Banned from Amazon.
How to get banned from Amazon?
It’s easy. Write a book that has a no-no word in the title. Or subtitle. Even if the word means exactly the opposite from what is insinuated. Or a word that smells like a swear word.
Well, I received notice that my selfpublishing books will be taken down unless I change the subtitle, which mentions the word “bestseller” as in no-bestseller. These books are about how to succeed without a bestseller. Amazon’s immutable process bans the books for “misleading information” or some crap, because I tell people you don’t need a bestseller to earn a living. Because obviously a computer can’t tell the difference between snake oil and a nuanced approach. And because the computer trips up, the associated humans follow slavishly, off the cliff of ridiculousness.
Yeah, I know.
Now some people may tell me to “just change it”, but that would involve all new covers for ebook, print and audio, and new ISBNs, and apart from the expense that’s totally not worth it, this is not how I was raised.
I. Do. Not. Give. In. To. Bullies.
So if the current still-running discussion with KDP goes nowhere (and even though there are other books on Amazon with “bestseller” in the title that mean “bestseller” and how to write one, they’re really digging in, so I don’t expect their position to change), I’ll be taking down the books myself later this week. I want to keep control over them.
They’ll still be available in print and audio (they can’t take those down mwhahahahaha) and people can get the ebooks elsewhere.
For those who say I should appease the Amazon gods, these books are not mightily important to me, since I have zero interest in making a career out of coaching writers.
This is computer AI gone mad.
