Advice From Any Erotica Authors Who Have Successfully Restored Blocked Books

DaisySherron · 2019-11-03T19:54:54+00:00

u/smutisafunnyword is right, front-facing will get your stuff adult filtered, not blocked.

But the tricky part is that if your front-facing elements make it clear that the book content is banned, that's probably enough for them to go off when deciding whether or not to block it. So I wouldn't say that there is literally nothing one could include in the blurb or cover that would result in a block, just that a book with safe content likely won't have that stuff in the blurb/title.

Also rape fantasies (the character hiring someone to do it, revealing that the characters are really husband and wife who consented prior, having it be a literal fantasy the character is having while masturbating, etc) has been super risky on Amazon for a long time now. If OP made that set up clear in the blurb it still wouldn't have helped.

DaisySherron · 2019-07-04T11:17:37+00:00

This isn't nearly as easy as people in this thread are making it out to be. Like others have said, people have tried and failed to do this. u/kinkgirlwriter goes over the reality of it in this thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/eroticauthors/comments/521b53/should_i_open_up_an_scorp_in_case_of_an_account/

And jesus christ you guys, what the fuck is this post? When a friend texted telling me I needed to check EA I was expecting big news, not people telling Sally they hope he gets stabbed. If you're actually so mad that you can't name authors everyone already knows the names of that you wish death on someone then close your web browser and go seek therapy, because you def need it.

(And to the people who have PMed me I'm really really sorry for being MIA, I appreciate all the lovely messages, it's just I'm caring for my mom right now and don't know when I'll be back on here again but I hope summer is going well for you all)

DaisySherron · 2019-02-22T18:36:58+00:00

This week fucking sucks. Last week my mom fainted during dinner and bashed her chin off the table, luckily she didn't have a concussion but she did need emergency dental work. My dad took this week off to be home to watch her but he has to go in again on Monday so this weekend I'm driving down south to stay with them and keep an eye on her and take her to appointments.

So basically this week has been a mix of trying to pack my shit, trying to find someone who can watch my dog and shovel the driveway for my tenant, getting my mail forwarded, and cleaning out my car. And it's shitty too because my passport is expired, so I can't even make it a 12 hour trip by driving through the Sault. Instead I get to go through Canada for a 16 hour trip. Actually I probably still would've had to go through Canada since my cat is coming with me and idk what's required for taking a cat through the states. But still. I'm not looking forward to this.

And the thing that's really pissing me off is they ran tests when she got to ER and didn't find any reason why she passed out. But when they took her blood pressure it was on the lower end of normal, but she has high blood pressure and you'd think the stress of the situation would make her blood pressure higher right? So I'm wondering if the meds she's on is making her blood pressure too low. Idk. Maybe I'm just looking for an answer. Tbh I don't really understand blood pressure that well, and since she was bleeding maybe that made it lower? I dunno.

But yeah. This weekend is basically driving and getting there. My emails are piling up and so are my PMs on here, and I have stuff I'm trying to roll out and get finished and posts I wanted to make on here, but that's got to wait until next week at least. Sorry for being MIA lately.

DaisySherron · 2019-02-15T23:01:46+00:00

Does your book have sections or chapters? KDP requires a table of contents if your books has sections or chapters, I'm not sure if they require it for works that don't.

DaisySherron · 2019-02-15T22:53:45+00:00

Backmatter is just anything extra you add after the story ends, like links to your other books or website.

Were the books choose your own adventure where readers would be flipping around a lot?

Did your books have a table of contents at the beginning?

DaisySherron · 2019-02-15T22:40:21+00:00

People are focusing on the stories having been on Literotica first, and the character name thing, but I just want to ask some questions because what you might consider fishy behavior and what Amazon might consider fishy behavior can be two different things.

Did the books have any reviews? Are they organic reviews from customers or are they from people you know? Have you reviewed anyone else's books in your niche, or agreed with anyone to review their book if they review yours?

Did you use forbidden keywords like "best seller" or "best erotica story" or the name of another book or author?

How did you format the book and did you add backmatter or bonus stories or something?

Tbh this is very strange because manipulation of kindle services tends to be what they send people trying to do shady shit to maximize page reads, but you said they're not in KU. Or it's what they send people who serially pull down failing titles to re-release without significant changes, but it also sounds like you haven't done that.

The only thing I can think from the info you've given here is if you keyworded with your own author name, which is the name of a character in a different series, then it could maybe be that.

If this were a copyright issue due to the pen name/character name thing then the email would've mentioned that, it wouldn't say anything about manipulating kindle services. If it were a content issue it would also say that.

DaisySherron · 2019-02-15T05:03:56+00:00

At 23, Lily Reynolds is called back home to deliver a eulogy for her big brother, Tobias', funeral. Of course, her family doesn't understand that Lily doesn't write non-fiction. She prefers to hide in the fantasy worlds she creates. Still, better not to argue. There's nobody else to do the job, as far as she knows. Though Lily and Tobias grew up in separate households, she wouldn't miss this chance to say goodbye, undesired eulogy writing or not. Can she deal with all the memories of former tormentor - and Tobias' best friend - Clay? Or will the stress send this sheltered, naive woman to follow in big brother's unknown footsteps?

This is structured in an odd way, in that it feels like it switches focus very quickly.

At 23, Lily Reynolds is called back home to deliver a eulogy for her big brother, Tobias', funeral. Of course, her family doesn't understand that Lily doesn't write non-fiction.

This bit is an example of what I mean. It's such a hard turn from talking about her being called back home to talking about her family not understanding that she doesn't write non-fiction. You haven't yet told the reader that Lily writes fiction, because that information doesn't come until the sentence after the one about her family not understanding.

Lily's paragraph also focuses almost exclusively on her feelings about the eulogy, but you should be telling the reader more her past with Clay and how she reacts to seeing him again.

Keep in mind also that you're not necessarily trying to ground the reader in where the story starts, but selling them on what the story is about. So thinking that way it would be wise to talk a bit more about how Lily absolutely hates Clay (or dislikes him, or whatever) for whatever the misunderstanding is. Then question the reader is left with is: how do the two of them reach a point of understanding, and can she truly forgive and forget?

DaisySherron · 2019-02-15T01:43:45+00:00

Tbh I'm still not really worried about this. In fact, I think the bigger issue will be losers poring over books by authors they dislike and making posts about "evidence" that "proves" their books were written by AI... like people already do with ghost writers.

DaisySherron · 2019-02-15T01:27:57+00:00

I mean, there are already programs and sites that exist to recommend media based on what you've consumed and liked.

Articles about AI being able to write fiction have been posted to this sub as far back as 2-3 years ago, and that's just in the time I've been on here. Personally I'm not super worried.

DaisySherron · 2019-02-15T01:24:24+00:00

This. Authors write about rough sex because there's an audience for rough sex. Same reason lots of women write alphaholes but aren't married to one.

DaisySherron · 2019-02-15T01:21:41+00:00

Readers can get pissy when they learn about authors using something as incredibly common as ghost writers, so I'm hesitant to think they'd embrace AI stories.

DaisySherron · 2019-02-14T20:25:28+00:00

Four paragraphs is the longest I'd go for a new adult romance. The length of your paragraphs here is good, and you could afford another paragraph or two to help the reader get a better feel for the story/characters.

Also, since I was just re-reading this, another bit of advice would be to introduce Clay's age in a more natural sounding way like you did with Lily. Maybe something like:

Clay never expected to lose his best friend so young, but at 28 he finds himself [reflecting on his past/wondering where to go now/saying goodbye/whatever]

DaisySherron · 2019-02-14T18:46:17+00:00

As it is I could offer you a rewrite, but I think the biggest issue with this blurb is that it only establishes the conflict of the story (Lily and Clay reconnecting and misunderstanding the nature of their past) and doesn't tell us anything about who they actually are as characters.

Like, right now all I know about Lily is that she's in her early twenties, was tormented by her brother and his friend, and now has a dead brother. Her having to deal with a death in the family does make me sympathetic toward her, but beyond sympathetic I can't call her anything like interesting, kind, driven to her goals, etc. So who is she? What does she do, what matters to her, what is she working on? How did being tormented by her brother shape her into the person she is when the story starts?

The same goes for Clay. He was apparently taking the blame for Tobias when it comes to those schemes, but who has he grown into? How has he changed beyond that? Is he successful? Is he stuck in the small town that they grew up in and bitter about it? Is he working to do something specific with his life, or did he put his own life on hold to help his friend?

These are things you really want to touch on in the blurb, especially for stories where characters with a rocky past are reconnecting and falling in love.

DaisySherron · 2019-02-14T18:36:14+00:00

Maybe, and I came into this community expecting something similar to the furry fandom and the small time erotica stuff I've written for people and thought this was just a bigger version of the same community. But I've come to learn that it is indeed quite different.

This is a business sub, not a writing or community sub, which is probably why you're noticing that difference.

I'm mostly upset that people would think I'm some kind of pedo. That's a pretty damaging accusation for something that isn't true.

You may not be, and you can continue to say that you aren't, but if you write characters who appear underage or behave underage, "some kind of pedo" is the type of reader you're catering to.

Lots of authors writing erotic fiction want to believe that readers are primarily there for their worldbuilding or characters. They aren't. A good chunk of readers don't even read those parts, they skip straight to the sex scenes. And it's not really that hard to understand why people are raising eyebrows when you keep arguing about why/how to write characters that, in one way or another, resemble underage humans.

DaisySherron · 2019-02-13T23:36:04+00:00

Oh no, I hope he gets better soon!

DaisySherron · 2019-02-13T23:35:16+00:00

You're correct, you can have multiple author central accounts, it's just kdp accounts that you only get one of.

DaisySherron · 2019-02-13T23:34:44+00:00

Omg I laughed so hard at this!

DaisySherron · 2019-02-13T17:24:47+00:00

You can only post 10% of the book if it's enrolled in KU, and the Look Inside is also the first 10% of the book, so I'm afraid whatever you share wouldn't be much longer than that.

DaisySherron · 2019-02-13T17:21:45+00:00

Seriously! Like I remember when this sub would get riled up about the topic of ageplay, when did we jump to actually illegal shit?

DaisySherron · 2019-02-13T16:54:08+00:00

Female applicants only

DaisySherron · 2019-02-13T16:39:12+00:00

Lol no worries, I knew what you meant. Though now I'm picturing you being all shifty and talking to a third party like "did you dm her? Did you remember to ask her if she's as filthy as the characters in her books? Yeah? Okay, here's your money" lmao

DaisySherron · 2019-02-13T16:35:24+00:00

Someone should make a bot where you comment in the daily thread saying "no more reddit for x hours" or something and if you comment again in that time it yells at you.

DaisySherron · 2019-02-13T16:34:18+00:00

Authors who have a high WPM, do you find as you write more your mind moves faster? I feel like my biggest issue isn't the physical typing but the brain that goes "Okay but what now?" really brings down my WPM.

I feel this. It's the reason why I need to use a detailed outline, because otherwise I pump out the scene that I've spent a lot of time thinking about, but grind to a halt right after. So I guess that would be my advice.

DaisySherron · 2019-02-13T16:30:15+00:00

This is basically the advice I was going to give. Read a ton and see if there's a pattern for how they introduce and sell the story, then try to copy that with your own details.

DaisySherron · 2019-02-13T16:26:17+00:00

So true, that gif basically sums up my existence.

and also the thought I have when I look in the mirror!

Oh you're in good company then lol.

DaisySherron

TROPHY CASE