reviews_and_ramblings: (Default)
reviews_and_ramblings ([personal profile] reviews_and_ramblings) wrote2009-05-29 10:19 pm

Sorry to be so bothering tonight...

... but Amazon is making me mad! I posted two days ago the same review for Dumb Jock I posted on my LJ. It didn't appear online. I waited the 48 hours they required to make an inquiry, and then asked why my review was not online. This was Amazon's reply:

I read your recent review of "Dumb Jock" and found it violated our guidelines. We don't allow profanity in Customer Reviews.

I edited your review, and changes are marked with brackets. If you'd prefer to remove your review, you can do so online. Please take a look at our Review Guidelines for information about acceptable review content:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=14279631

OMG what I wrote that was defined profanity? Usually I avoid all "bad" words, and I'm not the type to deepen in erotic details...

Here is the part of my review that was condemned as profanity (in bold):

It's not a "behind closed door" type of sex, we are there in the room with the characters, but we have to cover with our imagination where the author doesn't describe something. For example there are blow-jobs, and even an anal sex scene, but actually I believe to have never found the word penis or some equivalent word. I have a clear physical impression of Jeff, small and lithe, a bit on the skinny side, and Brett, tall and muscular, and how Jeff feels protected when he is in Brett's arms, but actually that physical impression never deepens to intimate details (no description under the belt).

And here is Amazon's edited version:

It's not a "behind closed door" type of sex, we are there in the room with the characters, but we have to cover with our imagination where the author doesn't describe something. [...] I have a clear physical impression of Jeff, small and lithe, a bit on the skinny side, and Brett, tall and muscular, and how Jeff feels protected when he is in Brett's arms, but actually that physical impression never deepens to intimate details (no description under the belt).

OMG again!!! I used the word "penis", not c*ck, or s*aft or some other "dirty" word... I used PENIS! Penis is profanity?

On second thought, probably it was the blow-job or the anal sex that created trouble, but still I don't believe they are profanities, questionable maybe, but profanity?

And BTW, have you ever wonder why books like Smart Ass (MLR Press) or Times Queer (Synergy Press) have few reviews on Amazon? When I posted my reviews of them, I used the title of the book, and the reviews were blocked. I sent an inquiry to Amazon saying, what guilt I have if the "bad" word is in the title? And they uploaded the review without modifying it. But how many people send the inquiry to Amazon? How many reviews on books with "banned" titles were lost on the net of Amazon's censorship?

[identity profile] elisa-rolle.livejournal.com 2009-05-30 08:30 am (UTC)(link)
Actually the thing with my review always happened, only that I didn't realize, and this is the first time that someone accuse me of profanity. The standard reply was "sorry for the delay, your review is up", another time "your review contains spoiler" and it was not, I waited a bit, reposted, and it went up. This is the first time that told me I use "profanity"! Elisa

[identity profile] scarlethyacinth.livejournal.com 2009-05-30 08:32 am (UTC)(link)
Sigh... Don't let it get to you, Elisa. I know for a fact that your reviews are very much appreciated and you are a god for the authors in my yahoo group. Keep up the good work! Hoping the problems at Amazon will be soon solved, Scarlet