Interested in learning how to detect and avoid Amazon’s Adult Dungeon for erotica?
Then this blog is for you!
I have been publishing erotica on Amazon for 5+ years now and there’s still one thing that strikes FEAR into my hear: the Amazon Adult Dungeon for erotica.
This blog post will cover what the adult dungeon is, how you can tell if you are in this infamous “dungeon”, and what you can do to avoid it.
What is the Amazon Adult Dungeon for Erotica?
So…what in the world is the adult dungeon?
This is basically when Amazon flags your book as ‘adult’ and it won’t show up in the normal search results.
It will ONLY show up in the search results if someone enables ‘adult’ for their searches.
Obviously it is not good if your book is tossed in the adult dungeon because unless customers have the adult feature turned on, the book won’t be in the search results, meaning it will be A LOT harder for customer to find and buy your book.
AND the worst part is, Amazon WILL NOT tell you that your book has been placed in the adult dungeon.
So…how do you check to see if your book has been tossed here?
Well, read on below…
Checking for your book in the adult dungeon
Previously, you could use the free service from AdultFlag.com and SalesRankExpress to check to see if your book had been flagged.
However, in March 2020, both sites have claimed that Amazon has not been sharing critical data with them and they may have to be shut down for good.
Now you have to do this process manually and there are two ways to do it.
First, you can type in the full title of your book into the Amazon search bar.
If your book appears in the search results, your book IS NOT in the dungeon.
However, if your book does not appear (even though it is published), then unfortunately, it is in the dungeon.
You can also run through this process by searching for your book’s unique ASIN number.
Obviously this is a very manual process, especially if you have a lot of books in your library.
However, unless Amazon begins sharing information with Sales Rank Express and AdultFlag, this is the only way to do it.
Why was I tossed in the Dungeon?
So one of the questions people naturally have is “why am I in the Amazon adult dungeon?”
The truth is you never really know. Amazon RARELY gives an explanation for why this happens.
You never know when you might be tossed in the dungeon by some reviewer at Amazon.
Now there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to the adult dungeon. Amazon does not publish a list of things they do not allow.
And part of this is on purpose so they can change their policies at any time.
And Amazon employs thousands of reviewers and unfortunately they all have different standards on what is considered “adult” and what isn’t.
So just because you see something that is published on Amazon (that doesn’t look like it should) doesn’t mean you should try the same thing.
As a result, I always tell people they should play it safe and don’t be too aggressive with book covers and certain words.
How to avoid the Amazon Adult Dungeon!
With that being said, here are some things I generally try to avoid when it comes to covers:
- Absolutely no nipples at all (even if there’s a shirt covering it). Cleavage is fine, unless it’s super zoomed in. Shirtless men is obviously fine (I’m referring to women here)
- Bare ass can be a big problem for some Amazon reviewers. I don’t like to use photos that show too much ass unless a good portion of it is covered.
- Sucking on something – one thing I’ve seen recently is people using pictures of women sucking on objects (like bananas, strawberries, hotdogs, etc). I would avoid using anything like that as it is very risky.
Here are things I typically try to avoid when it comes to my description, keywords, and book title:
- Specifically referencing virgins (especially when it comes to women). If you want to reference virgins, do in a more discrete way like “first time” or “first experience”.
- Any reference to “rape”. Yes, I know there is a niche for this, but I think it is very risky. The term most people use is “dubious consent”.
- Pseudo Incest (PI) is a popular niche that people write in. I don’t like it at all because it is SUPER risky. So avoid any words that describes relations between family. Not only will it be flagged, but your account can be banned too!
How to get out of the Dungeon?
If you have found out that one of your books has been tossed in the adult dungeon, the only way to fix it is to unfortunately contact Amazon KDP directly.
Here’s a simple template that I have used in the past:
“Hello,
I noticed that one of my books has been flagged as adult. Do you have any more insight as to why the book was flagged so I can remedy the situation? The ASIN of the book is __________
Thank you!”
Now, keep in mind that Amazon will typically be very cryptic and not give a straight answer.
But if they do give a straight answer, perfect! Now you know what to fix!
However, that’s usually not the case 80% of the time. As a result, you should go back and do an honest review of your: (1) book cover, (2) book title, (3) description, and (4) keywords to make everything more conservative and “family friendly.”
After that, resubmit your book and request they take another look at it. And hopefully the problem will be resolved.
Amazon’s Adult Dungeon – Final Thoughts
Overall, Amazon’s Adult Dungeon is a horrible place to be as a self published erotica author.
It can seriously damage your sales.
Hopefully this post helps you avoid this situation in the first place…and helps you resolve it if you find one of your books in here.
If you have any questions about the adult dungeon, feel free to send me an email!