How did my Book get Banned from Amazon Advertising??? 

(Click to watch the Vlog)

When I first started my self-publishing journey back in 2018, I had no idea what I was doing. Sometimes I still do things wrong, but after having published over 30 books on Kindle along with their paperbacks and also published the longer works as short read miniseries, I think I know a few things about how the process works. (I'm currently also publishing many of the books as hardcover!)

A few days ago a good friend of mine was complaining about how one of his military fiction titles had been placed into the erotica category and he couldn't run an ad for the book. He just couldn't figure it out.  It happened to me once with The Council, so I offered to help. He opened his KDP account, and we looked at the book in question. 

(If you have never published on KDP, this might sound like Greek to you. Sorry, I swear I will get back to the books in the dream quick.)

If you need to do this, select the book you need to look at, click the three dots to the right of Promote and Advertise. Then choose the first option edit e-book details. The screen that will appear next is the one with the book's title, author name, book description, etc...

We checked his keywords to be sure he hadn't misspelled anything or included terms that could be misconstrued. Next, we verified that his categories had been selected correctly. They were. That was when I spied the culprit.

Just below the categories box is a box entitled Age and Grade Range. I took a screenshot so you could see it. It's just before you decide if the book is a pre-order or not. This box is specifically for Children's Literature. I don't mean just picture books. If the target audience is a child under the age of majority and the content or reading level of the book is not suitable for younger children, this is where an author should note that. Some terminology and phrasing are not okay for 5 year-olds but are fine for 14 year-olds. For example: To a 5-year-old kissing a frog is funny. Kissing a boy/girl is gross. To a 14-year-old that is reversed. A five-year-old has serious difficulty with reading/understanding adult vocabulary. That's why adults spell out complicated things that they don't want a five-year-old to know about while he/she is in earshot. A 14-year-old usually has an excellent grasp of adult vocabulary, can spell, and understand even complex sentences, and will even invent their own lingo.

As an Amazon purchaser, you should be an adult. Having said that, it's important to note that this box is intended to aid adults who need to purchase books for children to know if the book is suitable for their child's age and reading level. If you aren't writing a Children's Book, you shouldn't be clicking on anything inside this box. It's auto-assumed that by not clicking on anything inside this box, you are intending the book for an adult reading audience (the Amazon purchaser being your intended audience). If you open the age range box and click on 18+, Amazon will dump your adult book into erotica almost by default. (Why would a children's book ever have adult-only content in it?) To avoid this, simply leave this box alone if your book is not a children's book.

The second section is the U.S. Grade range which stops at twelfth grade. So, if you are targeting a children's book, you can set the age and reading level for the book so that parents searching for it can choose wisely. (It is assumed that in a country in which public education is mandatory, most of the adults purchasing books would be able to read beyond the school grade levels.)

I hope that helps clear up that e-book issue.

Just one more thing on this subject.

Warning Labels are both kindness and advertising art. Save someone who may have emotional triggers from trauma and market your work to people who want to read it. This one appears in many of my books.

***Warning: Explicit sexual situations and adult themes. This story is intended for mature audiences. Steamy PNR 18+ HEA! NC!

If you publish a paperback, and your book has graphic violence, adult situations, or explicit scenes, you should click the "yes" under adult-only content, but that is because once sold, paperbacks are more easily accessed by little ones and the purchaser should be aware that your title might need to be kept in a less accessible place. Remember that Amazon Advertising specifically focuses on e-books, not paperbacks. (That is why the exclusivity for Kindle Unlimited is required to do countdowns and limited-time giveaways.) This won't affect your ability to advertise the stories on Kindle and it will aid you in getting customers who want to read your books.

Behind the Scenes

I've been at it again! After my vacation to Texas, I got serious about finally getting more books published as hardcover editions, and I think the 1st 6 are now available! Check them out on Amazon!

Someone asked me about publishing more books. I've been publishing. Wide! I'm slowly publishing titles all over the place. Some of the books have been in Kindle Unlimited for a long time. It's time I went a lot bigger. In honor of publishing wide allow me to introduce a few changes.

STILL FREE!

The Thread got an upgrade. But it's still FREE! It's FREE with Books 2 Read and Draft 2 Digital in 5 Library bases, Apple, Google Books, Amazon, Ebooklingo, Thirsty Author, Payhip, Gumroad, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Fictionate.me and OpheliaKee.com. I might have forgotten a place. The more places the merrier.

The miniseries Apocalypse Averted has begun publishing on Fictionate.me with Devil's Sins. It will debut on Kindle Vella whenever Vella gets off the ground. (*Update* All titles by Ophelia Kee have been pulled from Kindle Vella )

DEVIL'S SINS

A mentally ill devil whose magic threatens to destroy the dream seeks his demise with no hope of redemption. A disfigured blind woman with a mysterious past life, strange magical gift, and musical talent needs healing.

Averting an apocalypse lies in the balance of magic.

This one is a slow-burn romance. It got good at the end of part one, but the story isn't over. Four Horsemen will begin publishing next. If you want to get the jump on Kindle Vella, pick up the miniseries on Fictionate.me for only $.99 for each part. I hope everyone is happy to know that I am still publishing. Kindle just isn't my primary or only publishing spot anymore.

For the real Frank Grimes, I have to disclaim this: The UnFallen Series has been temporarily shelved. I simply can't publish a book a piece at a time. Some people can. I tried it with Kindle Vella.

I can't do it. I don't write linearly. I keep going back and changing stuff I already wrote. Adding bits or moving parts as the other scenes unfold so that the story stays true. Sorry if that disappoints. I am a prolific writer, but I do have to do it my way.

The good news is that it will still be published, just not quite yet. I do have a few other pieces of Draoithe I need to finish up and I'm crafting a naughty book of some of the spicy scenes from the saga as well as a few free give-away reads. Rest assured that I still intend to write The UnFallen so long as I remain on this plane. Over twenty chapters have already been written of the first story. It is still slated to be a nine-book series. But I need to get a few other things handled first.

In the Works and Coming Eventually!

Okay, I need to run away and get some other things done. One last note, Boxer, if you're listening, Yes. These guys are all you too! Try not to get the big head over it, just smile. For all readers, when you read, please don't forget to be kind and leave a review! Thanks. Until next time,

Be Careful!

Happy Reading,

Ophelia Kee