CB Conwy

Click here to edit.

  CB Conwy
  • Home
  • Books and reading order
    • A Russian Bear
    • Of Russian Myth and Lore
    • Happily Ever After
    • How to Domesticate a Russian Bear
    • Alphabet Soup
    • I Like You
    • Himiko: Bonding
    • Himiko: Warrior
    • Going Home
    • An Accountant into Kink (Fifty Gays of Shade)
  • Free stories
    • Who You Are
    • New Year's Resolution
    • His Something
    • Malaria, Cholera, and Bubonic Plague
    • Of Russian Myth and Lore
    • Saturday Night, Live
    • Leather and Newfound Land
    • Knowing it by Hart
  • About the author
  • Coming up
  • Links
  • Contact
  • Blog

Amazon thinks you should be ashamed of yourself

2/7/2018

 
I had a strange experience recently - suddenly, the sales of my books basically flatlined. I wondered what went on, and as I tried searching, I realized that my books - especially How to Domesticate a Russian Bear - no longer showed up in searches on Amazon's sites. 

Of course I did what anybody would do - contacted Amazon so they could correct the error. That was the beginning of a very long and convoluted process that led to this conclusion: Amazon thinks you should be ashamed of what you read, and they'll do their best to hide the results if you still try to find inappropriately adult books.

The funny thing (which isn't funny at all) is that the definition of "inappropriate" is entirely up to Amazon. I did a search, and I am allowed to buy this Luv-Spot 8-inch Silicone Realistic (and yes, that's the entire name; it seems that if you don't actually call it a dildo, it's not inappropriate, but instead a... really badly made storage device for your glasses, perhaps?). 
​
Picture
I also managed to find this beauty which is apparently a vintage magazine giving the reader historical insight in hygienic practices in southern California (judging from the hair color) in the late twentieth century. Because naturally it can't be porn since Amazon hasn't (yet) deemed it "adult". But my book is. 
Picture
As far as I can tell, the definition of "adult" is completely random (I staunchly refuse to believe that it's because there's gay content in my books. I really do. Even though you can find plenty of straight BDSM, Fifty Shades of Grey included, in your searches). The way of circumventing the system if you haven't yet been cowed into not buying this deviant literature is equally random, unfortunately.  

But, if you still think that it's your own damn business what books you choose to read and not the decision of some uptight Amazon employee, here's what you do:

Instead of choosing "All departments" when you search for an author or a title, you have to choose "Books" or even "Kindle Store" in order to find for example How to Domesticate a Russian Bear. You might get a text warning you that "Your search contains adult items which have been hidden". Click that, and THEN you can finally get to your book. 

The really annoying part is that there are apparently no set rules for this; the search settings and criteria for books varies from Amazon site to Amazon site. So, what works in the UK might not work in the US and vice versa. And, as my little dildo experiment showed, the results are wildly inconsistent. ​​I'd complain to Amazon about that, too - but I'm pretty sure they'd shut me up by putting the adult sticker on all of my books in every Amazon store, so I'm not going to do that.  

What I am going to do is to encourage you to contact Amazon if you also think that what you choose to read is your own business. Don't get me wrong; I'm all for filters - if you choose to use them. If you have children or get easily offended (nothing wrong with that), by all means, put a filter on your searches. But to have someone do it for you without telling you and without you being able to change it - that's censorship. And it's censorchip of the worst insidious kind, because you don't know you're being censored. You don't have to watch The Handmaid's Tale to know how that ends. We should not let that happen to us.

All right, I'm very angry right now (also because this has a huge impact of what I'd thought should be the revival of my writing career. Now I don't know; there's not much sense in writing a book if nobody can buy it). In order to not spend the night fuming like me, here's a picture of a "KONG Safestix Dog Toy, Medium" which pops up when you search for dildos on Amazon. It's also available in green, and that, ladies and gentlemen, is what happens when society is too uptight to even admit that sex exists. Maybe I should sell my books as pet supplies in the future.  
Picture

    CB Conwy

    I read and I write - everything from corporate to kink. My naughty fictional friends are always there to make my life interesting. And pester me, of course. Pesky creatures.

    Archives

    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    January 2017
    December 2014
    May 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010

    Categories

    All
    Alphabet Soup
    Andy And Ck
    A Russian Bear
    Awards
    Baker's Dozen
    Bella Leone
    Chris Owen And Jodi Payne
    Christmas
    Contest
    Covers
    Dark Horse
    Dr. Fell
    Editing
    Favorite Authors
    Free Stories
    Going Home
    Goodreads
    Happily Ever After
    Himiko: Bonding
    Himiko: Warrior
    How To Domesticate A Russian Bear
    I Like You
    Jane Davitt
    Jay Lygon
    Jeff
    Jessewave
    Julia Talbot
    Just Like Cats And Dogs
    Kate Sherwood
    Knowing It By Hart
    Lee Benoit
    Malaria Cholera And Bubonic Plague
    New Year's Resolutions
    Noel Blue
    Of Russian Myth And Lore
    Procrastination
    Reading
    Reviews
    Romance For The Rest Of Us
    Sale
    Saturday Night Live
    Scavenger Hunt
    Sigh-fi
    Syd Mcginley
    The Administration
    The Gaucho Code
    The Groupie
    Tom And Mischa
    Torquere Anniversary
    Whining
    Who You Are
    Writing

    RSS Feed

  • Home
  • Books and reading order
    • A Russian Bear
    • Of Russian Myth and Lore
    • Happily Ever After
    • How to Domesticate a Russian Bear
    • Alphabet Soup
    • I Like You
    • Himiko: Bonding
    • Himiko: Warrior
    • Going Home
    • An Accountant into Kink (Fifty Gays of Shade)
  • Free stories
    • Who You Are
    • New Year's Resolution
    • His Something
    • Malaria, Cholera, and Bubonic Plague
    • Of Russian Myth and Lore
    • Saturday Night, Live
    • Leather and Newfound Land
    • Knowing it by Hart
  • About the author
  • Coming up
  • Links
  • Contact
  • Blog