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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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello and welcome back to the Book Marketing Tips
and Author Success Podcast.
This is Penny Sandsbury and AmyCornell, and this is yet
another Amazon PSA.
You know, amazon just keepsgiving us reasons to do these
shows.
I am a little so I'm coming inhot people, just so you know,

(00:21):
because I'm really mad at Amazon.
Just so you know, because I'mreally mad at Amazon.
So we have an author that we'reworking with who has a mystery
thriller and he has a menacingbook cover.
Hello, it's a mystery thriller,right.
Started to run ads for him.
Amazon came back and they saidyeah, we're not going to approve

(00:42):
this because the cover is toomenacing.
The cover.
What they said, which I thoughtwas so ridiculous the cover
looks.
So there's a picture ofsomebody holding a knife on the
cover and the knife is bloody.
Hello, mystery thriller, right.
And Amazon said in their noteit looks like the knife is

(01:05):
pointing at the consumer.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
No, I didn't hear that latest.

Speaker 1 (01:10):
Oh, my God, and I'm like, well, that's weirdly
specific Amazon, like I mean, itjust feels like I mean, I
realized that a lot of thisstuff through when you, when you
write, um, when write, whenAmazon responds back with no, we
can't do this, or whatever.
It's usually like an AI, butI'm like, well, that's very

(01:31):
specific for an AI.
Maybe there's really a personbehind there who has clearly
some issues with being chased.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
Do you feel personally attacked by that
cover?
My goodness.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
Do you feel personally attacked by that
cover?
So the point of this whole PSAis do not let Amazon give you
the runaround.
So I wrote support ticket afterI think I wrote three or four
different support tickets toAmazon because what Amazon did.
So this is where this getsreally dicey.
So Amazon approved the printbook with the same menacing

(02:04):
cover.
Right, they approved the printbook, but they would not approve
the ebook.
Now, when I wrote what that'sjust stupid, it's just stupid.
So when I wrote them, I didn'tsay that well, but you approved
the print book, so why can't youapprove the ebook?
Because I was worried that theywere going to pull like oh, we
didn't know that we approved theprint book and then they were

(02:26):
going to pull that one too.
But I kept writing them and Isaid listen, this book meets,
this cover meets all of yourguidelines.
Right, there's no like nakedperson on the cover, like it's
not, it's and it fit.
And then I sent links.
I said here are links to othersimilar books, all of which are

(02:48):
being advertised on Amazon.
So you really do have tosometimes make your case with
them, but I just don't.
I mean, I know, and, amy, wewere talking about this in the
green room.
I mean with, like, romancebooks.
Sometimes they get really funnyif you have too many, like if
there's too much skin on thecover, right yeah.

Speaker 2 (03:09):
It's, there's a weird gray area and it turns into a
really awkward conversation.
And being in high school andtalking 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 wayoff.
Support people going like, well, I mean, his shirt's only
unbuttoned, it's not all the wayoff.
You know like, what do you wantfrom me?
But they are.
They're very oddly inconsistentabout their romance covers too,

(03:34):
and it's very, I find it sobizarre.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
Yeah, it's very bizarre.
I mean, we've kind of knownlike historically, if you have
too much skin on the cover, itgets challenging to run ads.
But because Amazon is alwayschanging 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 guyshalf naked on the cover or
whatever, I would pitch themagain for ads and see what they

(04:01):
say.
I would pitch them again forads and see what they say.
The one thing that we knowabout Amazon, the one consistent
thing about Amazon, is they aresuper inconsistent, absolutely.
But you have to be your own bestadvocate.
So you have to, you know, pullup a support ticket, write them

(04:31):
and then write them again andthen write them again.
And I know that soundsobnoxious, but sometimes you
really do have to be obnoxiousbecause Amazon again largely run
a lot of what.
A lot of the responses that youget are just AI responses,
right, yep, and it can be reallyreally frustrating.
But you really have to be yourown best advocate, in particular
for ads, because ads has justgotten Amazon ads for whatever
reason.
It's just gotten really weirdwith their rejections.

Speaker 2 (04:49):
That is interesting too, because it's like Amazon
has how many arms and they don'ttalk.
Because I will say, not to dragthis out, but for A plus
content.
If any of you listening haveever had issues with that,
believe it or not.
They are the exact opposite,penny.
When you have an issue withA-plus content, they are
surprisingly forthcoming andspecific about what their issues

(05:11):
are with it.
There's really no guessing,which just blows my mind still.
It still shocks me that it's soeasy to deal with fixes in
A-plus content compared to ads.
It's so weird, yes, and veryfrustrating too, because we get
it Like we work with a lot offirst-time authors and we fully
understand how mind-numbinglyfrustrating jumping through all

(05:36):
these hoops can be with Amazon.

Speaker 1 (05:39):
Yeah, yeah, and actually you know it's
interesting not necessarilyrelated to the ads but I had an
author who we actually I'venever consulted with him, I just
follow him on Instagram and itwas his first book and Amazon
just randomly pulled it one day.
Like he went in and changed theprice and Amazon randomly
pulled it and I felt really bad.

(06:00):
He's actually an influencer andhe wrote this book.
And Amazon randomly pulled itand I felt really bad.
He's actually an influencer andhe wrote this book.
And so I messaged him and Isaid listen, you can't give up,
you have to call them, you haveto be your own best advocate.
And then, within like threedays, they were like oh, that
was just a mistake.
Amazon is glitchy as hell, soyou really have to be.
And you know the book was.

(06:25):
The book found its way back onAmazon.
All the reviews were stillintact.
He lost three days, but youknow he wrote this post.
He's just like, oh, I'm justgiving up and I understand.
That's really where you get to,because you're just like well,
amazon, just like this bigmachine, I get it.
The one consistent thing, as Isaid, about Amazon is they are
wildly inconsistent, so you haveto really get in there and just
file those support tickets orcall them and get until you get.

(06:49):
And you know, if you ask threepeople the same question, amazon
, you will get three differentanswers.
Yes, that is absolutely true.
Yeah, it's just, it's thecraziest thing.
So, psa, if you're havingtrouble with your ads, if you're
listening to this, you're like,oh, I keep getting rejected.
Write them, call them, be yourown best advocate for this,

(07:10):
because at some point now withthis author's book, they're like
okay, yeah, we're going toapprove it.

Speaker 2 (07:14):
Really, yep, yeah exactly Pull out your inner
toddler and just keep askinguntil you get the answer you
want.
There you go.

Speaker 1 (07:22):
That's a great analogy, oh, my God, I think for
the image for this podcast.
I'm going to do that, that'sfunny.

Speaker 2 (07:33):
Yep, just a fall on meltdown tantrum.

Speaker 1 (07:36):
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 tobe 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 letyou know this is what we're
seeing on Amazon.
We love show ideas.
Actually, we just recorded apodcast.
Amy came up with a brilliantidea.

(07:57):
As opposed to a show idea, amy,you want to take it from here?

Speaker 2 (08:10):
with yes.
What are you challenged withAny phase in this whole process
of getting your book to market?
marketing it, figuring out yourauthor brand, all the things.
You don't have to come up witha full-blown show idea.
Just email us and say this iswhat I'm having a problem with
right now, and Penny and I willbrainstorm how to turn that into
a show and try to get theseback out to you.
We really do for what it'sworth.
We prioritize suggestions thatcome from listeners for sure.

(08:31):
Yeah, you know so.
If you send it in, we really dotry to make those shows happen
sooner rather than later,because a lot of times it is
because somebody's in the middleof struggling with that
particular issue.
So if we can help you out bycreating a show and getting it
out there right away, we want todo that.

Speaker 1 (08:49):
Yeah, exactly, and I think, finally, if you have had,
if you listen to one of ourshows and you did you know it
inspired you to do something andyou've had success with that.
We want to know about that too.
We will give you a shout out onthe next show that we record.
So all the things, all the newswe love all you guys for

(09:09):
listening.
Thank you so much, um, and wewill see you next week.
Bye-bye.