The Amazon Dungeon and How To Avoid It
To an author who sells on Amazon, there is no fate worse than being cast into the Dungeon. While erotica authors need to be especially concerned, writers in any genre can find themselves locked up if they make a mistake in how they market their product.
This article explains what the dungeon is; how to avoid it; and if you find yourself trapped there, how to escape.
If you have been writing erotica for any length of time, probably have heard of the Dungeon. It is not the fun BDSM kind. It is where the retail giant sends products that have been flagged as “Adult”. When that happens bad things follow
IT IS A SALES KILLER
Books labeled as adult will not surface in product searches. Even worse, when someone buys a book, Amazon will make recommendations of similar books they might enjoy. Flagged books do not get recommended, even if the customer bought one of your non-flagged books. This means lost potential sales.
The online behemoth, makes a profit from selling your books and wants people to find them. However, they also want to avoid offending their customer base with product photos and descriptions that are overly graphic or violate the terms of their community standards. Thus, the adult flag that hides these products.
