Eat my Amazon Shorts

I've decided to document on this blog each and every time I run into a roadblock for myself or CES because of the nature of my material (i.e., sex).

Here's the latest. Amazon.com has introduced a new "product" called Amazon Shorts. No, they aren't apparel -- just very short stories or pieces from authors that Amazon will sell for 49 cents and give the author a teeny tiny cut. I don't know who might buy such an item, but I thought it would be a cool way for me to do some pre-publicity on my upcoming non-fiction book, Your Erotic Personality.

Amazon asks you to "apply" for this program and the application is pretty simple -- just tell them the names and ISBN numbers of your currently available books. So, I did that. After they confirm that you're really an author, they send you a one-page sheet about what kind of material is appropriate for their program. The sheet focuses on length and marketability of whatever you want to write. That's all.

I tinkered with my introduction to Your Erotic Personality to make it shorter and less descriptive, and I included a fun list of the 12 erotic types that are outlined in my book. There were no dirty words in my proposed Amazon Short. Not one.

But Amazon.com rejected it because they don't deal in erotica. Hmmmm. Let me get this straight. They will sell all manner of erotic anthologies on their site (making money from every sale). They will feature on the recently launched Amazon Fishbowl series three Playboy bunnies talking about life in the mansion and the MALE authors of the book WHY MEN FALL ASLEEP AFTER SEX. But my book -- a fun, light-hearted take on 12 erotic personality types written by a woman -- is dangerous and offensive.

And might I also point out that they knew all my titles were erotic before I even submitted anything because they had asked for a list of my books. So, basically, they wasted everybody's time.

Can I even begin to tell you how tired I am of double-standards and bullshit in the world of sex-related material? If I were a Playboy bunny, Amazon would be happy to give me space and time on their illustrious site. If I were a man writing about sex, well, that would be amusing stuff and they'd not blink at all. But I'm neither. I'm persona non grata.

Looks like I'll have to find another way to give people a glimpse into my upcoming book. The PR methods available to "normal" people aren't available to me.