Amazon tags

Amazon is a strange and wonderful thing. Maybe you know, maybe you don’t, but I have 3 books published by two independent publishers in the States, and 3 I’ve self-published on Amazon. Now, I can check every day what is happening saleswise to the self-published titles, which is wonderful; for the other three, I rely on hearing once a quarter or so that they’ve sold a few copies.

I got quite a surprise when I looked at Amazon the other day to see if I’d garnered any new reviews. I hadn’t, but something else caught my eye. There is a section that allows me, and any reader who cares to take the time, to tag any book. I’ll admit I’m probably not very good at tagging, and don’t fully understand what it actually does in the mythical Amazon algorithms, but I think (and hope) it makes the book easier to find. My tags are the unexciting kind – historical romance, romantic suspense, Regency romance, Vikings – that kind of thing.

Imagine my surprise therefore, when I glanced down the screen and the words forced consent caught my eye. Some kind person has tagged my book FAR AFTER GOLD with the following tags: erotic romance, erotic fantasy, forced consent, steamy romance, threesome, Kindle erotic best, sexy fiction. Threesome? Erotic fantasy? Well, maybe to some people a steamy sex scene – no more graphic than many I’ve read in modern literature from Mills & Boon to Philippa Gregory – equates to erotica. Maybe Amazon thinks that some of the 50 Shades success will rub off on my book and they’ve added the tags…. Who knows? That’s one of the mysteries of Amazon – you never know who is doing what. But I assure everyone there are no threesomes in my books!

The pic this time is a view of Durham Cathedral's Lantern Tower across the Cloister. Click on it to enlarge and enjoy the detail!