Amazon Kindle Quality Control?

[Xtro]

Friends have just done the Kindle Publishing thing. They took an anthology of 12 short stories, and also split it down into 4 x 3-story mini-books for something like 99 cents (something low.) Sprats for Mackerels, I suppose.

 

However, although Amazon's vetting has released the full anthology, it's blocked one of the mini-books because of "inappropriate content."

 

Anyone else had - or know of - this happening elsewhere? Makes no sense to me, but they've signed up for the 90 day exclusive Kindle Library deal - though are pushing the rejected one out to another ebook seller.

[Andy78]

"Inappropriate content"??

 

Amazon sell a lot of Comicality's stuff, so for your friend's content to get blocked it must be really bad **tsk, tsk**

 

Though I can't work out how the whole anthology got published, but one of the mini ones didn't.

 

Strange Amazon.

[Cyhort]

What was inappropriate about it? I've seen a LOT of stuff on Amazon that had pretty out there sexual stuff in it so I can't even imagine what it could be about unless it was like a guide to picking up kids in a creepy van or how to build a bomb or something.

[Xtro]

That's the confusing part about this - original consensus was that you might have been able to see a small shadow of pubic hair in regard to the front cover (artwork, as opposed to photography) but most of the body is half masked with a semi-transparent banner.

 

Content is nothing that Lucas Steele over at XCite hasn't accepted before, and most of it is pretty standard stuff - Jerry Wilson with a Biker piece, Harry Forsythe writing about an air steward in a whiteout/snowbound layover in Boston, and Mike Fennick's piece Initiation Rites - which, if you call someone having red silk cords tied to their wrists and left unattached to anything restraining - apparently Harry says it's symbolic, and states that in the text - BDSM (in which case what do you call Charity Bracelets?) then that's the only 'sticking point.'

 

However, as mentioned above, the 'Master Copy' - ie, the anthology with all 12 of us in - has been passed. First time with the wrong cover, and again a second time with the right cover (Quark put the wrong aspect ratio to the drawing and stretched it a little more than Dave Haskins the artist was prepared to forgive.)

 

Beats me (said the masochist) - but Grahame Benedict has taken the 'blocked' mini-book and is submitting it elsewhere - fiction4all, I think.

[NotNoNever]

Has anybody asked Amazon this question? And do they provide any answers?

[Xtro]

So far, all Graham has received has been form/auto-generated replies - it doesn't conform to Amazon standards, end of story (ahem!)

 

The other problem is that Graham doesn't want to rock the boat and have them block the Prime Source - ie, the main anthology where all 12 of us are.

 

If I'm allowed a shameless plug (be gentle, Mista Moderator!) then the main anthology is called MANSIZED Volume 1, and the little mini-books are called HALF A SIX PACK 1, 3 and 4 (ie, three stories in each for less than $1/£1 per vol.)

 

Also, as mentioned above, Graham went for the 90 day Amazon Kindle Library Exclusive - which means no other placement on pain of banishment from the magic Rainforest. Hence his desire to put Pack 2 up on Fiction4all. Compared to some of the material that used to get published in Libertine Magazine - and the fact that Waterstones were promoting a book called (and I kid you not) The Great Cock Hunt (and no, they're not talking about roosters) then the rest of us are at a bit of a loss.

[StopMe]

its so brittle an low qualiyt bt customer care is gud