KDP Termination Problem (AI Content?)
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- Опубліковано 17 чер 2024
- KDP Termination Article: kindlepreneur.com/amazon-acco...
For sometime Amazon has been quickly terminating or banning people's KDP Accounts. Buy why? Well through some research and digging we were able to find some of the major red flags that accounts have been giving Amazon for termination. I will not only show what these are but also provide steps to getting your account back.
I also discuss some of my own personal input and ideas that I believe are taken into consideration with Amazon's algorithm. So be sure to check out this video!
Amazon Metadata Guidelines: kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/top...
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To clarify something in the video: My comment on the international markets is that there are certain countries (you know which one I'm hinting at - the ones renown for scams) that have had a high propensity to create low quality book or set up scams. Data is showing that if you live in one of those countries, Amazon is more likely to ban your account if you make a simple mistake when uploading to a market that isn't yours. Basically the threshold to a banning is lowered. But if you live in a country that doesn't have history of that, you have less chances of a ban if you make a mistake or don't do things right.
I got my account terminated because I was "manipulating sales." I'd already appealed asking what that meant, but was terminated that same email. However, I emailed and stated I wanted to talk to a "human supervisor." Literally minutes after sending the mail my account was reinstated. So remember to ALWAYS ask for a human supervisor.
Boom...good advice.
How did you do that please?
@@smart_tech_. exactly like that. As long as you have "human supervisor" in it, it doesn't really matter. But i think i wrote something along the lines of "I'd like to talk to a human supervisor."
Thanks
Hey, I've recently published my book 'Being Amolak,' but it's not getting the sales I hoped for. I believe in my book's subject matter and think it deserves more attention. As a budding writer, I'd appreciate any advice or strategies you could share to help boost my sales. Your support would mean a lot to me in getting my book out there. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer!
Why isn't it Amazon offering helpful videos for authors? I've never understood the lack of transparency and why we all are forced to clamor to third parties, like the excellent Kindlepreneur and also K-Lytics for any kind of trends data or meaty policy updates. Also, THANK YOU Dave!!!
The lack of transparency protects them from liability - you can't sue them for breaking the rules if no one knows what those rules are.
@@MisterNobody608 Agreed.
@@MisterNobody608 Nailed it.
A small publisher I work for had the dreaded account termination, two supposed "appeals," and when we demanded a human supervisor we were denied... until we said our lawyer needed more information from them. Boom, the account was restored within hours. Never any explanation of what terminated it in the first place and no admission of a mistake on Amazon's part, of course.
Waw... Please how did you word the email?
The mention of 'lawyer' usually scares people.
@@smart_tech_. I think the part that got their attention was this: "Our lawyer have requested more information regarding this account termination."
Which lawyer? how to contact him / her?
@rifatrashidadnan7613 imaginary lawyer
It's also important to note that the rules for tradpub aren't the same for indy. Don't jump off the bridge just because you see JK Rowling do it.
True
I'm so glad I subscribe to Kindlepreneur. Thanks for the updates, Dave
Sad to see how many people are saying their accounts are terminated. I hope they rally hard get it back.
And i pray that the rest of us never have to suffer that. The idea of it is enough to make someone worry.
So true.
My account got terminated this evening and they stated no reason 😭
I really think if Amazon updates there terms and conditions books that has been accepted before, should remain so and the update should only apply to new books.
Taking down someone's hard work for months in just a minute and not paying up the remaining royalty is not good, that's slave labour
Dave, what would we do without you? You work so hard. And yes, my husband has published many more books than I, and he says always, always ask for a human being to talk to if any issues come up. Thanks again.
thank you for the update- great video - you have such a great youtube channel and information to share - you are my go to kdp expert. It would be terrible to have account mistakenly terminated by algorithm bot. its good to contact a person that is not a bot at Amazon to discuss account - Algorithm mistakes do happen at Amazon unfortunately. PS thanks for link to your article.
Thank you - I'm brand new to self publishing and have two of my books in the "dungeon" and I've been trying to figure out why. I've watched this video 3 times already and will be watching it a few more, I think! Very helpful.
Glad it was helpful and sorry to hear about the dungeon...
I'm so glad you're talking about this! Thank you!
Thanks Julie!
For spicy content marking the checkbox on amazon has resulted in romance books being removed from search results (dungeoned). It's my understanding that Amazon gave clarification on this recently and the box only needs to be checked for explicit images or title content.
I thought that question only referred to explicit images on the cover. Dave, can you clarify?
More must-have info, concisely presented. Thanks, man.
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for the update!
You bet!
Thanks Dave! I haven't had this problem but it's good to know.
Thanks for detailed analysis on the topic. It is very helpful.
Glad to help :)
Dave, thanks for the great explanation of the KDP review process, it’s warming to know I’m not alone, cheers Bruce.
Thanks for the info. I'll have to check and see if I'm doing anything on that list.
Sounds good.
Damn. Just in time for my book to be published with all of the i's dotted and t's crossed. Appreciate this video greatly!
Thank you for sharing this information Dave that is great to know.
Very welcome
Thanks, Dave for the useful information.
Very welcome
This is all so worrisome. Thank you for this great video! I have a question, though.
Does one need to click "Yes" for the KDP question asking if there is AI content in a book if there is no AI content inside the book, but it does have an AI cover?
Got my account terminated and I have been suffering silently. Been trying to get my books going for years and finally got up to a few nickels and baaam terminated! Thanks for this.
Years ago I got an email saying I was "manipulating page reads" and that I had to stop it. I had no clue what they were talking about or how to fix it. It was so vague, and they wouldn't elaborate. Amazon just took 50% of the income from my page reads and said I'd be terminated if I didn't stop it. With no other option since I wasn't "doing" anything, I pulled all my books from KDP and went wide. Absolutely tanked sales, and they never recovered. Went back into KDP about a year later when they stopped attacking innocent authors, and sales were maybe 20% of what they used to be. All momentum lost.
That sucks...sorry to hear that.
That has to do with Amazon's click Farm Problem.
Same thing happened to a friend of mine, but Amazon terminated her account and said she was manipulating reads on her book, she doesn't even know how to do that and she wrote back to them telling them so, but the account was never reinstated. This was totally unfair of them, and the constant termination of accounts of innocent authors comes close to bullying
Thank you, please where is the link to to over come up with my terminated account back.
Please how to get back my terminated account back, my problem is with the book cover image the leads to my account termination.
Thank you for this in-depth video Dave! Now I am gonna prey and make an offering every night to our overlord algorithm. I hope it will ease my stress to get this aweful termination message.
Thank you, Dave. Great information.
A while ago, I uploaded a new cover for my first book. One of the changes was that I shortened the subtitle. I was able to change the metadata for the eBook, but KDP won't let me edit it for the softcover. I didn't want to mess with anything, so I left it alone. As a result, the subtitle in the metadata doesn't exactly match what's printed on the cover. Do you think I should contact support and ask them to change the subtitle, or am I better to leave well enough alone?
P.S. I got a copy of Publisher Rocket a couple of days ago and I'm looking forward to seeing what it can do. 🙂
Thanks and glad you liked it. As for your the subtitle, if you have passed through and published, you're fine. It's only on upload that I've seen a problem popup.
@@Kindlepreneur Good stuff! Thanks again, Dave.
Thanks for the information. I don't have anything on KDP yet, I wondered if you were going to discuss AI books, and if Amazon had a way to determine AI versus human content. I know some AI content can be pretty good, but some is not.
If you publish with KDP you have to answer the question and click yes or No If you have uses AI for your book Text or Cover.
Thanks for the information. Can you recommend other alternatives to publish books other than amazon KDP?
Draft2Digital are very popular and have Many Advantages for Many authors. I personally don't use IT because I write in German, but If I would write in English IT would BE my top choice, together with Smashwords. Both are joined together now. For the German Market I recommend Tolino Media and secondly Bookrix.
Hi Dave, just to make sure regarding Amazon Ads: Does that also mean, that I must not target amazon products like KU or booktitles and authornames via keyword ads? Only via product targeting ads? Thanks for the great video.
Hi Dave, are you sure about we can’t select us market if we live in other countries. Because I live in Sweden and wrote an English book, if i can select us market it’s crazy.
No no..it isn't that you can't select it. What I mean is that I think that if you are in a country that has had a problem in the past of having high volume of problematic books, the threshold in which triggers them to ban your account decreases - meaning you will have a higher chance of getting a KDP account banned.
@@Kindlepreneur People from Pakistan can't even open a KDP account. To many scammers from that country
@@Kindlepreneur I almost understand what you mean, but that's okay. It doesn't sound as scary now :)
Great video! Subscribed
I have tried numerous times, in many different ways to get my acx and KDP account back, I have finally given up, that account was bringing me little over 8K monthly, all gone,
Question Dave, If I open a LLC, New EIN, new device (laptop). new modem, new phone number, new bank, new books of course, do you think this would be enough to get back on successfully?
Thanks for putting out great content brother
I'm so sorry to hear that...that stinks. If you do open a LLC, then the LLC can open an account and you can be fine.
Great video Dave. But on the sub titles needing to be on the cover, I couldn't see that on the KDP content rules specifically? and does your paperback and ebook need to have the same subtitle? =
Yeah, this is one of those areas that is frustrating and I got clarification from an Amazon human on: I used to believe the cover issue was only for the title. However, there had been a couple of cases where the book was rejected because the subtitle wasn't on the cover. Apparently, according to the human that I talked with, the phrase under Subtitle in the metadata guidelines that says "The subtitle will appear on your book's detail page, and must adhere to the same guidelines as your title" covers the part of the title that says it must be on the cover. :(
@@Kindlepreneur Thanks Dave, that's really helpful. The guidelines could be clearer. "According to the human" LOL
@@joN38404 Yeah, n o joke...haha.
@@Kindlepreneur Does the subtitle have to be on the *front* cover, or is the back cover (and spine) considered as part of the cover? I have a book I'm still working on that has the subtitle on the back...I'd really rather not change it.
@@ammonnakai453 The spine definitely works. Amazon isn't clear if by cover that includes the back cover. But I think you'd be fine.
Thank you Dave for this eye opener.
Please avoid do we avoid book blocking. Amazon is blocking books within reasonable reason
Thanks very much for this important information!
If a paperback cover has no subtitle, but there is a subtitle on the paperback's Amazon page, is that an issue too?
(Or is only a different subtitle an issue)? Thank you.
And if it is already published, am I cleared?
If you already published and were accepted, you're fine and I wouldn't do a thing. But in the future, it is safer to add the subtitle on the cover or spine. Just getting those extra checks in the boxes :)
I would Change IT according to Amazon's Rules. Did this a few days Back for my already published books.
They wanted Proof that I hold license rights or Proof for Public Domain usage of one of my already published books covers Back in January. So better BE on the Safe Side than BE sorry.
YESSS!!! It happened to me yesterday!!
Ugh...sorry to hear that.
I'm planning to publish and this kind of scares me now haha. And I am an author outside of US planning to put my book on US market. Idk if my country is on the "banned" list, but if I do everything with the taxes right, then I shouldn't have problems?
ty for video
Absolutely
Hi Dave. I've been a user of Publisher Rocket for many years.
Do you mind if I ask you something quickly? Over the years, I've published numerous books on Amazon. Some of them have subtitles on the paperback covers, while others don't. I've never encountered any issues and have gained hundreds of 5-star reviews. However, about 1/3rd of my book covers don't have the subtitles. I chose not to include them for aesthetic reasons. These are books published as far back as 2016. Do you think I should go back and edit them all to add the subtitles to the covers, or is it alright to leave them as they are, given that some of these books are eight years old? Thanks, mate!
No, I wouldn't recommend that - that would be a lot of work. From what I've seen, Amazon's system isnt' as good at connecting subtitles on the cover. That's why some peoples books get accepted, and then some just don't. But it isn't something that gets it pulled down.
You cannot add subtitles to paperbacks already published with KDP. You don't want them to BE different to the eBooks.
My account was terminated without warning. I sent over a dozen emails and got no response. Any help? The termination email simply said I had violated their Terms and Conditions.
Thank you very much for your insightful message.
I got my kdp account terminated some time ago. I had just published for the very first time. I pleaded and pleaded no avail. So I don't know if you can help me restore my account please.
Thank you. Hearing from you soonest.
I had no idea my covers were supposed to have my subtitle. I will have to update all of those. Thank you!
Eh - if you passed, then no worries. The Subtitle is sometimes a thing when you first pubilshing...but if it passed, then don't worry about it.
@@Kindlepreneur Lately this was coming up again when a reader reports typos through the official quality issues interface. That seems to trigger another look at the book cover image to see if it matches the listed subtitle and a warning is sent via the quality issues board to fix it.
Please my account was terminated when I've published my last book for like 2 weeks ago, then I got an email saying that my account have been terminated without violating their rules, please how can I get back my account? 🙏🏽
They accused me falsely of publishing a book that violated their guidelines. They said the title and cover were dubious and misleading. The cover was from Canva. The title was a common phrase that people use when they want to write about that particular topic. They told me to change it or redo my book. I opted for the second choice, the book passed successfully. 4 months later, they send me an email that they're terminating my account because of the book that I abandoned, and didn't publish .
Can someone tell me how it makes sense?
It doesn't make sense at all
Once your account has been terminated, there's no way you can recover it. I've tried sending about 68 emails to KDP support team and failed 😢
Generally - it also depends on what caused the ban.
@@Kindlepreneur It was incorrect metadata for one title. But the whole account with all other 'correct' titles was terminated.
@@MrBalachiTheLion😢
Im an American living in the Philippines. Does that mean if I select USA as my marketplace Ill get shit down?! Or does the fact that I successfully registered a W-9 and have a US bank account mitigate?
I think the W-9 and US bank account would be enough to make it that you're a US entity.
How do you do this. Amazon Kdp is well known to close accounts for very vague reasons. KDP isn't to be trusted.
I teach authors to use comps in their book marketing so will "targeting other books or mentioning other authors" be a metadata violation that will get them shut down?
If you're using that as your keywords, then yes. (But not for Amazon Ads, you can target away in those).
Please help me my amazon kdp account was terminated
How can I get back my account please tell me
A thing to mention is that subtitle only needs to be put on paperback/hardcover. On an ebook, you can put whatever you want int he subtitle section and your see most authors use it to give a better description of your book, for example something like: "An Enemies to Lovers Romance."
Pls if I may ask ...we should not put subtitles again for the subtitles button on Amazon..?
But my question is can we add it's to our cover and the book contents itself
And moreover what if the paperback us first Publish..that u add all things like description, subtitles and the likes hope no problem if I didn't add that to my kindle
And u talking about description..we should not add description to kindle too right ?
Pls I'm waiting for ur response 🙏 sir / ma
Can you point me to that please?I couldn't find it on the KDP guidelines about having to be on paper backs.
@@joN38404 Yeah, this is one of those areas that is frustrating and I got clarification from an Amazon human on: I used to believe the cover issue was only for the title. However, there had been a couple of cases where the book was rejected because the subtitle wasn't on the cover. Apparently, according to the human that I talked with, the phrase under Subtitle in the metadata guidelines that says "The subtitle will appear on your book's detail page, and must adhere to the same guidelines as your title" covers the part of the title that says it must be on the cover. :(
Great point...on print books.
@@Kindlepreneur pls I need a clear response on that pls I didn't understand
I am a US citizen and resident of Florida but currently residing overseas. If I publish a book on KDP will Amazon use some type of IP tracking? How would they know I'm not physically in the USA at the moment?
No - my thought on the foreign aspect pertains to the belief that certain countries (think those that are notorious for spam or fishing) that have a propensity of creating poor book or doing scams, probably have a lower threshold - meaning if you are from one of those countries, you have a higher chance of getting your accont terminated for someone small.
I can't believe what you said about non-US writers publishing in America! I'm in Australia and publish to every marketplace. Should I be worried? And what is the sense in Amazon discouraging non-US writers?
No no...my comment on the international markets is that there are certain countries (you know which one I'm hinting at - the ones renown for scams) that have had a high propensity to create low quality book or set up scams. Data is showing that if you live in one of those countries, Amazon is more likely to ban your account if you make a simple mistake when uploading to a market that isn't yours. Basically the threshold to a banning is lowered. But if you live in a country that doesn't have history of that, you have less chances of a ban if you make a mistake or don't do things right.
@@Kindlepreneur Whew!! You had me worried for a bit. And it's not April first! LOL.
thnx for the video. im on kdp germany and i cant find the exact text that you need to put the subtitle on the cover. I found two places about cover and title, but imo neither is very clear about it when it comes to subtitle. In low contend its pretty common that there is no subtitle on the cover, you really think that this point could be a problem?
Yeah, I totally agree - and used to the think the subtitiel didn't have to be on the cover. But when talking with an Amazon rep, they told me:
In the US, under the section called "Subtitle" on the Metadata guidelines (kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201097560) the phrase "and must adhere to the same guidelines as your title" basically translates to, your subtitle has to follow the same rules as the title. Thus it needs to be on the cover or spine. :(
You do not need to put the subtitle on the cover
@@Elisabeth121-uk6pc Well, I've had a couple of peole email in that their book was rejected over that. Then when contacting Amazon about it, the human I got basically said: Under the section called "Subtitle" on the Metadata guidelines (kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201097560) the phrase "and must adhere to the same guidelines as your title" basically translates to, your subtitle has to follow the same rules as the title. Thus it needs to be on the cover or spine. :(
Clearly, Amazon isn't clear about this. And if it isn't necessary, then even Amazon's own people are confused about it. Which might be a reason why some pass and some don't. Oh, Amazon.
@@Kindlepreneur Amazon people are often confused, im pretty sure you know that :-) In this case it sounds its more of a thing how the AI has been programmed.
Maybe its an idea to just put the subtitle on the spine if you dont want it to have on the front cover. With some of my books it would probably lower the conversion rate to put the subtitle on the cover (low contend books). Thanks or you answer.
@@Elisabeth121-uk6pc "You do not need to put the subtitle on the cover"
the last words of a kdp account holder 😆
Sorry i couldnt resist, hehe. I think the kindlepreneur interpretation of the metadata guideline is correct. Its just one of those rules nobody cared much till now.
This leads to some uncomfortable questions. I published in the US store from Canada before there was a Canada store using an ITIN # from the IRS to avoid double taxation. Am I supposed to Unpublish my backlist from the US store and republish them in Canada without the accumulated reviews?
No no....my statement about foreign books was specifically saying that countries who have a high propensity of publishing poor or problematic books, tend to have a lower threshold. Meaning they have a higher chance of getting banned. Some place like Canada is not problematic...but I'm pretty sure you can think of what countries probably are.
@@Kindlepreneur Phew! I was a little worried there. Still, it's a little un-nerving given how Amazon documents stuff. I've heard their guidance on Erotica was 'pretty much what you'd imagine'. I suppose there's an out-of-date paragraph somewhere on the KDP site that deals with this question.
Love KDP Rocket!
@@AGClaymore Yeah, Amazon can be so problematic...As for Rocket, awesome and glad you've enjoyed it. Wait till a couple of weeks - we'll be launching a new feature that I think will be exciting :)
@@Kindlepreneur Can't wait to see what it is! I'm currently renovating a series (covers, blurbs etc...) so I should be firing up Rocket in a couple of weeks to fix the metadata!
@@Kindlepreneur Whew. This was my question as well. I am in Canada, but most of my sales are in the U.S., so when I had to click on my primary marketplace, I chose the U.S. I'm glad to hear that won't be a problem.
So if publish my book while out of town (country) for the summer, they might shut down my account?
No no...my comment on the international markets is that there are certain countries (you know which one I'm hinting at - the ones renown for scams) that have had a high propensity to create low quality book or set up scams. Data is showing that if you live in one of those countries, Amazon is more likely to ban your account if you make a simple mistake when uploading to a market that isn't yours. Basically the threshold to a banning is lowered. But if you live in a country that doesn't have history of that, you have less chances of a ban if you make a mistake or don't do things right.
@@Kindlepreneur Thanks! (Breath of fresh air!)
Your videos rule. They are the best. Thank you.
People living in Japan (and I would guess England, France, Germany and some other places) have the option of publishing via a local KDP account in their country or opening a US account and publishing via that account.
Does anyone know if this makes a difference or not?
Just to clarify, I live in Japan. I actually have two Amazon accounts for ordering products. One in the US, and one in Japan. One day by accident I realized my Amazon Japanese account actually has a KDP account attached by default.
In my case, I wouldn't use it-as it might be like publishing via two accounts. This can get you in serious trouble. But I wonder what is preferred? I even kind of wonder if the vetting process is identical or not.
there are account terminations due to authors inadvertently having multiple kdp accounts. Even though you are not using both for publishing, bots could flag your account once they discover it and ban You.
Many authors have gone through this horror, and I suggest you take action by consolidating both accounts into a single preferred account.
I've heard *several* times of cases where people were *actively* using two KDP accounts and then got in trouble. Yes. Totally agree in that case.
But I've *never* heard of a case where people simply, by default, had two KDP accounts and then got penalized. If you have heard of this and can cite a case, I'd like to see it. That would be concerning.
Doesn't Amazon themselves suggest that if you need more than three author pages, you open a new Amazon account? And then under that account start a new author page? In that case, by default, automatically, you now have two KDP accounts whether you even navigate to the KDP page or not. So it seems the issue would be over whether you actually *use* the other KDP account.
So my understanding is you can have multiple Amazon accounts, but you should *never* try publishing through more than one of those accounts.
Do you disagree with that? Do you have examples of people losing their KDP account over merely having two Amazon accounts?
@@markusgrejaldo Thank you. I think you're correct to be concerned about the issue.
However, it's definitely the case that some people will be in situations where they need multiple Amazon accounts.
I tried to look around just now on this and found a lot of ambiguous cases.
For example, it could be even if you have an Amazon account you don't necessary have a KDP account unless you log in via the second Amazon account. That's strange to me, but maybe that's the case?
In my case both accounts are essential. I use one for KDP publishing. The other is at Amazon Japan and I use it for ordering goods at Amazon Japan. I can't order at Amazon Japan using the other account.
I will contact Amazon about this.
They do not like you listing the contributors on the title of your book anymore (such as a map designer and a cover designer) You can still list in the book itself but not on the title. This seems to have been something new.
Jason's article lists "Offensive Content" as a common reason for shutting down a KDP account. KDP publishes thousands of books that contain pornographic material and scenes of sexual violence. Why aren't those accounts terminated?
Because the pornograpic material is listed as such. As I discuss in teh video, if the person published one of those, but didn't disclose that it is (there are steps in KDP for this), then they will terminate the account.
Yes, even some very crude stuff. Women sleeping with dinosaurs and tentacle Monsters from space. No Joke.
@@TheAcheron333 Wait, is there legit stuff like that just up for sale?? That sounds beyond weird and I can't see how that wouldn't automatically raise some red flags for KDP.
@@StixBloxburg As Long AS they click säxual content when publishing and when the Cover doesn't Show too much they are fine. I asked Amazon a few years Back about IT because I was Puzzled that this IS ob sale. No Problem.
My husbands explained that while bestiality IS in fact forbidden by law, that there IS a Grey area when These animals are Not existing.
Can you have the subtitle on the spine instead of the front cover? Does that count? Looking for loopholes! :)
Yes, that counts.
@@Kindlepreneurwhat about the back of the cover? I ask cause my designer already made my cover awhile ago, but adding the subtitle to the back blurb will be an easy fix
5:35 So if I don't live in United States I can't publish on the US market? Can someone explain please?
No no...my comment on the international markets is that there are certain countries (you know which one I'm hinting at - the ones renown for scams) that have had a high propensity to create low quality book or set up scams. Data is showing that if you live in one of those countries, Amazon is more likely to ban your account if you make a simple mistake when uploading to a market that isn't yours. Basically the threshold to a banning is lowered. But if you live in a country that doesn't have history of that, you have less chances of a ban if you make a mistake or don't do things right.
What are the guidelines with sexual content? I saw in the video that this was one of the reasons they can terminate an account. Can a romance author include a PG or R rated scene and be okay? (Okay, I know those are movie ratings, but I'm using them to make it clear what I'm talking about.) Or is this primarily for books in which the more risque scenes are gratuiitous? (X-rated, to continue the prior example.) From what I understand, you can't advertise books if they contain sexual content. Obviously, that might hurt a more mainstream book that has a sex scene in it. Does the rule apply to books that are primarily erotic in nature? I just want to know where that line is.
When you go to publish your book, there is a box that asks if it is this. Also, tehre are certain categories you can go into. If you don't check the box, or list accurately, then you can get in trouble.
I might be able to help here. Here’s a good place to start: "Does the book’s cover or interior contain sexually explicit images, or does the book's title contain sexually explicit language?"
Both of those are clear indicators of adult content, and your book needs to be marked as such.
As far as romance goes, do your love scenes advance the story or are they merely gratuitous? I would also suggest that you check out other romance novels, including those with a “Sponsored” tag, and review their content.
I don’t know why Amazon can't give authors access to these violation scanning tools. Then authors can just scan their own account to make sure it is compliant and take steps to correct any flag issues. Most authors do want to comply with the rules. But it can be easy to make an honest error, especially when Amazon change their guidelines.
Because if we could, bad actors would gamify the system and figure out ways around it :(
@@Kindlepreneur That's a good point. Although, I think they could make a simplified tool that lets publishers scan their catalog for problematic keywords and titles. This would be especially useful for when they update the rules.
I have a book called "The Ultimate Actuarial Joke Book: 670.5 jokes geeky enough to be suitable for actuaries" and it kept getting rejected. After months of back-and-forth it eventually transpired that using joke in the title and jokes in the subtitle was seen as keyword stuffing. So in the end just published it without the subtitle and it got through fine...
Wow, that's useful to know, thanks!
What's crazy is I can find a coulpe of books with Jokes in both. smh
I'm just here to say Awesome job on finding jokes for actuaries!! I mean, the 670.5 alone gets you there. LOL Not an actuary....just impressed.
@@Kindlepreneur Yup - they're older ones. So I think it was a recent(ish) change. If not, then they're picking on me!
@@jodieohr6418 haha! let's just say what gets classified as a joke for actuaries has a low bar!
What do you mean by publishing in a market outside your home country? We're allowed to publish in all KDP markets. Do you mean the MAIN market?
No no...my comment on the international is that there are certain countries (you know which one I'm hinting at - the ones renown for scams) that has had a high propensity to create low quality book or set up scams. Data is showing that if you live in one of those countries, Amazon is more likely to ban your account if you make a simple mistake.
The idea they would terminate someone's account (possibly their only or main source of income) without a Human decision is shocking. Also the short amount of time a Human might spend making that decision. And they rarely seem to give enough information to be able to appeal it. Shouldn't be legal.
Shouldnt be.
I am about to launch my first series. What does "sexual content" mean? That is pretty vague.
Is this a radio button you need to select for sexual content when loading the book?
Is it in the description? I have to say explicitly "sexual content"? I do not see that on any book listing that I know have extensive sex and violence.
Anyone know?
I'm unclear about that, also. There isn't any button to select to indicate sexual content in the manuscript or blurb - just a button asking about the cover. Sexual content is not banned, but Amazon is ruthless about certain words in the blurb that indicate content it doesn't approve of, which is an unpublished list that changes constantly. And Amazon is capricious about content. Books that have been up for years with sexual content can be pulled without warning. Trad pub gets a pass for many things indies don't. So my philosophy is hope for the best, try to follow the rules they are clear about, and mentally prepare that they can and will be unreasonable, will give you inaccurate information that varies from person to person, will quote rules that don't exist, will refuse to give you information that would allow you to correct the problem, and may terminate your account without warning. Don't put all of your eggs in their basket.
@@sophiekisker8491 I am well aware of AMZs brutality. I had an Amazon store for years until it was terminated for no reason and unable to appeal.
But I know my genre very well. The top five in dark romance all have very explicit sex and violence (my book is no where near that level). In fact, the top 100 are generally way over sexed in my opinion. All they have is the word "spicey" or "steamy" in their descriptions.
I don't get it.
Based on the KDP guidelines, it appears they’re more focused on explicit images inside a book or explicit words in the title.
In the industry, unless a romance novel is marketed as “clean,” love scenes are generally expected. Also, if you don’t check an age range via KDP, they won’t show your book to children. That option is primarily if you do have a children’s book.
Pls @ everyone I don't understand thjs Published on the Us market..located outside the Us what do they mean pls
Or are they telling us not Publish our boss to other market or ? What pls i need someone to explain better cos i don't understand 🙏
What I was saying in the video is that I think that if you are in a country that has had a problem in the past of having high volume of problematic books, then threshold in which triggers them to ban your account decreases - meaning you will have a higher chance of getting a KDP account banned.
It would be interesting to know if the age of an account influences the cancellation decision. Perhaps a mistake made by a profile with 8 years of creation and an impeccable track record is not considered the same as another with just 6 months.
Yeah, I theorize that it does. I bet that if you have a history of good books, you have a lower chance of a ban on a mistake. But if your account is new....no such luck.
What's the issue exactly with AI content?
I have heard people suggest that KDP creators can and do report there competition as a means of "swatting". Does anyone know if this is true or have real world examples of it?
I had swatting done to me but that was like 7 years ago. However, my swatting was a false claim of copyright infringement. I haven't seen or heard of anything where someone pointed out a metadata problem or inconsistency.
@@Kindlepreneur how did you determine this? I have only ever received broad I'm assuming algorithmic sanctions from the complaints department, like the requirement to remove myself from the only two categories that my books obviously belong in
Inquiries only resulted in an automated response with a link to their terms of service.
I can't imagine ever getting a direct answer out of them that says here is what you're violating
@@toddpickens As I said in a different comment of yours - being Kindlepreneur, working with their team on some collaboration work with Publisher rocket, and Atticus, I've developed relationships over the years with people in Zon.
Regarding titles and subtitles, here is the quote from their terms of service. "For print books, your title must be listed on the cover (on the spine or front cover). It must also match the metadata you entered during title setup. Title information doesn't need to appear in your manuscript, but it must match the metadata if it does".
Yes, that is correct. I used to think that this was only for title and not subtitle. But after people reporting that it was their subtitle that had their book rejected, I got clarification from an Amazon human. Basically they said:
The phrase under "Subtitle" in the metadata guidelines that says "The subtitle will appear on your book's detail page, and must adhere to the same guidelines as your title" covers the part of the title that says it must be on the cover. :(
Totally frustrating. Clearly, Amazon isn't very claer. If that isn't correct, then even the humans are unclear. Which probably explains why some people's books get through and others don't. :(
@@Kindlepreneur I've read that three times and that still doesn't make any sense to me.
But more fascinating is that you actually spoke to someone from amazon? How did you manage that?
@@Kindlepreneur did you see my comment with the quoted text from their terms of service regarding the title and subtitle? It expressly states that it either needs to be on the cover or the spine
@@toddpickens Well, being kindlepreneur and having worked with their programmers and people in their system (helps with Rocket and Atticus), I've built some relationships over the years.
@@toddpickens I'm not sure what you're referring to....yes, I agree - it needs to be on the cover or the spine.
04:05 You cannot always have the possibility to put the whole subtitle in the front or back cover, because often contains lots of words or repeated words. Talking from a low, medium content publisher.
Actually, what you're talking about with authors selling in the US market, but are located outside the US *doesn't* make sense to me. I'm a US expat, and it's hard enough trying to publish on KDP from outside the US without the threat of getting my account terminated. Are they mostly going after people in places that are known for piracy, or just anyone living outside the US?
No no no...what I'm discussing in the video is people who live in countries that Amazon has had probelms with in terms of bad book or scams (think countries that scam in emails...you get where I'm goign with it). If you happen to live in one of those countries, Amazon won't be as gracious and the moment something is 'off'....slam.
I have been an expat and publishing for 12 years. Everything about my business is based in the US. I don't tell any bank, credit card company or other business entity that I live abroad. They get too confused. I say, "I travel a lot." Oh... that they understand.
@@Kindlepreneur ok, it wasn't quite clear in the video, which is probably why you've gotten a few panicked replies...
@@carolynv.hamilton983 I'd do that if I wanted to keep ties in the US, but I don't. It should be better once I get to Ireland (where I\'m moving to next), but when I was living in Switzerland, it was a real pain int he butt...
Hi, Dave! I'm preparing a childbirth book for publishing. I'll have a few hand-drawn illustrations in the book showing poses during labor. Do you think I should mark it as sexual content?
I personally wouldn't consider that as such - especially if that is an educational book, and not masquerading as one.
Thank you so much!
I lost my account since February and there’s no message that I haven’t sent to Amazon but it’s not working
I know it's a pain in the ass to figure out, but you can call them and speak to a real person.
@@carolynv.hamilton983 Please could you help me with their contact info?
😮According to this video, I've gone against several rule. Subtitles. Publishing outside U.S. When I first started publishing, I was living in the U.S., but have since moved to Germany. Well, I guess it's only a matter of time.
Maybe ask their Support what to do in such cases. There are Many people moving abroad. You can verify you have moved. I own some books of indie authors from countries that don't have their own Amazon KDP (e.g. Indonesia). What about These? This IS Just insane.
If you passed their initial on the subtitles, you should be fine and I wouldn't do anything. In future books, just keep it in mind.
As for foreign, No - my thought on the foreign aspect pertains to the belief that certain countries (think those that are notorious for spam or fishing) that have a propensity of creating poor book or doing scams, probably have a lower threshold - meaning if you are from one of those countries, you have a higher chance of getting your account terminated for someone small.
Thanks much.
Mine was terminated for something that i never did. This went back and forth for months and they never answered any of my questions. Madness.
That stinks!
You don't need your subtitle on the book. The problem is, people are keyword stuffing the subtitles instead of it being an actual subtitle. Also making claims be it in the title, subtitle or description how the book is in someway good for your mental or physical health and having no credentials to back it up. Using a non human name for a pen name will get you in trouble. And low content books are especially getting the boot and the rash of AI art coloring books. Smut is fine as long as you answer truthfully if there is anything on the cover, title or subtitle of a sexual nature. It doesn't matter what is between the pages as long as no incest, rape, underage sex or sex with animals. And like you mention, copyright or trademark infringement.
I know that there's a checkbox for sexually explicit images and sexually explicit language on the cover, but how do we notate sexual content that isn't images and isn't on the cover?
Thanks for watching out for us so well, Dave. I'm finishing up a guided prayer journal focusing on praise. Knowing pretty covers really help sell journals, I'd rather not have a subtitle on the cover and maybe not my name. So, I have 2 questions. 1) Is the issue that I need a subtitle on the cover if I list a subtitle on my sales page? Could I have a subtitle (and my name) on my title page inside the book as long as I don't list the subtitle on my sales page? 2) Or does Amazon frown on not having a subtitle on the cover period? I think prayer journals often don't.
What? No this can't be right about not publishing in other countries. Every author I know and follow, including teachers and mentors, all publish outside their own countries!
Exactly what I was thinking and wanted to ask him about that. Because I live in Europe but want to select us market.
No no..what I was saying in the video is that I think that if you are in a country that has had a problem in the past of having high volume of problematic books, then threshold in which triggers them to ban your account decreases - meaning you will have a higher chance of getting a KDP account banned.
@@Kindlepreneur Could a VPN dedicated work then in this regard?
@@Kindlepreneur Phew! ok, thanks for the clarification.
@@numerouno3521i think most vpn ips are already black listed
this happened to me. Had my account shut down for 4 months. I called the better business bureau and they fixed it for me. wish i had called them sooner. My guess is Amazon flagged my book for not fitting in the correct category because my LGBTQ book wasn't gay enough? I know it sounds like a stretch but this appears to have happened to a few other gay authors and isn't an isolated experience. My book doesn't use the word "gay" and the sexual innuendos may be too subtle for an AI to pick up on.
So... are they terminating accounts that publish books with AI content? The fact that they're now asking that question makes me a little nervous.
No, in the video I was saying that I believe the reason for this increase in termination is steming from Amazon seeing lots of poor quality AI books hit the market...and so their automatic system is much more sensitive.
Plz can help me. Mu accont termined without resean ni copyright ni tradmark?
> Hello,
>> >
>> > During a recent audit of your account, we found content and/or
>> activities
>> > that are in violation of our Terms and Conditions. Therefore, we are
>> > closing your account effective immediately.
>> >
>> > Examples include attempting to publish books that violate our Content
>> > Guidelines.
>> >
>> > As part of the termination process:
>> > • We will close your KDP account
>> > • You're no longer eligible to receive any outstanding royalties
>> > • You'll no longer have access to your account. This includes, editing
>> > your titles, viewing your reports and accessing any other information
>> > within your account
>> > • All of your published titles will be removed from sale on Amazon
People were laughing at me when I pointed out years ago that Amazon is regulary "swiping" people from ceirtain countries, and it does it in intervals, with a generic reason in the "what's the reason", and "sorry, we can't disclose why" response. Because, good luck paying international lawyers, and Amazon knows this.
They didn't say why I was booted from kdp
Sadly, they usually don't.
I would love clarification about the s*xual content. I write darker romance that has spicy times. The only thing to click is the explicit button for images on cover or inside. I def do 18+ but how else can we confirm that yes, it’s in there. I don’t want to put all my books into the er*tic category because that’s not what I write.
Then you've covered their requirement. It's those that don't list as such, and then amazon's system sees it.
Same. I don't think this is right. I just double-checked Amazon's metadata guidelines and it only asks about the title and cover.
@@jerismith-ready4629right. I’m terrified daily that Amazon is just going to be like oh. Hey. Terminate.
I'm a natural born American over 35 years old and hence am qualified to run for President of the USA.
But, in this video you said Amazon might be targeting folks who publish to the USA marketplace but living outside the USA. I have been living in Europe for almost 2 years. If I were to write/publish another book, I'd be accessing KDP from a European IP address.
So.. you're saying Amazon might target me, an American citizen, who happens to be outside the USA for the time being?
Will a VPN fix this problem?
No no...my comment on the international markets is that there are certain countries (you know which one I'm hinting at - the ones renown for scams) that have had a high propensity to create low quality book or set up scams. Data is showing that if you live in one of those countries, Amazon is more likely to ban your account if you make a simple mistake when uploading to a market that isn't yours. Basically the threshold to a banning is lowered. But if you live in a country that doesn't have history of that, you have less chances of a ban if you make a mistake or don't do things right.
@@Kindlepreneur Thank you for the clarification
So, I appealed, and again, it's nothing but bots. I've been on KDP for 12 years, all of a sudden they are nit-picking stuff. It happened after I went in and changed the keywords on a bunch of my titles after I used Publisher Rocket earlier that day (the 17th) I got a warning email June 17th evening, on one title I'd changed keywords to that day, it was an erotic novella I released under a pen name. But at first the reason said it was because of the metadata, and then later it was because of pornographic content the following day. But before I could unpublish the book because I just felt like it wasn't worth it because they'd targeted another books in that same series - I rec'd another email the morning of June 18th, my account was terminated (due to pornographic content!) So, your email on termination that luckily came in that day. So, I've hired the attys, and we'll see what happens but prior to that, I'd been shooting appeals to KDP because another recommendation was to be "persistent." I don't think that helped.
Pls keep us posted here. I also got terminated for a term i did not violate.
If the lawyer helps id love to get a referral
Wow I came here thinking ai content is a reason for amazon bans....what a relief this video brought me...thanks Dave!!!
Glad it was helpful!
Copyright infringement and detecting ai written books is another reason for terminating
Very true
There is no way to sell a new book without using known competitors keywords. After new update it is time to leave this sh***. NOt everyone has huge mailing list, tiktok or instagram to advertise a book. Now it is not possible to do any positioning while ads don't make our book higher when we don't have popular (now banned) keywords in 7 boxes, title o subtitle. Funny becuase you can't use "coloring book" in 7 boxes now. So I have no idea how to rank my books now.
No no no...you can't use an author's name, or the title of a book that is iconic. That last part is based on the phrase that you can't be misleading.
Let's say someone else titles their book "Coloring Book". You can still use coloring book as a keyword, because tehir book isn't so fmaous that everyone thinks that book when someone says that word.
What they are trying to combat is people who use "Harry Potter" as a keyword in they 7. Or keywords like Stephen King, or Disney....when it is clear they are neither.
What's the point of having sexual content in our books?
It doesn't matter, none of my books are selling anyway! I feel like their shadowbanned!
I've published quite a few books on Kindle for which the raw text was AI generated. But I do extensive editing and have not had any complaint from them.
I've written and published 27 ebooks so far, and I only do it for fun because I love to write and publish for my own entertainment purposes.
However, I thank God for this opportunity.
Lord, please protect all of our accounts. Amen🙏
Thank you, Lord. I love you 💚💙❤️😇
Why bother putting in the effort of writing and self publishing when you can get your account terminated for no reason.
Same thing could be said for anything that isn't your platform to include Facebook, email, etc.
Thank you, please where is the link to to over come up with my terminated account back.
It's at the top under the video description