So apparently the books above, which have been available for sale for three plus years, are confusing to potential readers. Amazon is so concerned that readers might not be able to figure out the difference between the fiction books and the non-fiction companion guides that they are making me change the titles and covers (ebook only, apparently they don’t care about the paperbacks). Seriously.
I will say that I liked some of their listing requests since they will help me better categorize these companions, but beyond that, they are taking this too far. Let’s just ignore the fact that each of my companion guides are titled after the blogs they were originally written as and say that the titles are catchy and fun, while the changes are not.
I don’t know if I’m more annoyed at Amazon for thinking people are dumb or if I’m pissed at the fact that people might actually be this dumb. And, if I’m offending someone at this point, I really don’t care (well, I do a little). I think this is ridiculous.
According to Amazon, I can’t list my name on the book because it might confuse people. WHAT?
According to Amazon, I can’t call it a companion, I have to call it a study guide because it might confuse people. WHAT?
According to Amazon, I can’t use my current title at all. I literally have to call it A Study Guide. WHAT? (I’m using it somehow.)
So now my paperback and ebook covers won’t match unless I change it across the board. I don’t even know if I care enough to do so at this point.
Are they crazy or is it me?
Seriously, I want to know. Tell me.
Have I been confusing people for the past three+
years or has Amazon lost their minds?
#BeAFriend #TellTheTruth :/
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords
8 replies on “Amazon changed my titles. Apparently #readers are easily confused. Let’s help #dumbreaders”
I had no idea Amazon got involved with titles this much!? Looks fine either way. Maybe someone there as OCD?
https://wordpress.com/stats/day/meinthemiddlewrites.com
This is beyond ODC. This is driving away authors.
??????????????
Personally, I am not confused by the phrase “companion guide.” Not even a tiny bit. And since when does an author’s name have to be removed from the cover?
Wish I knew.
When did Amazon start telling people what to call their books? And why can’t your name be on the cover of your book? Companion doesn’t confuse me.
Well, apparently, you are smarter than the average reader.
I have no idea why name can’t be used, not just appear on the cover, I can’t use it at all.
Amazon has made it more difficult on the author. I have had a number of people who cannot find my 1st book on the site because if you look it up by title, it’s not there. If you look it up by my name; there it is. However their customer service can be OK, if you get the right person (sometimes this may take several tries). Good Luck!
I wish I could say I have the same opinion of their customer service, but I don’t. I might be moving to Smashwords on this.