest Regards,Frederik MAmazon.comYour feedback is helping us build Earth's Most Customer-Centric Company.______________________________Connect with KDP and other Authors and Publishers:Like us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/KindleDirectPublishingFollow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/AmazonKDP
Wow, that's really Customer-Centric of you. Basically I don't think anyone there knows, at least after the first drone who flags the book. So after that all they do is shield themselves with bureaucratic double-talk and form responses. At the very least they could better define what offensive content is. Their definition is so vague that it's useless.
I did resubmit the book. I think some drone had a problem with a cigarette on the cover, sort of like how the MPAA gives movies an R-rating now if they have a cigarette. I mean when I submitted it with a new cover they accepted it. It just would have been nice if they'd said that at the start. That and didn't lock the book down so I couldn't just replace the cover.
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Anyway, the gist of this is that if some Amazon drone flags your book, you're pretty much on your own to figure out how to fix it. For such a "Customer-Centric Company" they really need to be more helpful to authors.
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