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Amazon Actions re NEW Bonus Content Limits, Amazon Taking Action (MERGED)

168K views 1K replies 157 participants last post by  KindleSinner 
#1 ·
I didn't see this posted anywhere here yet.

https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G202018960

"To provide an optimal customer experience, bonus content should make up no more than around 10% of your book."

Also prohibits gifts/rewards.

Now, to see if this is enforced...
 
#2 ·
Better late than never!

I suspect that enforcement of this rule, like so many rules on Amazon, may be an on-again, off-again kind of thing, but I'm at the point where I think increasing the risk factor for potential bad actors is better than nothing. At least now, there's a clearer standard that could be enforced.
 
#10 ·
Usedtoposthere said:
I thought they'd moved on to jewelry now...
LOL!!! Diamonds!!!

dgaughran said:
10% - that's clear. Let's see what the stuffers do now...
This also includes disruptive or unnecessary enticement to click on elements within TOCs. Continued addition of these types of elements in your titles could affect your account status, up to and including termination.

Of course, this all depends on Amazon's interpretation and enforcement. Anyone want to lay odds that someone who innocently includes a first chapter of a new book gets slammed while a stuffer figures out a way to game the system to the tune of 2K pages per novella?
 
#14 ·
In all seriousness, a policy is only as good as its enforcement. Unless Amazon enforces this, people will continue to use bonus books.

I really hope they do enforce it. I'd love to look at the top 100 in romance and see nothing that's stuffed. But I'm not holding my breath.
 
#17 ·
I give it a day before the first post either defending stuffing, or complaining about how their 2.8KENPC book was taken down, and Amazon won't pay them their money.

There's got to be thousands of books violating these new guidelines, none of which will likely be affected in any way whatsoever, but I'm sure the algos have changed and now I can look forward to getting even less money, for doing absolutely nothing wrong.
 
#18 ·
she-la-ti-da said:
.

There's got to be thousands of books violating these new guidelines, none of which will likely be affected in any way whatsoever,
Probably not as they published before this clarification, but they'll need steel man bits to continue stuffing now that the rules are clear.

If Amazon enforces the new limit their $0.99 strategy is toast. Their books are launched with mega ad spends assuming KENP will cover costs.
 
#19 ·
Crystal_ said:
In all seriousness, a policy is only as good as its enforcement. Unless Amazon enforces this, people will continue to use bonus books.
Here you go Crystal! So happy to oblige.

"Please note that prompt compliance with these new guidelines and policies is required to qualify for programs such as KDP Select All Stars Bonuses for the month of June and future months."
https://www.kdpcommunity.com/s/article/Updates-to-KDP-Bonus-Content-and-eBook-Metadata-Guidelines?language=en
 
#21 ·
Amazon just updated their TOS with respect to bonus content (emphasis mine):

Bonus Content
If you choose to include bonus content (e.g., other stories, or previews of other books that are not part of your book's title), it should be relevant to the customer and should not disrupt the reading experience. To meet these guidelines, we require placing additional content at the end of the book, and listing the bonus content in your book's table of contents.

To provide an optimal customer experience, bonus content should make up no more than around 10% of your book. If you would like to include multiple stories within your book, consider creating a collection of works. When selecting your book's title, always make sure to follow the Metadata Guidelines.

Primary and bonus content must meet all program guidelines (e.g., bonus content in KDP Select titles must be exclusive). Translated content must be high quality and not machine generated. Disruptive links and promises of gifts or rewards are never allowed.

For more information, see our content guidelines and Terms and Conditions.
https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G202018960

Also:

Hello,

To improve the shopping and reading experience for customers, we've updated our Bonus Content and eBook Metadata Guidelines.

Please ensure that the books you've published comply with the new guidelines. Please note that prompt compliance with these new guidelines and policies is required to qualify for programs such as KDP Select All Stars Bonuses for the month of June and future months.

Thank you for choosing to publish with Amazon KDP!

Best Regards,
The Kindle Direct Publishing Team
https://www.kdpcommunity.com/s/article/Updates-to-KDP-Bonus-Content-and-eBook-Metadata-Guidelines?language=en
 
#24 ·
I'm happy that there's an actual rule now instead of the typical Amazon vagueness, along with a timeline for enforcement. Enforcement is the key here, or we're back where we started.

They even sent an email about this to Marie Force to announce. I'm super curious to see how this will effect all star bonuses in the coming months. Will it change payouts? We'll see!
 
#25 ·
dgaughran said:
You do realize that this hasn't happened yet, right? This is a promise to enforce the policy, but until it actually happens, it's just a promise.

We'll see what happens in late July. I hope KDP holds to this policy change--it would be great for me, personally; I will dance in the streets if bonus books actually disappear--but they don't have the best history of evenly enforcing policies.
 
#26 ·
Crystal_ said:
I'd love to look at the top 100 in romance and see nothing that's stuffed. But I'm not holding my breath.
Assuming it was enforced, do you think the Romance bestseller list would change much? I mean, do you think it would be basically the same sort of books (just without all the bonus content) as before, or would there be substantial changes in what's up there?

Personally, I'm skeptical that it would make much of a difference. There was the one board member on here who does the whole Romance ghost-writers thing, who I recall saying that including the bonus content only made a 10 percent or so difference in page reads. That seemed like a plausible figure to me, assuming an author isn't using click-to-the-back trickery (maybe that's a big assumption, I don't know). I would think that most KU readers are just looking to read the title work and not bonus content, especially if it's old, lower quality, etc., which I take it is often the case for books of this sort.

If that's right, and the bonus content is only marginally increasing revenues for books of this sort, then I doubt that these books would just fall off of the bestseller list without the bonus stuffing. I can't imagine that their profit margins are quite that thin - at least not for the experienced ones.

Anyway, just a curiosity for me. I ended up not doing KU, and that's not going to change. And in any case, I never thought that aiming to hit the Amazon bestseller list as the primary driver of visibility sounded like a very good or sustainable business strategy. (I know that some people - maybe you? don't remember - have expressed doubt that being on Amazon bestseller lists, by itself, actually drives sales.) Not that I'd complain or anything ;D
 
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