I had the unfortunate mishap of getting one of my books tagged as "adult" over the last few days. I feel like I have been banned to the depths of hell for writing a book with a little bit of dirty, sexy sex in it. Like I got rapped on the knuckles for writing a story about two consenting adults who have a little kinkery in their marriage. Yeah, they're married, they're adults, and they are kinky fuckers. But I'm sure who ever read A Taste of Discipline over at Amazon saw that. Oh, wait, I doubt anyone actually read it.
I thought it was some of my tags and the warning I included in my blurb. So I changed it and then emailed Amazon to say "Oh, hey, someone put this hateful red X on my book, but it is really a sweet story. Consenting adults, love, HEA, all that jazz. So let's fix this, k?"
I got a very unhelpful email back that said I was tagged as "adult" because my book was listed as erotica... well wouldn't someone shopping erotica just assume it had adult content? Sorry, that seems like a no- brainer to me.
Anyway, here is a little bit of this scandalously salacious book I am pushing, that is so over the top erotic that Amazon feels they should shield your virgin minds from it.
Be sure to save the direct link, and email it to all of your friends!
I am trying to find a way out, but on the off chance I cannot- please, share away!
He
stepped back from her, urging her right leg up peeling her jeans off
her calf, then he did the same to the left. She stood where he left
her, pressed up against the island as she watched him fold her jeans.
He was behind her again, pulling her headband out of her hair,
letting it fall past her shoulders.
Then he slipped a hand down the
front of her panties.
"God,
you're so wet," he whispered in her ear. "All that talk of
being in trouble."
Probably
so, he knew what made her tick and for whatever reason, that always
did.
"Are
you my bad girl? Do you want to be my bad girl tonight? Or my good
girl?"
She
moaned in response as his fingers worked her clit. Not knowing the
right answer. Not knowing what would get her to come quicker. What
would get him to spank her the way she wanted?
His
hand left her panties and she bit back an expletive, but the whimper
escaped before she had a handle on it.
"Not
yet." He chuckled as he spoke, obviously amused by her wanton
needs.
He
put his finger to her lips, "Suck."
She
opened her mouth, drawing his digit into her mouth, she could taste
her own salty tang on his finger.
Buy this Dirty Book Here
Buy this Dirty Book Here
Sorry that I corrupted you all, please, go about your day! Oh and stop by the rest of the Dungeon Crawlers I am sure they are equally, if not more, salacious than me!
So sorry you were relegated to the Amazon dungeon. Readers complain when they aren't "warned" about sexual content, but when you do warn them, Amazon makes your book invisible.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you're dealing with this. It's crappy and as a reader, if I'm looking for romance and get erotica, I might be shocked whereas if I have a warning, I'd know to buy the book or not. You were doing the right thing and you got punished for it and that is crapy.
ReplyDeleteI'm in the same trap. I write erotica about kinky married couple. As they're married there is always a romantic element, but I don't write a classic fall in love and HEA story for each book because they're married! Now I'm caught out for being honest. Like Natasha says, I could put my books under the romance umbrella and then have people shocked by the BDSM element and venting about that instead.
ReplyDeleteCan't win at the moment.
I loved this story. Don't worry, it will come out of the dungeon.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI hate that this happens. It's absurd and they won't clarify anything. Most unhelpful. Also, the vague "policy" makes authors leery of even re-uploading a doc to make a simple correction (fix a typo, etc.). That's what happened to me and it ruined a book for me, period. Never recovered. As if the book never happened, really. Yes the tag came off after I made the cover look like a M/M book, but honestly, nowadays I have NO IDEA what to do when uploading. I don't know if I should put things in "erotica" or "romance." I don't know if I should use "keywords" or "keyphrases." I don't know whether to be honest in a description/blurb and include a "warning" or not. I just don't know. I hear that Amazon makes good money off smut, but their policies need to be clarified once and for all instead of this vague "we know it when we see it" scattershot "method" that seems to be employed as of now. Sorry to rant in your comments, Casey. I'm very frustrated with this, obviously. It has a serious effect on new writers. I'll say much more serious than for established ones, as we struggle with visibility as it is.
ReplyDeleteOK, now that was hot, very hot. But no worse than many books not hit with the adult label. It sucks (no not the finger!!)
ReplyDeleteBummer Casey.
Amazon is a mystery, a dark art, a law unto itself. My books all carry explicit warnings but so far none have been pulled. Is it more likely to happen to indie authors? That said, I love this excerpt, especially the finger-licking bit. Yummy.
ReplyDeleteSorry, Casey! :(
ReplyDeleteThat sucks.
But I loved the book!
And this excerpt was HOT!
I'll share! :)
Keep your head up!
<3
So what happens when you are consigned to the 'adult' oubliette then? I can still see A Taste of Discipline on Amazon when I search under your name.
ReplyDeleteEtta- If your book is tagged as adult it doesn't come up in keyword searches. It isn't in any also-boughts. If a reader doesn't know your name and doesn't know to specifically look for your book it is invisible.
ReplyDeleteI've been in the dungeon twice and DID NOT enjoy my time there. Mine imprisonment was due to the covers. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteI bet they'd have no problem if we hacked people up with machete's and ate the remains.
But a little sex and kink... gasp! And within the context of marriage... OMG! My retinas are burning! What would I do if Amazon didn't protect me from such a thing???
Why some erotica books are tagged and others are not, your guess is as good as mine. Damn Amazon prudes!
Thanks so much everyone!
ReplyDeleteMaddie- We probably all end up doing some time I guess. You're right though, if it were gratuitous violence I'm sure no one would even blink.
I also think a lot of the problem is one hand doesn't know what the other is doing over there. I was tagged, untagged, and tagged again! Grr.