Amazon Keyword Rules: New Update! 

A fun new feature we introduced a couple of months back :)

@@Kindlepreneur I didn't realize that either! Time to refresh a few listings!

Yeah I wasn't aware of this either

I like to make my videos like I like to watch them :)

Excellent!

So true...

Very welcome

Glad to help :)

You're welcome

I think, when it comes to Brands and trademarks, Amazon's system isn't checking for every trademark registered in the world and then blindly stopping any term that is listed as one. I think their system is looking for any use of a word that is a brand that would be misleading. Something like Coca Cola or Disney would be clearly words or names of a brand that has product and is well known enough that would be problematic. I can't speak on behalf D&D specifically, but I think that would be safe if the book is D&D related.

Thank you for this question. My son is working on D&D fiction presently, so this is good to know

No, something like workbook or children's book are not a format level term, and so it shouldn't be a problem. Also, the use of "Book" or "eBook" isn't a no no, it's more a suggestion that amazon knows it is a book or ebook and so they claim its a waste.

That depends on what you violated and if they banned your account or just rejected it.

No, both book and ebook.

I personally still keep them in my 7 KDP boxes. Their point on this is really a recommendation.

I think you're fine. They'd say that it is a waste of space in the box, however, as you probably see, that's not entirely the case. And it isn't a violation of their hard rule because it isn't misleading.

They recommend that, but I still put them in my 7

Are you sure it's specifically the keywords at the bottom that is causing the issue, and not potentially somewhere else in the listing? For example if your subtitle accidentally said "Friendly Dinosaur" which was one reason I had a book kicked back 100 times! Couldn't figure it out until I finally had a flashback to babysitting and realized that's gotta be a Barney trademark! Where all I wanted was to make kids know they were smiling and not scary in my book 😊

Some of the books I produced are player journals for Dungeons & Dragons and other roleplay games. They are very specifically formatted for use with those games and are not usable for anything else. In spite of that, they told me I was in violation for selecting those categories and made me remove them. In spite of the fact that there are countless other books produced the same way that are in those categories. And in many cases those books are not uniquely formatted but instead or just ruled pages, like a normal notebook. Frankly I think the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing with their compliance. And their customer support experience has been a train wreck.

well I am also not able to publish any book since this update, time to leave, waste of time

The problem isn't that they have strict rules. That's reasonable. They are protecting themselves from liability. Problem is that they seem to make zero effort to communicate with KDP members about updates and changes to the terms. And then when a terms are violated they make, at least in my experience, zero attempt to identify what the problem is, or why it's a problem, or help you arrive at a solution. My recent experience feels like I am being punished for asking questions of the compliance department. Being told to remove my books from the only two categories that are appropriate for the books. And when complying with that order receiving a follow-up email to unpublish anything that is in violation of their terms. Could they possibly give me a broader, all encompassing less helpful response? So now I've lost almost a year of 5 star reviews and audience building, and establishing my presence in the marketplace.

They suggest you don't....but it is not necessary to listen...nor would I advise you do.

If it is an author name of someone else who is not a part of the book then that woudl be misleading so it would be a violation. If it is the name of the author of that book, then they wouldn't consider it a violation since it is misleading...they'd just say that it is a waste.

Sorry, someone else who is not part of the book? Let's say I am writing a biography of Taylor Swift, can I use Taylor Swift in the backend

It's a recommendation - but sometimes they get grumpy about it but normally for other terms like Audiobook

I think, when it comes to Brands and trademarkts, Amazon's system isn't checking for every trademark registered in the world and then blindly stopping any term. I think their system is looking for any use of a word that is a brand that would be misleading. So, my take is something like mediterranean would be completely fine becasue it is a word. Whereas if you were targeting something like Mediterranean Company or something that would mislead shoppers if they typed that in, then the system would flag it.

@@Kindlepreneur Thank you so much Dave. This means a lot :)

Time sensitive: Buy now, it's on sale, etc Subjective claims about quality: Best Sci Fi, #1 rated, etc

@@Kindlepreneur So does this mean you can't say in the description "#1 USA Today's Bestselling Author" etc.?

No no...that's for your book description. The HTML rule is for your KDP keywords boxes. So you're fine.

Seconding this. Is this why books are getting blocked?

It could be a part of it. But I have my theories on what is going on - and I think it goes beyond that.

I wish to know better why...

Probably not, but I'm not a lawyer and that's not legal advice.

Yes there is :)

@@Kindlepreneur And this is why we love you..... epic work....

Like I said in the video, that rule is more of a suggestion. As in, try not to waste one of your boxes on a keyword that is in the category. If you do find that you are using keywords that drove you into a different category, you can change them.

@@Kindlepreneur As follow-up Q - since Amazon doesn't always use the categories we select, would using them as keywords increase the odds we could "force" the use of the categories we want to be in, lower the odds we're put in categories the bots think we should be in?

@@authoreverafter Great follow question. I was wondering this as well. When I use a trope for a keyword slot, I typically add on Regency to avoid being shown on contemporary romances with the same trope.

It could be a part of it. But I have my theories on what is going on - and I think it goes beyond that.

@@Kindlepreneur oh. Pls share the theories. At this point, I know it could be anything but you know this space a lot and your insights might be real helpful. I can’t think of anything beyond them wanting to stop/stem independent publishers from publishing altogether

Leave it all very much like to hear those theories. ​@@Kindlepreneur

@@KindlepreneurI wanna know

Lol

Haha..well played :)

List without commas

@@Kindlepreneur Thanks! I have been asking that question and never get a straight answer. I have been putting commas between them since I started a few years ago. Should I go back and erase the commas or just go forward now without commas?