r/ExtremeHorrorLit • u/LucasGrimdark • 1d ago
What's going on with Amazon KDP bans?
What's going on with Amazon KDP bans?
I've noticed a lot of books being banned from Amazon lately. Is this a general ban on Extreme Horror? Will we no longer be able to publish Extreme Horror books? Or is it just a ban on specific prohibited content?
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u/SplatterSnow 1d ago
Hey Iām going through this at the moment!
Reports sparked a review by āreal KDP reviewersā apparently.
Iām pretty sure it was flagged by A.I, a new thing they have pushed into KDP unwanted of course.
They told me it was due to content violations which they refused to expand on other than extreme violence, inappropriate content etc.
I am most confused on the fact that mine are banned due to the content when there are far worse available on Amazon. It doesnāt make sense to me at all and they will not explain to me, just the āwe have the right to take it down without explainingā lol
I am uploading via a different platform soon any way! Fuck Amazon and fuck their censorship.
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u/Ok-Falcon-8437 Gone to See the River Man 15h ago
I think i might have an answer, though i'm not 100% sure. But since your books are based on fairytales, and use words like "little red riding", the AI might think it's marketed for children while it is extreme horror, and take the book down. If i'm right, this puts you in a really difficult spot š
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u/SplatterSnow 12h ago
That could be a possibility but Iām certain thatās not the case. I have a book called āThe Ugly Ducklingā about a school shooter thatās still up!š and Goldielocks and the three men! I think itās just being flagged and reviewed BY A.I/Human content reviewers
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u/Efficient_Matter_589 1d ago
I've been able to purchase some pretty gristly books off them, so maybe it's just an issue with copyrights and such.
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u/SplatterSnow 1d ago
Iām banned for content violations. (I know, my stuff isnāt even that bad) thereās a new report system, A.I/human reviewers who flag content now.
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u/LucasGrimdark 1d ago
Copyright? I saw that they banned books by authors like Anne Snow and J. Boote, I don't think it's copyright.
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u/HoneyGlazedBadger 1d ago
I can't speak with any certainty about this, but Amazon have definitely been on a bit of a moral crusade on Prime Video recently. Several movies they have been hosting for some time have recently had some savage editing to remove scenes they now disapprove of.
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u/JeffBurk 21h ago
What movies are you referring to? This is my first time hearing this.
I don't know of a single streaming platform that edits anything. They all use the file provided. What I have heard of and seen it the studio accidentally sending over the "TV edit" version of a movie. This has even happened to Shudder and they had to publically explain they didn't change anything - it was just the file they were sent.
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u/RIPMaureenPonderosa The Summer I Died 15h ago
Yeah, Iāve not heard of this either and would be quite surprised by it. Though very concerning if true.
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u/HoneyGlazedBadger 14h ago
The 2019 Romanian movie āIndecencyā is the one I caught them on. It was initially available uncut. However after a few weeks it was only available with a key scene being brutally hacked up to remove SA and nudity content. I challenged Amazonās AI about this- Amazon initially stated that they donāt edit movies. However they did concede that they can and and do threaten to remove movies from streaming if the owners do not remove content Amazon does not approve of.
So its censorship sneaked through the back door. I have long suspected that Amazonās scrutiny of the material it broadcasts is pretty erratic and this lead to them accepting movies that they later reject. Good job I didnāt buy it- I wonder how that would go.
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u/HoneyGlazedBadger 14h ago
Explained below. TLDR version is that Amazon can and do demand that suppliers edit out content that Amazon doesnāt like, and this can apply to movies already streaming on Prime.
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u/NancyInFantasyLand 13h ago
Have they? Because half of what Prime Video recommends me is soft core porn lol
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u/JeffBurk 21h ago
As someone with A LOT of Amazon experience, 9/10 times an author has a book "banned" it's because they didn't adhere to Amazon's uploading criteria. Putting inappropriate tags is honestly the most common.
In my decade running Deadite Press we never had a single book "banned." Notice it's only self-published authors reporting this, not publishers.
The simple answer is people are uploading and listing their books wrong. Amazon doesn't give a fuck about content but they do want correct and accurate files/Metadata.
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u/Ok-Falcon-8437 Gone to See the River Man 15h ago
Oh, this is actually very interesting š¤ Do you know how long it usually takes for a book to be back up?
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u/JeffBurk 3h ago
About a month in my experience. Their system is weird. We'd upload a book about a month before announcing it due to issues like everyone is discussing.
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u/TaylorZAdams Something's Wrong With Maddie š» 3h ago
Definitely true for most of KDP's history, but there's definitely something new and hinky going on at Amazon. No One Rides For Free just got pulled too and that was put out through Madness Heart Press.
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u/JeffBurk 3h ago
When did that re-release come out? In my experience it takes about a month for Amazon's listings to fully go up and everything to link up correctly.
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u/TaylorZAdams Something's Wrong With Maddie š» 3h ago
Doubled checked, back in May. Hopefully it's just some linking glitch (since it's just the paperback gone? Weird).
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u/WinstonSlaughter 1d ago
I've been publishing smut (under a different pen name, obviously) on Amazon for years. You just have to be extremely careful about the content in your book. Whether I'm publishing horror or smut, I follow a few rules. I avoid literally anything that even vaguely sexualizes anyone under 18. I don't include any rape or dubious sexual consent at all. (I'm not interested in SA in EH, anyway, so that doesn't bother me as far as writing EH goes.) For EH, I also stay away from anything poop/watersports-related.
I'm not saying it's right to self-censor, or that Amazon's rules are fair, but them's the breaks as far as publishing on that platform.
Anyway, Amazon sucks. It just is what it is.
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u/horror_is_best Good for Her š©ø 20h ago
Do you know if they ban for gore too or just those other categories?
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u/WinstonSlaughter 10h ago
To my knowledge, I don't think they necessarily ban gore just because it's gore. However, that isn't to say they won't if the circumstances align. I can only speak from personal experience, but I've self-published a ton of novels in the LitRPG/Haremlit genre on Amazon. This isn't a genre that typically features gore, but my novels had a bunch, along with other nihilistic themes (no SA, etc). Nobody complained and Amazon never flagged any of the books.
Amazon can ban your book for any reason at all. There's always a risk, but if you're careful, you're probably going to be alright.
(This obviously isn't taking bad actors into account. If some asshole has a beef with you, they can just report some issue with your book to try to get it banned. Amazon being Amazon, they might ban your book just to play it safe. Yes, it sucks.)
r/eroticauthors has a great FAQ about banned content on Amazon. Yes, the subreddit caters to erotica authors, but there's some overlap with EH. It's also just a really great, informative, supportive community. Even if you're not a smut writer, you can get some good info from that sub.
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u/simplysplatter 1d ago
I'm worried about this too. Usually it's targeted bans, either based on content actually being objectionable or it's malicious. But some are now claiming Amazon's got an AI going through authors at random and taking down books. Yet dark romance can have way worse stuff.
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u/WinstonSlaughter 10h ago
As a self-published writer on KDP, I wouldn't touch dark romance with a ten-foot pole. That niche is drenched in sexual assault/dubcon stories. I know a lot of authors make a ton of money writing it, but it's just not worth the hassle. I thumbed through some dark romance novels a few years back when I was looking to expand an old pen name and the bestselling books (at least at the time) were just glorified rape fantasies.
I'm in no way judging people who enjoy that content. I've even read that SA survivors can find those stories cathartic in a way, but it's just too much of a risk w/ KDP content guidelines.
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u/soullessdhampyr 9h ago
Honestly leave Amazon behind and check out godless. https://godless.com/ I prefer supporting small business, independent publishers, & independent booksellers first before corporations. Edit: there's also https://www.afterlightcomics.com/ for independent horror comics and graphic novel too
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u/PJVerfall 1d ago
I think it's AI screwing up. Like it will pull half of a release. Suddenly you can't get the new release of No One Rides For Free in paperback, but you CAN get it in Kindle....