New Series Incoming

So, I wasn’t planning on posting about this until release date, which is this coming Tuesday, 1/31. However, recent events with Amazon have forced my hand.

I’ve been planning this new series of Pallas Group Solutions Thrillers (a couple series, actually) for a while. The first book, Gray War, comes out on 1/31. I already have the preorders for Books 2 and 3 up, as well, with release dates in March and May.

However, things have started to take a turn with Amazon.

First, the Hardcover and Paperback are up, but not linked with the ebook. That might just be algo weirdness, since both are through Ingram, and I had to adjust the data to match up with the ebook, since some things didn’t save the first time around. It’s gotten weirder from there, however.

I submitted a scheduled ad campaign two days ago. I got back the reply that Amazon Marketing Solutions wouldn’t run the ad, because the cover contains “violent content,” i.e., there are guys in an action thriller pointing guns at each other. “To ensure a good customer experience, we don’t allow ads containing images of weapons (including realistic and non-realistic firearms, swords, bows and arrows, etc.) shown in a violent, threatening manner, for example in the process of injuring another character.”

When I pointed out that it’s an action scene in an action novel, I got rejected again.

To make matters worse, none of the books in the Brave New Disorder series now appear in search results for my name. They’re there if you search for them specifically, but not for me. They’re on my author page, but that’s it.

Furthermore, there is audio coming for this book, narrated by Steve Marvel, who did the audiobooks for Escalation and Holding Action. Because of the time crunch, the audio files didn’t quite get submitted in time for a simultaneous publication, though I reached out to ACX to try to expedite the Quality Assurance process. Unfortunately, that resulted in an offer of a release date in September. I’m still working on that, and it’s possible that there’s just some miscommunication there, but it’s one more thing.

So, dear readers, here’s the thing. Whether it’s the algorithm plus a squeamish ad review team, or actual malice, the results are the same. Amazon’s putting up some serious roadblocks to this release. Maybe it’s just a perfect storm of screwy bad judgement and an algorithm that no longer has the indie author’s best interests in mind. Maybe it’s because this series is about the intersection between dirty politicians and their families, Chinese Communist operations via ostensibly commercial companies, and drug cartels. I simply don’t know. The entire process is opaque enough that I can’t know.

This means that I’m going to be dependent on you, the readers, for help on this more than ever.

I can’t rely on Amazon to market these books. It’s going to be all word of mouth. If you have enjoyed my work in the past, I’d ask that you order the books and spread the word around. Big Tech doesn’t care if we go hungry. This is my livelihood, and they’re screwing with it.

It’s in your hands.