Book Marketing Tips and Author Success Podcast
Join Penny Sansevieri and Amy Cornell for fun and frank discussions packed with clever ideas, easy-to-implement book marketing strategies, and critical publishing industry knowledge and insight! Designed to help self-published authors and traditionally published authors at any level, the Book Marketing Tips and Author Success Podcast will definitely inspire you with new ideas for how to sell books, grow your platform, and make strategic business decisions as an author. Subscribe today and take that next step toward a more successful, long-term book marketing plan!
Book Marketing Tips and Author Success Podcast
Amazon News: How to Navigate Amazon's Inconsistent Ad Guidelines
Ever feel like you're banging your head against a wall trying to get your Amazon ads approved? You're not alone. When a mystery thriller author's cover featuring a bloody knife was rejected because it looked "too menacing" and appeared to be "pointing at the consumer," we knew we had to address this frustration head-on.
The absurdity reaches new heights when you discover Amazon approved the print version with the identical cover but rejected the ebook ads. This is just one example of Amazon's maddening inconsistency across its various platforms and departments. While the ads team remains vague and often contradictory, other Amazon departments like A-plus content provide clear, specific feedback. Romance authors face similar arbitrary judgments about how much skin is acceptable on covers, with guidelines that seem to shift without warning.
Our battle-tested advice? Channel your inner toddler. Be persistent, submit multiple support tickets, provide examples of similar approved books, and don't take the first "no" as final. We've seen countless cases where persistence pays off, including our mystery thriller author who eventually got approval after multiple attempts. Whether you're dealing with ad rejections or even having your book mysteriously pulled from the platform, advocacy works. Remember: Amazon's only consistent trait is its inconsistency.
Are you struggling with a specific publishing or marketing challenge? Email us and we'll dedicate a show to solving your problem! We prioritize listener questions because we know how crucial timely answers can be when you're in the trenches. And if you've implemented our advice successfully, we'd love to hear about it and give you a shout-out on our next episode.
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Hello and welcome back to the Book Marketing Tips and Author Success Podcast. This is Penny Sandsbury and Amy Cornell, and this is yet another Amazon PSA. You know, amazon just keeps giving us reasons to do these shows. I am a little so I'm coming in hot people, just so you know, because I'm really mad at Amazon. Just so you know, because I'm really mad at Amazon. So we have an author that we're working with who has a mystery thriller and he has a menacing book cover. Hello, it's a mystery thriller, right. Started to run ads for him. Amazon came back and they said yeah, we're not going to approve this because the cover is too menacing. The cover. What they said, which I thought was so ridiculous the cover looks. So there's a picture of somebody holding a knife on the cover and the knife is bloody. Hello, mystery thriller, right. And Amazon said in their note it looks like the knife is pointing at the consumer.
Speaker 2:No, I didn't hear that latest.
Speaker 1:Oh, my God, and I'm like, well, that's weirdly specific Amazon, like I mean, it just feels like I mean, I realized that a lot of this stuff through when you, when you write, um, when write, when Amazon responds back with no, we can't do this, or whatever. It's usually like an AI, but I'm like, well, that's very specific for an AI. Maybe there's really a person behind there who has clearly some issues with being chased.
Speaker 2:Do you feel personally attacked by that cover? My goodness.
Speaker 1:Do you feel personally attacked by that cover? So the point of this whole PSA is do not let Amazon give you the runaround. So I wrote support ticket after I think I wrote three or four different support tickets to Amazon because what Amazon did. So this is where this gets really dicey. So Amazon approved the print book with the same menacing cover. Right, they approved the print book, but they would not approve the ebook.
Speaker 1:Now, when I wrote what that's just stupid, it's just stupid. So when I wrote them, I didn't say that well, but you approved the print book, so why can't you approve the ebook? Because I was worried that they were going to pull like oh, we didn't know that we approved the print book and then they were going to pull that one too. But I kept writing them and I said listen, this book meets, this cover meets all of your guidelines. Right, there's no like naked person on the cover, like it's not, it's and it fit. And then I sent links. I said here are links to other similar books, all of which are being advertised on Amazon. So you really do have to sometimes make your case with them, but I just don't. I mean, I know, and, amy, we were talking about this in the green room. I mean with, like, romance books. Sometimes they get really funny if you have too many, like if there's too much skin on the cover, right yeah.
Speaker 2:It's, there's a weird gray area and it turns into a really awkward conversation. And being in high school and talking to your parents about something, you know what I mean, cause you're sitting there with the Amazon. Support people going like, well, I mean, his shirt's only unbuttoned, it's not all the way off. Support people going like, well, I mean, his shirt's only unbuttoned, it's not all the way off. You know like, what do you want from me? But they are. They're very oddly inconsistent about their romance covers too, and it's very, I find it so bizarre.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's very bizarre. I mean, we've kind of known like historically, if you have too much skin on the cover, it gets challenging to run ads. But because Amazon is always changing and if you're listening to this and you're like, well, I've never been able to run ads because I have like the guys half naked on the cover or whatever, I would pitch them again for ads and see what they say. I would pitch them again for ads and see what they say. The one thing that we know about Amazon, the one consistent thing about Amazon, is they are super inconsistent, absolutely.
Speaker 1:But you have to be your own best advocate. So you have to, you know, pull up a support ticket, write them and then write them again and then write them again. And I know that sounds obnoxious, but sometimes you really do have to be obnoxious because Amazon again largely run a lot of what. A lot of the responses that you get are just AI responses, right, yep, and it can be really really frustrating. But you really have to be your own best advocate, in particular for ads, because ads has just gotten Amazon ads for whatever reason. It's just gotten really weird with their rejections.
Speaker 2:That is interesting too, because it's like Amazon has how many arms and they don't talk. Because I will say, not to drag this out, but for A plus content. If any of you listening have ever had issues with that, believe it or not. They are the exact opposite, penny. When you have an issue with A-plus content, they are surprisingly forthcoming and specific about what their issues are with it. There's really no guessing, which just blows my mind still. It still shocks me that it's so easy to deal with fixes in A-plus content compared to ads. It's so weird, yes, and very frustrating too, because we get it Like we work with a lot of first-time authors and we fully understand how mind-numbingly frustrating jumping through all these hoops can be with Amazon.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and actually you know it's interesting not necessarily related to the ads but I had an author who we actually I've never consulted with him, I just follow him on Instagram and it was his first book and Amazon just randomly pulled it one day. Like he went in and changed the price and Amazon randomly pulled it and I felt really bad. He's actually an influencer and he wrote this book. And Amazon randomly pulled it and I felt really bad. He's actually an influencer and he wrote this book. And so I messaged him and I said listen, you can't give up, you have to call them, you have to be your own best advocate. And then, within like three days, they were like oh, that was just a mistake. Amazon is glitchy as hell, so you really have to be. And you know the book was.
Speaker 1:The book found its way back on Amazon. All the reviews were still intact. He lost three days, but you know he wrote this post. He's just like, oh, I'm just giving up and I understand. That's really where you get to, because you're just like well, amazon, just like this big machine, I get it. The one consistent thing, as I said, about Amazon is they are wildly inconsistent, so you have to really get in there and just file those support tickets or call them and get until you get. And you know, if you ask three people the same question, amazon, you will get three different answers. Yes, that is absolutely true. Yeah, it's just, it's the craziest thing. So, psa, if you're having trouble with your ads, if you're listening to this, you're like, oh, I keep getting rejected. Write them, call them, be your own best advocate for this, because at some point now with this author's book, they're like okay, yeah, we're going to approve it.
Speaker 2:Really, yep, yeah exactly Pull out your inner toddler and just keep asking until you get the answer you want. There you go.
Speaker 1:That's a great analogy, oh, my God, I think for the image for this podcast. I'm going to do that, that's funny.
Speaker 2:Yep, just a fall on meltdown tantrum.
Speaker 1:Like the little kid just pulling on their mother's skirt, like, can I have it now? Can I have it now? That's exactly what you have to be with Amazon. Yep, all right, well, listen, thank you so much. I know this was a short episode, but just wanted to kind of drop this into your feed and let you know this is what we're seeing on Amazon. We love show ideas. Actually, we just recorded a podcast. Amy came up with a brilliant idea. As opposed to a show idea, amy, you want to take it from here?
Speaker 2:with yes. What are you challenged with Any phase in this whole process of getting your book to market?
Speaker 2:marketing it, figuring out your author brand, all the things. You don't have to come up with a full-blown show idea. Just email us and say this is what I'm having a problem with right now, and Penny and I will brainstorm how to turn that into a show and try to get these back out to you. We really do for what it's worth. We prioritize suggestions that come from listeners for sure. Yeah, you know so. If you send it in, we really do try to make those shows happen sooner rather than later, because a lot of times it is because somebody's in the middle of struggling with that particular issue. So if we can help you out by creating a show and getting it out there right away, we want to do that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, and I think, finally, if you have had, if you listen to one of our shows and you did you know it inspired you to do something and you've had success with that. We want to know about that too. We will give you a shout out on the next show that we record. So all the things, all the news we love all you guys for listening. Thank you so much, um, and we will see you next week. Bye-bye.
