Kindle Publishing Romance Books: Rank Removal & Suppression

About this video

Dale reports that a few weeks earlier Amazon, without prior notice, began stripping bestseller rankings from erotica books and other books perceived as sexual in nature, and suppressing their search visibility — suppression insiders call ’the dungeon.’ He says authors pulling in thousands of dollars in sales in a day saw their paychecks almost dry up, because ranking aids discoverability. The sweep, he says, also caught romance books, books with specific keywords, and even an author whose books were free of romance or erotica. He notes the apparent double standard that phallic-shaped adult toys remain easily searchable and that Fifty Shades of Grey kept its ranking, and he speculates, as others did, that the shift may have been a reaction to the SESTA and FOSTA acts. Dale emailed Amazon asking for clarification and whether large publishing houses were exempt. Before Amazon replied, rankings reappeared on erroneously suppressed books. Amazon then told him a recent Kindle Store change had inadvertently caused some titles with an erotica browse path to lose sales rank display, that it was corrected, and that only rank display — not search — was affected. His lesson: Amazon acts in its own perceived interests, so treat it as a tool, not the be-all and end-all, and have backup ways to expand your business.

Key takeaways

• Amazon stripped bestseller rankings from erotica and other books perceived as sexual, without prior notice, according to Dale.
• Dale says the sweep also hit romance titles and at least one author with no romance or erotica content.
• Amazon later told Dale the loss was inadvertent, was corrected, and affected only sales-rank display, not search.
• Indie author pushback coincided with rankings being restored within a couple of days.
• Do not depend solely on Amazon: treat it as one tool and maintain backup routes for your self-publishing business.

Episode details: published April 16, 2018 · 5:31 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dale L. Roberts’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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