Look at that misleading cover! I apologize for your negative customer experience.
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Suzzer, congrats and thank you for convincing me to never do this again.
But seriously congrats. I’ve published a couple of small things on Kindle and never had the trouble you’re having but they were smaller projects with no corresponding physical copy.
Actually that’s not entirely true and is kind of funny. A while back I published a 4 part mystery, kind of in a weird zine format, in envelopes with photos of clues. When all 4 parts were done I combined them into a novella length kindle book.
Anyway, at some point i was searching for it on Amazon and found a used copy of the third installment listed used for $100 or something crazy like that.
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I got the feedback below from on the cover someone on the KDP forums. I’m curious if anyone concurs or disagrees.
Although your book is nonfiction, the cover is somewhat whimsical, which suggests fiction. And the first paragraph on the back cover reads to me like an excerpt from a novel.
(Here’s the back cover. I’m going to take out “Part travelogue, part immersive journey” because it sounds too much like AI-babble.)
The book’s title (a short main title followed by a longer subtitle) and the second paragraph on the back cover are more suggestive of nonfiction.
So it might be unclear to a potential reader, at first glance, if this is fiction or nonfiction.
A couple more observations:
On the back cover, in the lower left, the text of the corporate logo is partially missing or obscured, making this word difficult to read.
The typewriter font used for the subtitle and author name is slightly sloppy and indistinct, making these words somewhat difficult to read as well. The subtitle definitely should be a larger point size.
I seem to remember one or more posters a while back whose covers were rejected because of obscured or fuzzy text. I don’t know if that’s the case here, but it’s something to consider fixing anyway.
Also, white text on a pink and lavender background can be hard to read.
One last thing: You don’t need the word “by” before your name on the front cover.
Here’s my reply:
Thanks for the feedback. The book is a travel memoir that’s supposed to be funny. It’s basically like a Bill Bryson book. Conveying whimsy through the cover is a creative decision I made. I see some travel humor books that go over the top, with titles like “Which Way is Up? Matt’s wacky road trip through Mexico and Central America” and that just seems cheesy to me. As a reader who is also a gigantic Bill Bryson fan, I would never want to buy that book. I’m shooting for Bill Bryson fans as my core audience.
The first paragraph on the back actually happened to me. It’s supposed to convey adventure and also a little of my sense of humor. My hope is that if the reader is intrigued by the cover, they’ll read the back cover. By the second paragraph it should be 100% clear what the book is all about. Maybe that’s too late, I don’t know.
Their corporate logo has that weird slash through it. No idea why.
The typewriter font could be a little clearer and larger. Same for the text on the back, maybe I could make that stand out more (yellow maybe?). Neither of these look bad on the actual book though as far as I can tell. I will remove “by” in front of my name, thanks.
I made some tweaks, let me know what you think of the new bigger subtitle font. Is it too big now? Maybe I should just try a different font.
Having said all that, it’s one thing if they rejected the cover for various reasons like the ones you mentioned. But to instantly terminate my account with no recourse to change anything? I can’t imagine that’s their normal standard operating procedure. Are overworked support people in foreign countries now making creative/editorial decisions and instantly terminating accounts if they don’t pass? That’s completely insane if so. It really feels like they’re still accusing me of some kind of fraud.
FYI - my book passed review and was for sale for a few days before it was blocked. I bought one and still have it on my Kindle app. Not sure if that matters.
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I’d agree with that. I just don’t think it matters. Presumably someone who is considering a book is going to judge it by more than a literal 1s glance at the cover.
I made my 100,000th post in OOT:
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vibes after clicking on that thread
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Someone on the KDP (Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing) forums compared fighting KDP to complaining when the cop only gives you a ticket even though everyone else is speeding.
I replied with this, which pretty succinctly explains what just happened to me:
Imagine the cop is robot. The robot pulls you over and terminates your driver’s license forever for driving a semi-truck without proper certification. You point to the Mini Cooper that you were driving when the robot pulled you over. The robot ignores you.
Eventually, a different robot shows up, listens to your defense, sees the Mini Cooper, and watches you start the car with your own keys. There is no semi-truck in sight. The new robot says it will get back to you in 5 business days.
Two weeks go by, and a third different robot tells you your appeal has been denied for “driving in such a way that creates a negative experience for other drivers”. All the stuff about the semi-truck certification is never mentioned or acknowledged again.
You appeal again and again. All your appeals are heard by yet more robots, who always uphold the original robot’s decision, repeating the exact same bland phrase about creating a negative driving experience. THE END
Straight up Kafkaesque shit.
At least there are other options to get my eBook out, unless they find a way to mess with that too.
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True story, I currently have an arbitration case vs Amazon where they shut down a $5M business on their site without explaining why. They may have some basis or they may not but they claim the contract gives them unfettered right to do whatever they want (which we contest). I think they try to be “mean and lean” but their business has grown larger than their capacity to manage it.
It really sucks to be on the other end of that.
Yo. My approach with these silly ones is to try and get it to execs at the company somehow.
Either email directly, or complain on linked in, or on Amazon’s publishing twitter. They probably have an onshore complaints team that handle odd ones.
Heh, my first HackerNews blowup.
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This is weird. My post is now on page 11 of HackerNews.
https://news.ycombinator.com/news?p=11
All the other posts in that area are either days old, or only have a few upvotes. I wonder if Amazon’s reach extends out this far.
Update - I was able to buy a copy through amazon.ca but with an estimated delivery date of “Aug. 9 - Aug. 29”. Fingers crossed that I get this in time for my summer vacation.
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It may come faster. Or not. I think they have global print stations and yours might be the first to trigger the Canada one. The first person to receive my book from Amazon was in Germany of course. Efficiency.
If I don’t get your book in time for my vacation I will try a back up plan like engaging my wife in conversation or something, if I have to.
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Ordered two books from Amazon, one $20 and one $30. Instead of the books I received a couple ladies tops. Did the return thing, where you drop off the mis-shipped item to UPS store for credit. I received neither book, but the return only credited for the $20 book, because each book was associated with a different return label or something. So, just got charged $30 for a book I never received. Not even going to bother trying to fix it, as that would take more time than it’s worth.
My copy starts on page 1 and there aren’t a bunch of blank pages. When you’ve read 145 pages you’re only about a third of the way through.
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Unless it wasn’t clear, that page is from a different book and was posted as funny advice.
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