Tears of Crimson

If you can't beat them.... scream yourself into oblivion then change the title?  This was the only option that I could come up with for Whore, which as you can see by the book cover, I attempted to rename!  My first problem began when Facebook refused to let me advertise, claiming the title was against policy.

I was pretty ticked about that but decided if Facebook didn't want my advertising dollars, it was there loss.  So I released Whore and got several comments from loyal readers that they couldn't find my book without typing in the exact title along with my name.  I let that slide for a week, thinking it just hadn't had time to go through Amazon's search preferences.

Then I noticed the category for my book.  Erotic?  I didn't list it as erotic.  It was listed as a Contemporary Romance.  I went back through KDP and checked my categories just to make sure I hadn't inadvertently put the wrong thing in.  Nope.  The title was listed just the way I meant it to be, Contemporary Romance.  So I emailed them.  This was the tidbit of advice I got that shocked me.  If a book has been listed as Erotic it can't be listed in any other category.

Well I didn't list it as Erotic and since my people have clothes on the only deduction I could come up with for this was they didn't approve of the Title.  Whore was meant to be a play on words for the book, the (h) is a virgin for the love of Christmas! While I could get by without advertising on facebook, readers not being able to find my book because it was deemed pornography was unacceptable.  I mean come on... I write about virgins and strong men for heaven's sake!

I feel like I had no choice.  Amazon was obviously on a witch hunt and my book got screwed.  Selena Kitt did a great post on this: Selena's Post.  For my other author friends I highly suggest you go here http://www.salesrankexpress.com/ and see if your book has a red adult tagging.  If it does you might be forced to do exactly what I've done.  

So low and behold I get this nice little email from Amazon after I changed the title to Deflowered:

Kindle Direct Publishing <title-submission@amazon.com>
11:13 PM (7 hours ago)


Hello,

We’re contacting you regarding the following book(s), which are in violation of our content guidelines (see list below for details):

Deflowered by Hughes, Michelle (AUTHOR) (ID:4332246) - title

If you wish, you may make changes to your book (images, title, description, and interior content) to comply with the KDP Content Guidelines and re-submit it for publishing.

You can find our content guidelines on the Kindle Direct Publishing website: https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help?topicId=A1KT4ANX0RL55I

We’ve set your book to an editable state. Upon changing your content, please re-submit your book for publishing and respond to this email at title-submission@amazon.com in order for your book to be made available for sale in the Kindle Store.

Best regards,

Kindle Direct Publishing

kdp.amazon.com


So Whore is an acceptable Title, but if I use it then Amazon will make it an ADULT book refusing to let it be seen in normal book searches and it can't be categorized as Romance since they deem it Erotic?  So after going through ALL that frustration I get an email back from Amazon saying they've reconsidered Whore and it is now no longer Adult.  Here's that email:

Kindle Direct Publishing <title-submission@amazon.com>

Hello,

We’ve reviewed your response concerning the following book(s):

ASIN: B00H3T3GS4

After further review, we have decided to remove the search restrictions so your book(s) will now be found in our general product search results. This may take up to 24 hours to process.

We appreciate your feedback and apologize for any inconvenience caused by this temporary restriction.

Best Regards,

Beatrice K
Amazon.com
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