# Barnes and Noble ranking tampering AGAIN.



## Maya Cross (May 28, 2012)

I woke up this morning to find something absolutely crushing. My new book, Lockout, was absolutely killing the B&N charts. For the last 24 hours, it was #5 in their whole store, and on their front page.

I noticed something weird with book one, Locked. Sales for it spiked pretty dramatically when book two came out. It was sitting around #300-400, but it gradually began to rise. Except, once it hit #126, it stopped. And it held that position for over 24 hours. Never moving, never going up or down by even one place, despite the fact that it was moving a ton of books. I have multiple screenshots of it sitting in that exact position, while everything else shifts around it.

Then, sometime during the night, it happened. I woke up just now to find Lockout has gone from #5 in their whole store, to #126. They aren't even being clever about it. Locked is now at #127. They're both just sitting there pinned next to one another. There's no way in hell the book went from #5 to #126 in eight hours organically.

This has annihilated my sales. I could pretty much cry right now. I don't know how to fix it, and even if I do, that epic momentum is gone. I've sent emails, but who the hell knows what the result will be.

EDIT: A link to prove the point:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s?dref=2207&fmt=ebook&size=30&sort=SA&startat=121&store=ebook&view=grid

What do you think the chances are that both books are literally right next to one another in the overall rankings organically?

I have a ton of screenshots of Locked occupying exactly the same position. I also have screenshots from less than 12 hours ago of Lockout at #5 in the store.


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## S. Shine (Jan 14, 2013)

This just makes me sad and angry at the same time.


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## H.M. Ward (May 16, 2012)

There are some indies with higher rankings, on the 1st page even. I'm not sure what B&N is doing with their rankings lately. It used to be based on daily sales, then accumulate over 6 months (which was a joke b/c the rank hardly moved). I'm not sure what they're doing now. It took me forever to hit #1 over there. If you message me your daily sales stats, I can tell you if they line up with mine. Based on my last release, I think they drag and use more time to weight the higher rankings, but things keep changing.


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## Hugh Howey (Feb 11, 2012)

This is nuts. I think it's well established that B&N does this.


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## Maya Cross (May 28, 2012)

I'm happy to just post the sales figures here. To get it to #5, Lockout sold 2300 books in 3 days. It was selling somewhere between 20 and 80 books an hour before the drop off, depending on time of day. Now? 5 books an hour, at 7pm, which is normally one of the biggest hours.

Like I said, I'm 100% certain this is artificial. The reasons:

1) Locked (the first book) was stuck at #126 for 48 hours. I have screenshots and emails from various time points all indicating that it didn't move from there for ages. At that point I felt like it had been pinned in place.
2) I woke up this morning, Locked = #127, Lockout = #126. So after the first book spends 48 hours at the same exact ranking, what are the chances book two winds up EXACTLY next to it? Even if book two did fall dramatically from #5 in their whole store (unlikely, that kind of drop off is very gradual as the visibility from #5 in the store is huge), what are the chances it would land right next to book one, at exactly the ranking that book one has been stuck for the last two days?


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## That one girl (Apr 12, 2011)

You're not alone. I've sold over 400 copies of Pieces of You today on B&N and I'm stuck right behind you at #128. All. Friggin'. Day.


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## That one girl (Apr 12, 2011)

When I was in the top 20 on B&N with Relentless, I was selling anywhere from 400-700 copies per day. This was in March. I don't think book sales have changed that drastically in the past two months. There is definitely some tampering going on.


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## MegHarris (Mar 4, 2010)

Ugh, I'm so sorry. Barnes & Noble sucks sometimes.


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## Maya Cross (May 28, 2012)

That one girl said:


> You're not alone. I've sold over 400 copies of Pieces of You today on B&N and I'm stuck right behind you at #128. All. Friggin'. Day.


I noticed you there actually. I have a ton of screenshots from yesterday that show Locked sitting firmly in place, and now that I go back and look through them, Pieces of You doesn't move either =( There's several titles in a row that just sit there.

I'm flabbergasted that they can do this. I know they have a history of it, but from memory, the books it happened to in the past were more like straight up erotica. The Alpha Group is firmly erotic romance. And while I haven't read either of your books, from what I understand, they're not particularly steamy?


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## MegHarris (Mar 4, 2010)

> I'm flabbergasted that they can do this. I know they have a history of it, but from memory, the books it happened to in the past were more like straight up erotica.


No. They did it to one of mine a couple of years ago (wasn't ranked this high; it went from around 120 to 1200, IIRC) and it was an erotic romance. It certainly wasn't tremendously shocking or racy-- none of mine are, alas.

And unfortunately, they CAN do anything they want. It's disturbing that they continue to do it, though. It's unfair to both writers and readers, and it sucks.


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## Maya Cross (May 28, 2012)

Well, if they want to do it, they're going to have to deal with me spending the next few days making as much noise as I possibly can about it.


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## H.M. Ward (May 16, 2012)

There's no doubt they're whack. B&N had serious lag when DAMAGED was #1 on Amazon. It took days to hit that top slot on B&N. The top 3 slots were selling about 1.5K-2K books a day when I held it last month. ARRANGEMENT 7 and DAMAGED show about 25 slots apart on B&N right now and the sales difference for today is 7 books. No idea what the heck they're doing.


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## Just Browsing (Sep 26, 2012)

Maya: Please do. I'd take a nice blog guest post from you on it.


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## That one girl (Apr 12, 2011)

If you need any help making some noise, I've got my pot and wooden spoon all ready.

Here are my numbers, for your reference:

Pieces of You: 475 units sold (ranked #12
Relentless: 169 units sold (ranked #132)

Edit: And you are correct, Relentless and Pieces of You are not particularly steamy.


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## Decon (Feb 16, 2011)

Unless things have changed, I seem to remember over a year ago that B&N tweaked their algorithms to stop 99c books getting into the top 100 to boost profits. I seem to remember $2.99 was the cut off. Maybe the one at rank 5 slipped their net and the drop was a readjustment.


I'm really sure this is the case. There were many blog posts at the time and threads about it on here.


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## LilianaHart (Jun 20, 2011)

I had this exact same thing happen to me last week when I had a Bookbub ad with Cade. I sold enough books that day that I should have been in the top 10 at B&N, and like you it wouldn't let me rise past #126. I was stuck at that ranking for 3 days and it totally screwed up my sales push. I figured it was because of my cover, but who knows? I am so sick of this happening, but they don't care and they ignore the complaints. Believe me, I've been in contact with the top people at B&N. they call it a "glitch."


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## Maya Cross (May 28, 2012)

Well, I posted on the B&N facebook, and I just contacted Jenny from Totallybooked and she's going to post it. They have 15k followers on Facebook, so that should make some noise. I've mentioned your books there too. It helps prove I'm not just crazy =)


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## dalya (Jul 26, 2011)

I see at least 4 books at 99 cents in the top 20, though, so it can't be just that. Hrmmmph.


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## Decon (Feb 16, 2011)

Maya Cross said:


> Well, I posted on the B&N facebook, and I just contacted Jenny from Totallybooked and she's going to post it. They have 15k followers on Facebook, so that should make some noise. I've mentioned your books there too. It helps prove I'm not just crazy =)


I think you'll find the policy Ive stated above probably accounts for the problem and I doubt they will change it how ever loud you and others shout. Maybe some do slip the net and every now and then they make amends.


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## That one girl (Apr 12, 2011)

Yeah, I emailed them when this happened to Relentless last month and they sent me a bullsh*t canned response about the way rankings work based on sales of all books, not just mine. Grrr!


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## LilianaHart (Jun 20, 2011)

Decon said:


> I think you'll find the policy Ive stated above probably accounts for the problem and I doubt they will change it how ever loud you and others shout. Maybe some do slip the net and every now and then they make amends.


Nope, I hit #1 in the B&N store with a .99 book in February, but it was with a mystery instead of one of my romances. I personally believe it's a censorship issue as the only people I've seen this happen to are romance and erotica writers.


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## Maya Cross (May 28, 2012)

LilianaHart said:


> I had this exact same thing happen to me last week when I had a Bookbub ad with Cade. I sold enough books that day that I should have been in the top 10 at B&N, and like you it wouldn't let me rise past #126. I was stuck at that ranking for 3 days and it totally screwed up my sales push. I figured it was because of my cover, but who knows? I am so sick of this happening, but they don't care and they ignore the complaints. Believe me, I've been in contact with the top people at B&N. they call it a "glitch."


That doesn't bode well. If you can't fix it with the clout you've got, I doubt there's any hope for us.



Decon said:


> Unless things have changed, I seem to remember over a year ago that B&N tweaked their algorithms to stop 99c books getting into the top 100 to boost profits. I seem to remember $2.99 was the cut off. Maybe the one at rank 5 slipped their net and the drop was a readjustment.
> 
> I'm really sure this is the case. There were many blog posts at the time and threads about it on here.


The book that was #5 is $2.99, so that's not the issue.


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## Maya Cross (May 28, 2012)

I've also hopefully got Draft2Digital on the case. They're costing me money, so they're costing D2D money too.

The more I read though, the more it seems like there's nothing we can really do. It seems like #126 is the magic barrier they've assigned to any books they deem unworthy. I wish I could get on the phone with someone. The policy is completely opaque. Why was Damaged allowed to hit #1, but Pieces of You gets held back? Why can Fifty Shades chart, but not my book. It's ludicrous.


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## PhoenixS (Apr 5, 2011)

Decon said:


> Unless things have changed, I seem to remember over a year ago that B&N tweaked their algorithms to stop 99c books getting into the top 100 to boost profits. I seem to remember $2.99 was the cut off. Maybe the one at rank 5 slipped their net and the drop was a readjustment.
> 
> I'm really sure this is the case. There were many blog posts at the time and threads about it on here.


Jennifer Blake's THE TUSCAN'S REVENGE WEDDING stayed in the Top 100 at BN at 99c May 3-20, for a total of 17.5 days.
THE VENETIAN'S DARING SEDUCTION was there May 3-12, for a total of 10 days at 99c.
Both are contemporary romances - a little steam, but not even romantica (which I would consider some of her older historicals) - and the covers are quite sedate.

I thought BN had been handicapping romantica/erotica with 1000 extra ranks, so #126 is a better rank than I would have expected if they're looking to suppress the OP's books.



That one girl said:


> Pieces of You: 475 units sold (ranked #12
> Relentless: 169 units sold (ranked #132)


TUSCAN hit #14 with 480 units sold on May 5, so PIECES OF YOU is definitely being penalized.

Still, the BN lists are theirs to tweak as they wish. Amazon weights in history, for example, so a book that sells 2000 copies may not rank above a book that sells "only" 1800 on any given day. If BN's business objective is to keep steam out of the Top 100, I'm not sure your voice as an author will count for much . I do empathize. IMO, it does suck.


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## Maya Cross (May 28, 2012)

Obviously it's their storefront, and they can theoretically do whatever they like, but there's the issue of transparency. If they're going to penalise certain books, they need to explain why. We pay them for the privilege of using their service, and we deserve to understand the decisions they make that can adversely affect our business.

And then there's consistency. Cassia's said her books barely qualify as 'steamy' at all, yet there are multiple erotica books still in the top 100, including some other self pub erotica that has yet to be placed behind the wall.

And then there's the fact that they're promoting this as their best seller list, when it's not. It's a list of pre-approved books that may or may not be selling better than others. 

At the very least it's grossly unfair and I'm happy to spend a little time trying to make our voices heard. I mailed a ton of big blogs about this earlier. It probably won't amount to anything, but it's made me angry enough that I don't really care.


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## Zelah Meyer (Jun 15, 2011)

I can understand that they don't want really obvious erotica covers all over their bestseller list, even if it's unfair on the erotica authors.  However, if books have tasteful covers (like yours do) - then it just seems so unfair.  

I wish you and the others all the best with this struggle.


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## S. Shine (Jan 14, 2013)

The way I see it, it is the reader-consumer who determines the ranking of a book, not the author, store owner, publisher, or the stuttering parrots of New-Guinea. So, yeah, they can do with their list what they want as far as I'm concerned as it is their store, but that doesn't mean it isn't thoroughly immoral of them to do it in such an underhanded way. What they should do is simply be up front about the fact that what they present to the customer is an artificially composed bestseller list. In other words, smoke and mirrors. Regardless, what goes around comes around.


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## portiadacosta (Feb 28, 2011)

It's not just Barnes and Noble. 

Nook UK has simply DELETED thousands of erotic romance/erotica titles. No algorithm shenanigans, no rank tinkering... just gone, completely. 

All enquiries get either an unhelpful pass the buck reply, or ignored. It took one of my publishers to get an answer. Nook UK had decided they wanted to 'clean house' because they were doing a promo for kids and teens, so they just removed what they considered to be questionable material from their catalogue. 

But they wouldn't admit that to individual authors.


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## NolanCooley (May 23, 2013)

That really sucks. I wish you the best. From my end, it seems like a good problem to have to be at that rank even for a day! But I know it is unfair and I wish you the best. It really shouldn't happen.


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## mrv01d (Apr 4, 2011)

No, retailers can't do anything they want. There are laws to protect consumers, for example.

I don't know that authors can prevail on this issue from the publishing end, it needs to be turned into a consumer issue.

BN presents that list as a bestseller list and then manipulates it in the shadows with no disclosure to consumers. There's no integrity to their list and that's a problem. It's false advertising.

Amazon does the same and their case imo is even more damning. When you look at their filter they disproportionately filter less expensive indie erotica and by default highlight the more expensive traditionally published books. This increases their earnings at the expense of consumer choice.

The consumers are manipulated mercilessly for corporate bottom lines in ecommerce. It's only allowed because the case law hasn't been established yet. I believe in the future these kind of smoke and mirrors practices will become illegal. If a retailer is going to allow a product to be listed in its store, it has to let the consumer see it. They can't hide less expensive items and only show higher price points.

Consumers don't understand how carefully they are herded through bookseller sites.If they did there would be an outcry. Nobody likes to be gamed and consumers especially hate it when a corporation plays them in the name of profits as opposed to the service they promised consumers. If you highlight the consumer issues, you'll gain traction with your complaints.

M


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## MegHarris (Mar 4, 2010)

> Nook UK has simply DELETED thousands of erotic romance/erotica titles. No algorithm shenanigans, no rank tinkering... just gone, completely.


Nook UK has apparently deleted ALL my titles. Not just my slash, not just my erotic romance, but everything I've written. A lot of my books are no hotter than the average romance, and even my erotic stuff is pretty vanilla. I admit I'm a bit surprised by this; isn't the UK supposed to be less freaked out about sex than the US? Does anyone have books available over there, or has Nook UK just wiped out all the indies?



> I can understand that they don't want really obvious erotica covers all over their bestseller list, even if it's unfair on the erotica authors.


We had a large argument a couple of years ago about whether this was "just" an erotica problem. It's not. If they can treat erotica authors unfairly, they can treat anyone unfairly. If Nook UK can delete books, then Nook in the US may eventually do so too. If B&N decides it doesn't want too many thrillers mucking up the bestseller list, they can mess with those rankings too. It comes down to the same thing as Amazon's "adult filter"-- if they have an issue with certain covers or content, they can say so plainly, and advise authors to remove or edit them, and then remove the books if the author chooses not to comply. But just randomly screwing around with rankings is obnoxious and rude behavior on their part.


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## laceysilks (Mar 11, 2013)

This really makes me question whether I should keep "An Erotic Novel" on my book cover under the title of my next release. Would it make a difference? 

I don't think I'll categorize it as adult or erotic either (thanks to some good advice). We'll see what happens...

As for B&N and other storefronts - they're shooting themselves in the foot. People will start going to other retailers if they cannot find the smut/erotica/erotic romance they're looking for.
But then again, perhaps the sales from trad. novels who seem to get better treatment in both the category aspect and visibility due to algorithms is enough compensation so that their bottom line ($$$ coming in) isn't shifting by much.

So, it all comes down to the consumer, again. If they can't find what they're looking for (even with the great help of manuals explaining how to look for the books), they'll look elsewhere which could be a great opportunity for retailers like Smashwords. The problem is, outside of the writing world not enough people know about Smashwords, ARe etc...

Lacey


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## mrv01d (Apr 4, 2011)

portiadacosta said:


> It's not just Barnes and Noble.
> 
> Nook UK has simply DELETED thousands of erotic romance/erotica titles. No algorithm shenanigans, no rank tinkering... just gone, completely.
> 
> ...


If I were you or your publisher I would put together a press release on this and send it out to the media who've been covering the corporate censorship of erotica for the last two years.

M


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## Maya Cross (May 28, 2012)

Part of the issue is a complete lack of transparency. Sure, the Amazon adult filter sucks, and they could do a lot better by their authors if they actually explained the rules, but at least they acknowledge it's a thing. B&N have put up this wall, and won't even acknowledge it exists. They won't explain why, or what qualifies books to have that filter applied. They're just sticking their fingers in their ears and going LALALALA. It's ludicrous.

And of course, much like Amazon, the issue is incredibly hypocritical. If it is an erotica issue, well, B&N have a giant Fifty Shades area reserved in the most prime real estate on their site. It's literally the first thing users see if they go to Nook.

I get the sense it's more about the titles being self published, but even that doesn't hold true 100% of the time, because while Cassia's titles are walled off, Holly's weren't, and Damaged was allowed to hit #1 and stay there. Anyway, I wrote a more coherent blog post about it on GR:

http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/4244850-important-barnes-and-noble-is-censoring-its-best-seller-lists

And I have sent it to every big romance blog I know of. I'm waiting to hear back from Draft2Digital and Nook themselves, and I'm debating contacting a few digital publishing journos (there's a guy that writes for Forbes whose entire area of expertise is ebooks). I get that I'm probably wasting my time, but I'm going to try anyway. If all I do is make people aware that this is happening, well, I'll feel a little better about it.



NolanCooley said:


> That really sucks. I wish you the best. From my end, it seems like a good problem to have to be at that rank even for a day! But I know it is unfair and I wish you the best. It really shouldn't happen.


And yeah, I do understand this. Before I published the series, hitting #126 would have been a total dream, and I understand it's not a bad position to be in. But after seeing the book up there, bookended by Dan Brown and James Patterson, and then having that snatched away from me by some marketing assistant's arbitrary decision, I'm just so d*mn angry. It was one of those potential break out moments. Being on the front page of the Nook site is enormous. And now it's gone. I feel like someone gave me a winning lottery ticket, then tore it up in front of me.


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## mrv01d (Apr 4, 2011)

No you are not wasting your time. This is important and worth fighting for not just for you or for erotica, but for every independent author hoping to build a brand. Indies shape this industry as much as the booksellers do and every time we shrug our shoulders and decide we can't do anything or that it's their 'right' to undermine us as they see fit, we lose ground.

M


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## Maya Cross (May 28, 2012)

Also, #126 apparently is the magic number. One of the bloggers told me that another big selling indie, Gail McHugh, was complaining to her that her title never went higher than #126 in the Nook store. Couple that with Liliana's report of the same thing, and I'd say it's pretty clear there's a magic wall at #125 and books that get flagged can't breach it.


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## Zelah Meyer (Jun 15, 2011)

Selena_Kitt said:


> If it's "unfair" for one, it's unfair for everyone. That's sort of the definition of "fair!"
> 
> BTW, welcome to my world. It sucks.


Yep, sorry - I realised re-reading that that it might read that I thought it was fair in general, even though it was unfair to erotica authors with 'hot' covers. What I meant was, it's unfair for erotica authors with hot covers if B&N add to their rankings - but that it at least had some kind of vague justification behind it. B&N could argue that they didn't want nudity or soft porn covers on their bestseller list, which might be viewed by people who don't want to see those sorts of images, or by minors. I think most of us would work with a vendor to ship them a different cover if it meant the difference between being torpedoed in the rankings or not.

The books themselves though, if you don't want erotica, then you don't buy a book categorised as erotica. So, limiting the types of covers people can have and still keep visibility seems at least vaguely reasonable. Limiting the type of book full stop, seems to have very little justification (at least, no justification that seems to have any merit).

By the way - I write sweet romance (to the disappointment of at least one reader!) I've tried my hand at writing erotica, but failed to come up with anything I didn't cringe at. Respect to those who can do it! So, I don't personally have a dog in this fight, I'm just indignant on behalf of those who are hit by this!

As for Nook UK deleting stuff... words fail me.


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## Hugh Howey (Feb 11, 2012)

Hey Maya, I wrote something on my blog about this. If that's not okay, let me know and I'll take it down. This needs exposure.


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## TexasGirl (Dec 21, 2011)

AAARRGGH! I just checked Nook UK and ALL my erotica is deleted except for one random one (and hilariously, it's the naughtiest nastiest of them all! Bww haa haa.)

I'll say no more or the KB curse word filter will melt down like Barbarella's sex machine.


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## Zelah Meyer (Jun 15, 2011)

I have deleted this post as I do not consent to the new Terms of Service that Vertical Scope are attempting to retrospectively apply to our content.  I am forced to manually replace my content as, at time of editing, their representative has instructed moderators not to delete posts or accounts when users request it, and Vertical Scope have implied that they will deal with account deletion requests by anonymising accounts, which would leave personally identifying information in my posts.

I joined under the previous ownership and have posted over the years under different Terms of Service.  I do not consent to my name, content, or intellectual properties being used by Vertical Scope or any other entity that they sell or licence my data to.


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## Hugh Howey (Feb 11, 2012)

I'm getting upset.


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## Maya Cross (May 28, 2012)

Hugh Howey said:


> Hey Maya, I wrote something on my blog about this. If that's not okay, let me know and I'll take it down. This needs exposure.


Haha, of course I don't object. I appreciate it greatly! If you can, could you add two other authors to the list though? Cassia Leo and Liliana Hart (both posted in this thread) have both hit the magical #126 wall. Cassia is there right now in fact. If you look here:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s?dref=2207&fmt=ebook&size=30&sort=SA&startat=121&store=ebook&view=grid

You can see one of her her books wedged neatly between mine, and the other not far behind. Basically that entire row has been stuck behind the wall for the last few days. I have a ton of screenshots confirming it.

Anyway, thanks a lot Hugh. It means a lot when people with a big platform help out in situations like this.


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## Maya Cross (May 28, 2012)

Selena_Kitt said:


> I used to chart in the top 100 on BN before they started messing with their rankings. I had three in their top ten. Tell me about the dream being taken away, I feel your pain!
> 
> Until you posted this, I didn't realize... I thought it was weird, but I didn't make the connection until I saw this.
> 
> ...


Like I said, I'm not sure we're pinned so much as behind a block. It seems like #125 is the magic number. If your book is flagged, but is meant to rank higher than that, it sits at #126. If there are multiple flagged books above the threshold, they sit #126, #127, #128 etc, probably based on which one is meant to be ranked higher. So if you look at the page I linked in my post just above, that entire row (my books, Cassia's books, Tangled, Disastrous, The Santinis, The Billionaire's Obsession, and Rock with me) has been sitting there, occasionally shifting order, but never moving above the wall.

As for blog posts, the only one I've made is the good reads one:

http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/4244850-important-barnes-and-noble-is-censoring-its-best-seller-lists

I will keep people updated. I'm waiting to hear back from both D2D and Nook themselves.


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## mrv01d (Apr 4, 2011)

Zelah Meyer said:


> By the way, if it makes you feel better - Dimension Jumpers: Wanted appears to have been deleted from Nook UK as well, and that story only features one fade to black sex scene. I'm not fussed, because it's not like it was selling anything there anyway - but I thought I'd let people know that it's not just erotica that they've deleted.


Thank you for sharing this. As we've seen with Amazon's filters, even non erotic books have been targeted there as well. It really isn't an erotica issue, we're just the flashiest target, it's an author issue. You want a career as a writer? Then these practices cannot be tolerated. You can't build a brand when booksellers constantly work against you and your readers.

Folks, this marks at least two years of indie author suppression. It started with Paypal and has moved into booksellers (and for those into conspiracy theories, there's no way traditional publishers are sorry to see indies put at the back of the line, not when it makes them money. They might even be egging this on, who knows?).

It's not stopping. We are going to have to make some noise and force a reckoning. These corporations have no incentive to stop. Let's give them one.

M


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## Zoe York (May 12, 2013)

This is lunacy! I hope by revealing these shenanigans, you'll effect change.


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## mrv01d (Apr 4, 2011)

zoeyork said:


> This is lunacy! I hope by revealing these shenanigans, you'll effect change.


I hope you'll help us reveal them. Spread some of these links around and let people read them.

M


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## Hugh Howey (Feb 11, 2012)

Maya Cross said:


> Haha, of course I don't object. I appreciate it greatly! If you can, could you add two other authors to the list though? Cassia Leo and Liliana Hart (both posted in this thread) have both hit the magical #126 wall. Cassia is there right now in fact. If you look here:
> 
> http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s?dref=2207&fmt=ebook&size=30&sort=SA&startat=121&store=ebook&view=grid
> 
> ...


I added their names. I also added links to Amazon pages in the hopes that people will buy books there to support them. I see that The Passive Guy picked this up, and HuffPostBooks RT'ed. Thank you for posting about this, Maya. I hope this gets sorted. I did my part by buying each of your books on Amazon (and sending them to my wife's Kindle. Yeah, my wife's. Okay . . . I'll be off writing for the rest of the day. Writing, I tell you.)


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## portiadacosta (Feb 28, 2011)

MegHarris said:


> I admit I'm a bit surprised by this; isn't the UK supposed to be less freaked out about sex than the US? Does anyone have books available over there, or has Nook UK just wiped out all the indies?


I think people over here have hangups too, and I also think there's maybe a decline in interest in erotica in the UK now... 50 Shades etc is so over...

It's not confined to self published. Most of my traditionally published titles have disappeared too.


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## Zelah Meyer (Jun 15, 2011)

I've commented on Hugh's blog - but I thought I'd mention it here too.  The title of mine that survived the Nook UK cull is listed under 'romance' and 'children' - because I listed it on Smashwords as 'romance' and 'fairy tales'.  That's probably why it survived.  The deleted title was romance/fantasy.  I would suggest that indie romance writers in general have a look at their Nook UK listings.  It would be interesting to see which books survived & which ones were deleted.  We might get more of an idea as to what reasoning they used.  I doubt that they manually reviewed them.  This could potentially be more wide-spread than we think.  I mean, if we're not selling there, how many of us check our Nook UK listings once the books are up?


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## portiadacosta (Feb 28, 2011)

mrv01d said:


> If I were you or your publisher I would put together a press release on this and send it out to the media who've been covering the corporate censorship of erotica for the last two years.
> 
> M


I contacted someone at Bookseller, but they didn't follow it up. Both my publishers looked into the issue, and I alerted Smashwords to it, and got a response saying they 'weren't aware of any trends'...

To be honest, I've been very discouraged, as I felt nobody was in the slightest bit interested in the NOOK UK issue. I posted *here* about it two or three weeks ago... and only two people replied to my post. Must've flown under the radar, I guess... 

http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,149326.msg2173980.html#msg2173980


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## X. Aratare (Feb 5, 2013)

Maya, et al.,

First, I'm so sorry!  I understand your pain from a personal perspective with the Amazon dungeon business and, of course, I'm not on the UK site of Nook ... yeah.  

Anyways, I was doing a 3-part blog post (third part to go up today) citing Selena's blog and all the threads here that have been about either censorship of erotica or indies in general.  This last one asks for readers to act, because it doesn't appear that any of the book sellers are listening.

Also, many of the commenters on the blog post (and mind you these are m/m, yaoi fanatics) did NOT know about the dungeon nor about B&N's suppression of ranks and now this!  I'm going to put this on the FB fan page that has about 6700 and I have another 4 or 5k of people through my site and lists.  

It's outrageous and if we don't try to stop it then it will NEVER stop.  So go you to all the people sending this far and wide.  Maybe someone will listen.


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## mrv01d (Apr 4, 2011)

portiadacosta said:


> I contacted someone at Bookseller, but they didn't follow it up. Both my publishers looked into the issue, and I alerted Smashwords to it, and got a response saying they 'weren't aware of any trends'...
> 
> To be honest, I've been very discouraged, as I felt nobody was in the slightest bit interested in the NOOK UK issue. I posted *here* about it two or three weeks ago... and only two people replied to my post. Must've flown under the radar, I guess...


I find the prevailing attitude here is it's okay to suppress indies if they are dirty perverts. I was a big voice in last year's Paypal debacle (Anonymous was RT'ing me at one point even  ) and the conversation on KB then was so bad I had to walk away. At least this round there is some actual support and people are beginning to realize its bigger than the target genre.

Portia...write the press release. Just write it. If you google or follow some of the links on the paypal mess from last year you can then send it to those news outlets. Paper it everywhere. Post it on your blog. I'll RT it and pimp it out for you as will others.

Even if it doesn't go far on this round, it establishes the history of systemic abuse of consumers and authors that can be drawn upon in the future.

If we keep quiet, they get away with it.

M


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## Zelah Meyer (Jun 15, 2011)

I've tweeted about it and posted about it on Google+ where I have a few authors following me who might see it. Every little bit helps.


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## portiadacosta (Feb 28, 2011)

mrv01d said:


> I find the prevailing attitude here is it's okay to suppress indies if they are dirty perverts. I was a big voice in last year's Paypal debacle (Anonymous was RT'ing me at one point even  ) and the conversation on KB then was so bad I had to walk away. At least this round there is some actual support and people are beginning to realize its bigger than the target genre.
> 
> Portia...write the press release. Just write it. If you google or follow some of the links on the paypal mess from last year you can then send it to those news outlets. Paper it everywhere. Post it on your blog. I'll RT it and pimp it out for you as will others.
> 
> ...


I'm afraid I can't. Wish I could... but I'm quite ill just at the moment, have deadlines, and am just hanging on by the tips of my fingernails. I've already done as much as I'm capable of for now.


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## B. Justin Shier (Apr 1, 2011)

mrv01d said:


> If we keep quiet, they get away with it.


I shared the thread on social media, but it would probably be more helpful for all those impacted to collate all the relevant images and data and write an article for HuffBooks or the like. It is easier to amplify a story that way.

B.


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## MegHarris (Mar 4, 2010)

> I'm not fussed, because it's not like it was selling anything there anyway - but I thought I'd let people know that it's not just erotica that they've deleted.


Yeah, I'll repeat that all my titles seem to be gone, and that includes the "regular" romance under my other name. Of course, it's all one account, so I imagine they noticed I wrote some erotic romance and decided to delete all my books? (I did have some Meg books up there previously; I never checked my regular romance name, so it's possible they were never up there at all.) Interestingly, the book I'm having re-released under my other name through Bantam in October doesn't appear to be available on Nook UK either, even though it's up for pre-order through B&N proper, and on Amazon.uk. I admit, though, that I don't know if it was ever up on Nook UK or not *shrugs*.


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## Andrew Ashling (Nov 15, 2010)

Yep, my books have been deleted as well. Except the first volume of the first trilogy and the second volume of the second trilogy.

I think it is The Curse of Teh Gay. 

ETA:

keyword=Andrew%20Ashling]http://uk.nook.com/s/andrew-ashling?keyword=Andrew%20Ashling


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## mrv01d (Apr 4, 2011)

Andrew Ashling said:


> Yep, my books have been deleted as well. Except the first volume of the first trilogy and the second volume of the second trilogy.
> 
> I think it is The Curse of Teh Gay.
> 
> ...




If you want to make noise, this is a hot button issue for GLBQT (do I have that right?) groups. Remember about 4 years ago Amazon was censoring gay and lesbian content. There was a huge back lash from the gay community and Amazon backtracked big time, blaming a rogue employee. (Snort. If you believe that I have some swampland you're gonna love.)

M


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## portiadacosta (Feb 28, 2011)

This is my Nook UK listing...

http://uk.nook.com/s/portia-da-costa?keyword=Portia%20Da%20Costa

Up until two or three weeks ago, I had nearly 50 titles listed, including 13 self published.


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## Just Browsing (Sep 26, 2012)

Hello,

Sorry for the delay. Regarding your titles that are not searchable at uk.nook.com, we are still investigating this issue and appreciate your continued patience.

Sincerely,
The NOOK Press Business Team

(They've been "investigating" for more than two weeks. Apparently they are baffled, totally baffled...)


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## Pnjw (Apr 24, 2011)

I Just checked Nook UK and two of my books are missing. One is paranormal romance/mystery and the other is straight urban fantasy without even one sex scene. You can see the cover of Influential Magic in my signature. Not even close to being provocative. I'm not sure we can say this is an erotica/romance issue. Is it possible the site is just a mess?

The rank blocking on BN.com is very disturbing however. I'm sorry this is happening.


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## Hugh Howey (Feb 11, 2012)

B. Justin Shier said:


> I shared the thread on social media, but it would probably be more helpful for all those impacted to collate all the relevant images and data and write an article for HuffBooks or the like. It is easier to amplify a story that way.
> 
> B.


Or a story for Salon.com on how impossible it is to make it as an indie author these days . . .


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## portiadacosta (Feb 28, 2011)

Deanna Chase said:


> I Just checked Nook UK and two of my books are missing. One is paranormal romance/mystery and the other is straight urban fantasy without even one sex scene. You can see the cover of Influential Magic in my signature. Not even close to being provocative. I'm not sure we can say this is an erotica/romance issue. Is it possible the site is just a mess?
> 
> The rank blocking on BN.com is very disturbing however. I'm sorry this is happening.


The Nook UK site has been an absolute pig's ear since the start.


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## Just Browsing (Sep 26, 2012)

Justine Elyot has had all of her erotica titles, all trad published, pulled from the Nook UK store--all except Book 3 in one series. Guess they missed that one.


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## Andrew Ashling (Nov 15, 2010)

mrv01d said:


> If you want to make noise, this is a hot button issue for GLBQT (do I have that right?) groups. Remember about 4 years ago Amazon was censoring gay and lesbian content. There was a huge back lash from the gay community and Amazon backtracked big time, blaming a rogue employee. (Snort. If you believe that I have some swampland you're gonna love.)
> 
> M


Tweeted about it and will again later.


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## mrv01d (Apr 4, 2011)

Andrew Ashling said:


> Tweeted about it and will again later.


@ it to the groups that will pick it up as an issue for the gay community.

M


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## LilianaHart (Jun 20, 2011)

I just checked the Nook UK site for my books. I'd never bothered before. Only 2 of my 22 books are for sale there. Um, what? Not even my mysteries that have no romance at all in them are for sale there.


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## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

I'm completely missing from there.


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## MegHarris (Mar 4, 2010)

It sounds like Nook UK has problems that go beyond erotica. I don't know what's going on there, but right now it seems rather random. The ranking tampering, however, seems to be precisely targeted and quite deliberate.


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## fallswriter (Sep 11, 2012)

I'm so sorry for all the authors here that are experiencing and finding out how B&N as well as Amazon are treating them unfairly. It is not right, and it affects all writers - not just those going through it. Either we're all together or we're not.

So my question (since I haven't self-pubbed yet) is does any of this censorship violate the publishing platform contracts? Surely they aren't given full rights to just "unpublish" things. This is a form of censorship. 

The more people can monitor and share their information, the more someone can compile the information to come up with solid platform for the indie authors affected and not affected to stand on. 

Thanks to Hugh Howey for sounding the alarm as well!


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## B. Justin Shier (Apr 1, 2011)

fallswriter said:


> So my question (since I haven't self-pubbed yet) is does any of this censorship violate the publishing platform contracts? Surely they aren't given full rights to just "unpublish" things.


From Article F., Section IV. of the PubIt! Book Publication and Distribution Agreement:

"*YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT BARNES & NOBLE HAS NO OBLIGATION TO MARKET, DISTRIBUTE, OR OFFER FOR SALE ANY EBOOK OR PART THEREOF, OR TO CONTINUING MARKETING, DISTRIBUTING OR SELLING AN EBOOK AFTER WE HAVE COMMENCED DOING SO.*" [emphasis not mine]

http://pubit.barnesandnoble.com/pubit_app/bn?t=reg_terms_print



fallswriter said:


> This is a form of censorship.


It is, but in the USA, privately-owned entities are under no very few* obligations to allow you to speak freely in their space.

I confess ignorance of the relevant UK statutes.

B.

*I just recalled Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins


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## katherinef (Dec 13, 2012)

Ack, my teen romance book with no sex is gone from Nook UK too. The one with sex survived.   Seriously, what is going on?   I know there are readers who complain about sex even if it is barely mentioned but B&N rarely does anything when I complain about meaningless reviews, so I don't think they'd block a book if someone tried to report it, especially if it's selling well. Since my sales mostly come from B&N and I write erotica and romance, this scares me.


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## Guest (May 24, 2013)

I do think that part of the reason our books aren't showing up on Nook UK is because of a technical glitch when switching from Pubit! to Nook Press.  When I made the switch, several of my books were listed as US rights only in the "Rights & Pricing" section, even though I'd had them set to sell in the UK on Pubit!  I didn't notice this until I went through and checked the individual titles.  

Also FYI, when you change the "Rights & Pricing" details on Nook Press, you have to click save, go to "NOOK Book Changes," and click post changes for the change to go through.  There's an orange banner at the top of the screen that says as much, but if you're dumb like me, you probably won't see it.


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## Just Browsing (Sep 26, 2012)

I've checked every title--the rights are still worldwide. There's a UK price assigned.

But they're not listed in the UK store.

Well, one is; and 16 are not.


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## Edward W. Robertson (May 18, 2010)

Some of my SF/F titles are missing from the UK despite having worldwide rights selected. Weirdness.


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## dalya (Jul 26, 2011)

On the topic of NA books getting suppressed on B&N, when my new release was doing well on Amazon, it rose on B&N but stopped at around 120 and never went higher, despite increasing sales.

I thought I'd just fallen a bit short with numbers, but now that I realize I was caught by the Anchor of Shame, I'm pretty pissed. 

It's fraud on the part of B&N, to lie to their customers and present a top 100 list that isn't the top 100. If they want to do a hand-picked list, fine. Do a hand-picked list. But I believe a practice like this may be in violation of advertising regulations. (I am not a lawyer, or even American, so I'm just making guesses here.)


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## MegHarris (Mar 4, 2010)

> I do think that part of the reason our books aren't showing up on Nook UK is because of a technical glitch when switching from Pubit! to Nook Press.


It could be, as I just switched over. My books appear to have worldwide rights and have a UK price, but it may indeed be a glitch. It seems a little widespread to be just aimed at erotica, based on what people have said.



> It's fraud on the part of B&N, to lie to their customers and present a top 100 list that isn't the top 100.


Yes. As Maya said, there's a disturbing lack of transparency here. If they want to say that erotic stuff can't be shown in the top 125, they should make that clear. Otherwise the readers are being cheated just as much as the authors are, and tricked into thinking some books are higher ranked than they actually are.


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## cdvsmx5 (May 23, 2012)

I suspect this would have greater traction if the significance of 125 was explained.
Do the Nook devices limit selection to this number?
Anyone with a Nook able to provide insight?


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## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

This really stinks. I think you need to target B&N readers by letting them know that their book choices are being censored. As in, Barnes and Noble has no respect for readers of certain genres. They may not react to an author complaining, but if you can get enough readers to become vocal, that might get their attention. Nobody likes to be tricked and that's essentially what B&N is doing. Also, they are outright lying about the ranks.

Best of luck with it. If you are getting a lot of blog posts up, or want to write one to do a blog blast, count me in. I don't have a ton of followers, but I'd post a guest post by any of you who are being censored. If you get enough of us to all blog about it at one time, it may attract some media attention.


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## Hugh Howey (Feb 11, 2012)

cdvsmx5 said:


> I suspect this would have greater traction if the significance of 125 was explained.
> Do the Nook devices limit selection to this number?
> Anyone with a Nook able to provide insight?


101 would be too obvious. Needed to be high enough to not raise suspicions, not in the top 100, I would have chosen 125 myself.


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## Lo/Roxie (May 11, 2011)

FWIW all of my Ellora's Cave, Samhain and Siren titles (all erotic romance) have disappeared from Nook UK. I can't find any of my Cleis Press titles (erotica) either. So it's probably not a PubIt to Nook Press issue. I have one traditionally published romance (categorized as space opera) that remains live on Nook UK (written as Lo) and one self-published romantic suspense (written as Roxie) that's available. Out of 50+ titles in my backlist of indie and commercially published works--2 are available. What the flying eff, B&N?!


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## Vivi_Anna (Feb 12, 2011)

I looked at that list, and I flipped pages and noticed an indie NA book that was at 92

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/real-katy-evans/1115099256?ean=2940016489162

Is Katy on the boards?

So why has this book pushed past the #125 block? Would love to know what her sales are like to compare them to Maya and Liliana etc.


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## Vivi_Anna (Feb 12, 2011)

I checked Nook uk, and there are only 13 of my 48 titles on there, none of my indies. But not all of my trad published books either.  they only have like 5 of my Harlequins, when I have 11 published.

So I don't think its just an erotica problem.


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## Kwalker (Aug 23, 2012)

Um, I can't make it past the first page of this thread, because I started realizing we had Holly and Cassia in here - You two ladies sure know how to keep me up reading at night =) (When I should be writing.)

I picked up Relentless last week and read it without realizing I'd seen it around here, so it startled me seeing it in your sig. 

Sorry, /fangirl mode off - I'm sorry B&N is giving ya'll trouble again.  Two of my 4 titles are missing at Nook UK ( and worldwide rights are checked in the NookPress dashboard. One is a pair of shortstories with sweet romance, nothing more than a kiss. The second is the middle book in my series with some longing and a little bit of hit, but nothing more than a kiss actually happens. )


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## LilianaHart (Jun 20, 2011)

Vivi_Anna said:


> I looked at that list, and I flipped pages and noticed an indie NA book that was at 92


FWIW, I've been #1 in the Nook store twice since January with two different books, but they were mysteries instead of romances. It's my romances that always get blocked. I've been thinking about doing different covers just for B&N, but I like the man chest covers  I've been noticing the reprinting of trad books that originally had man chest covers and now have the 50 shades type covers (Lora Leigh, Maya Banks, and Sylvia Day).


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## Vivi_Anna (Feb 12, 2011)

LilianaHart said:


> FWIW, I've been #1 in the Nook store twice since January with two different books, but they were mysteries instead of romances. It's my romances that always get blocked. I've been thinking about doing different covers just for B&N, but I like the man chest covers  I've been noticing the reprinting of trad books that originally had man chest covers and now have the 50 shades type covers (Lora Leigh, Maya Banks, and Sylvia Day).


Do you think that's it? The cover images?

I went through more lists and found a few indie books that had broken 100 and they have risque covers. *shakes head*

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/real-katy-evans/1115099256?ean=2940016489162

I though this one at #65 is more risque then yours.

But I also did see risque books from trad publishers that were in the top 100. Of course.

It's odd. And not right, that some books are breaking 100 and others aren't. It's almost like someone at B&N is picking and choosing. LOL


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## Artemis Hunt (Aug 23, 2011)

I am a massive former B and N victim here. If you remember back in August and Sept of 2012, I posted 2 threads about B and N manipulating FIVE of my books by adding 1000 points ranking to them. I was stomping mad at that time, you can imagine. I complained and raised up a stink and threatened to sue. They 'admitted' to me on email it was an oversight on their part. I still have that email.

They 'allowed' those books to rise to the Top 100 again and didn't tamper with me for a while. Thereafter, they 'allowed' 12 of my books to hit their Top 100. But I also noticed that my last 2 books which had massive, rapid sales were 'hovered' around 125 and 126 for a while. Thereafter, they dropped. At first, I attributed it to natural lifecycle, but I think I know better now.


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## Maya Cross (May 28, 2012)

Artemis Hunt said:


> I am a massive former B and N victim here. If you remember back in August and Sept of 2012, I posted 2 threads about B and N manipulating FIVE of my books by adding 1000 points ranking to them. I was stomping mad at that time, you can imagine. I complained and raised up a stink and threatened to sue. They 'admitted' to me on email it was an oversight on their part. I still have that email.
> 
> They 'allowed' those books to rise to the Top 100 again and didn't tamper with me for a while. Thereafter, they 'allowed' 12 of my books to hit their Top 100. But I also noticed that my last 2 books which had massive, rapid sales were 'hovered' around 125 and 126 for a while. Thereafter, they dropped. At first, I attributed it to natural lifecycle, but I think I know better now.


I actually hunted down your thread yesterday when I was initially dealing with all of this. I remember being incensed at the time. Apparently that was a wake up call for them to try and be a little more 'subtle' about their manipulation. Many authors are appearing now claiming the same thing: #126 is the magic number. And many of them didn't seem to realise at the time what had happened.

On another note, I was talking to another author who I'll leave nameless for now, and she raised a very important point. Her book is stuck behind the wall with ours, and it did astoundingly well on Amazon. She thinks there's some chance that being stuck in the 120s on B&N stopped her from hitting the NYT best seller list. Obviously we don't know that for sure, and I have no idea how companies like the Times aggregate sales, but if they use sales rank as an indicator, then this just got a whole lot worse.


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## Kwalker (Aug 23, 2012)

On 2/21 I had a bookbub ad, and I sold 87 copies on B&N that day. I sold 40ish copies the following day and the 3rd day. I hit and held 166ranking for a few days. 

So with less than 200 sold on their site (For all time at that point) there is no friggin way I was lying that close to where you all are stuck at. I know sales fluctuate, and it takes different totals to reach certain amounts. 

Hopefully this data can help figure out just how off it is, maybe?


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## Terrence OBrien (Oct 21, 2010)

> "If a retailer is going to allow a product to be listed in its store, it has to let the consumer see it. They can't hide less expensive items and only show higher price points."


Be careful with that. Unless there is an explicit contract, the retailer has no obligation to show anything in his store. He can leave the whole place empty if he wants. He can do that in a bricks & mortar store, and he can do it on a web site. He's free to show only the expensive stuff if he wants. He's also free to show only the cheap stuff. The consumer has no claim against the retailer for not carrying what the consumer wants. And the retailer has no claim against the consumer for not buying what he carries.



> "So my question (since I haven't self-pubbed yet) is does any of this censorship violate the publishing platform contracts? Surely they aren't given full rights to just unpublish" things. This is a form of censorship."


In the US, the government can't take books off B&N shelves. But B&N can take anything off its own shelves. The First Amendment curtails the government, but it also protects the right of B&N to choose what it offers. It is a form of censorship, and they can do it. We might think it is wrong, and might make a good case that it is, but they do have the right to take down any book they choose.


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## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

MegHarris said:


> It sounds like Nook UK has problems that go beyond erotica. I don't know what's going on there, but right now it seems rather random. The ranking tampering, however, seems to be precisely targeted and quite deliberate.


None of my titles in a different pen name are listed there. Bride of Fae is listed, but Give Me (the first book in the series) is not. Kiss Me Hello is off sale at B&N USA (because it's in Select right now) and it's supposed to be off sale at B&N UK - but there it's on sale.

Clowns run that place.


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## Aris Whittier (Sep 21, 2010)

I just checked my books and 2 are missing from the UK site. One is traditionally published and one is an indie (so it's not that). I have yet to convert over to NOOK PRESS (so it's not a glitch in that). And I don’t write erotica (so it's not that)....it makes no sense…


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## kCopeseeley (Mar 15, 2011)

Well, for my part, it just makes me want to start shopping around the #125 mark at B&N.  Seriously, the more we get the word out, the more people will head on down to the "new" ceiling for sexy books.    

So, even if B&N doesn't voluntarily change their listings, if enough people KNOW where the good books are, they might be forced into it.


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## Guest (May 25, 2013)

I have two books missing from Nook UK, both of which are set to sell at world rights and not just in the US.  Both of them have warning labels for the content in the book descriptions.


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## Artemis Hunt (Aug 23, 2011)

Selena_Kitt said:


> I think they actually implemented this new system BECAUSE of you, dearest. Nice, huh?


I actually think we are progressing against them then  From being added 1000 points, we are only added 100 points. That is progress! Maybe the next time we will be added 50 points!


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## Maya Cross (May 28, 2012)

I have someone on Good Reads who had sent an email to a contact of her's. She won't say much about who the person is, which is totally fine, but it may help shed some light on the issue. I'm also discovering exactly how many authors this is affecting. It's a huge number. I'll likely be getting everyone who is interested together on Facebook or something soon to pool our info and really firm up the evidence. It's almost amusing to watch the Nook charts now that you know what's going on. You can see now that a new book occupies first place outside of the wall. Selling Scarlett by Ella James. It's #126 in the store, and is now ahead of Cassia and myself in the row of exiled books. But it can't go any higher. Every time the charts move, it, along with all our books, stays behind the barrier.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s?dref=2207&fmt=ebook&size=30&sort=SA&startat=121&store=ebook&view=grid


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## Andrew Ashling (Nov 15, 2010)

Terrence OBrien said:


> Be careful with that. Unless there is an explicit contract, the retailer has no obligation to show anything in his store. He can leave the whole place empty if he wants. He can do that in a bricks & mortar store, and he can do it on a web site. He's free to show only the expensive stuff if he wants. He's also free to show only the cheap stuff. The consumer has no claim against the retailer for not carrying what the consumer wants. And the retailer has no claim against the consumer for not buying what he carries.
> 
> In the US, the government can't take books off B&N shelves. But B&N can take anything off its own shelves. The First Amendment curtails the government, but it also protects the right of B&N to choose what it offers. It is a form of censorship, and they can do it. We might think it is wrong, and might make a good case that it is, but they do have the right to take down any book they choose.


Agreed&#8230; as far as it goes.

However, are they allowed to lie? Are they allowed to say, "This is a list of books, arranged according to how much they sell," and then _deliberately falsify_ that list in order to sell the more expensive ones? Are they allowed, according to US law, to lie to their customers about the popularity of certain books?


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## mrv01d (Apr 4, 2011)

Andrew Ashling said:


> Agreed&#8230; as far as it goes.
> 
> However, are they allowed to lie? Are they allowed to say, "This is a list of books, arranged according to how much they sell," and then _deliberately falsify_ that list in order to sell the more expensive ones? Are they allowed, according to US law, to lie to their customers about the popularity of certain books?


I'm pretty sure the answer is no on that and I'm working to confirm whether this is in fact the case. We have quite a bit of evidence to prove BN tampers with their lists. Amazon has been more subtle.

Even if the law ultimately doesn't care, the consumer outcry would force booksellers to change their policies. No one likes to be cheated. It would be a PR nightmare for BN and Amazon would suffer as well.

M


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## Hugh Howey (Feb 11, 2012)

mrv01d said:


> Even if the law ultimately doesn't care, the consumer outcry would force booksellers to change their policies. No one likes to be cheated. It would be a PR nightmare for BN and Amazon would suffer as well.
> 
> M


EXACTLY! Thank you. So many people are saying, "Well, it's their list, they can do what they want." I think their customers and their content providers might have something to say. Legality is one thing; tanking your business with bad PR is another.


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## Andrew Ashling (Nov 15, 2010)

Hugh Howey said:


> EXACTLY! Thank you. So many people are saying, "Well, it's their list, they can do what they want." I think their customers and their content providers might have something to say. Legality is one thing; tanking your business with bad PR is another.


Actually you can't tell people, "this is a list purely based on sales records," and then falsify it: that's fraud, pure and simple, and against the law in every civilized country.
On the other hand you're right: people should be made aware that B&N-UK are _lying_ to them about their products in order to _defraud_ them.


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## Gina Black (Mar 15, 2011)

Mine was there and isn't now.


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## Vivi_Anna (Feb 12, 2011)

I wonder now if this has been the reason for my sales nosedive on B&N.  I am in no way a huge seller, but my werewolf books have always been on page 1 or 2 of the erotica bestsellers.

I go thru Smashwords so its almost impossible to know what I was selling at a certain time, but I had a $2000 difference between my January payment and my last payment in April. That's a big loss to me.


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## TexasGirl (Dec 21, 2011)

I would hypothesize that when an indie book starts a sales run, someone hand reviews it for some unknown criteria and puts in a database marker that prevents its ascension beyond 125.

A few puncture the top 100 because they were a surprise or sudden breakout that gets caught too late (and then is slammed down to 125 once the marker is in place).

I'm guessing this ceiling was someone's answer to getting caught adding 1000 ranking points, which was super obvious.

Now that we've outed this tactic, they'll try something else.


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## BillSmithBooksDotCom (Nov 4, 2012)

I know a lot of people are saying "It's B&N's site, they can do what they want."

And in a sense, I don't think that is entirely true. They are representing their list as "bestselling" books -- not "hot," not "popular," but "best-selling." That is saying they are using an empirical, non-judgmental standard -- these are the books that are selling the most copies, period. 

Therefore, if B&N is distorting their best-seller lists (for whatever reason), I would think that readers and authors would logically have grounds for some sort of action, perhaps even legal redress. 

They are not just changing algorithms. If they are changing the results of their best-seller lists so that the best-selling books are not actually being shown in sales order, they are LYING and actively deceiving everyone who sees those lists. That is fraud.

**IF** they are doing what they have been accused of doing.

On the other hand, the affected authors ought to have a little fun with this at B&N's expense: "#126 -- it's the new #1, at least on B&N." Followed by texts along the lines of Barnes and Noble has let my book get as high on the best-seller lists as they will allow because they are afraid Indie authors like me will get too much attention. With links to threads like this one...you have to watch how you phrase things so lawyers and C&D orders don't start flying your way, but boy, it could be interesting for B&N if this story hits the big-time.


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## 13893 (Apr 29, 2010)

It's the new phrase for "on the outside looking in" syndrome ...

I've been 126'd!


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## Daizie (Mar 27, 2013)

126'd. I like that. Not the stick-pinned condition, just the term.


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## Terrence OBrien (Oct 21, 2010)

Andrew Ashling said:


> Agreed&#8230; as far as it goes.
> 
> However, are they allowed to lie? Are they allowed to say, "This is a list of books, arranged according to how much they sell," and then _deliberately falsify_ that list in order to sell the more expensive ones? Are they allowed, according to US law, to lie to their customers about the popularity of certain books?


Sure. It happens all the time in commercial speech. Just look at advertising language and claims. There is lots of latitude. There is no law against lying or exagerating. One could make a claim if they were harmed by a lie, but the lie itself is Ok. I'd also check to see if B&N has defined its list as you have. The First Amendment traditions and protections in the US can significantly differ from other countries.

We can find guidelines from the Federal Trade Commission, and people will cite them as evidence an advertiser is in the wrong. But nobody really cares much about claims of best selling, most popular, highest rated, etc.

In the US, protected speech can be absolutely vile, but it remains protected. Take a look at the footnotes in Brandenburg v Ohio to see actual examples of protected, but vile speech. That's the most recent major Supreme Court decision.



> "EXACTLY! Thank you. So many people are saying, "Well, it's their list, they can do what they want." I think their customers and their content providers might have something to say. Legality is one thing; tanking your business with bad PR is another."


Sure we are saying it. It's true. There is widespread misinformation about who can censor stuff. Going into a fight with bad intelligence on the opponent is mistake.


----------



## B. Justin Shier (Apr 1, 2011)

Terrence, you may be right. I'm trying to think of any similar cases, and I'm coming up empty. They would have to worry civil suits, of course. Keith Long's class action suit against monitor manufacturers over screen size is one exceptionally pricey example.

http://news.cnet.com/2100-1023-279169.html

In the UK is where it might get interesting...

B.


----------



## Terrence OBrien (Oct 21, 2010)

I remember that. Some monitor makers measured from the corners of the case.


----------



## Hugh Howey (Feb 11, 2012)

Daizie said:


> 126'd. I like that. Not the stick-pinned condition, just the term.


I wish I had T-shirts for BEA.


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## TexasGirl (Dec 21, 2011)

Ha, yes

Real Authors
Get 126'd
on BN​
I'd buy that.


----------



## Andrew Ashling (Nov 15, 2010)

Terrence OBrien said:


> Sure. It happens all the time in commercial speech. Just look at advertising language and claims. There is lots of latitude. There is no law against lying or exagerating. One could make a claim if they were harmed by a lie, but the lie itself is Ok. I'd also check to see if B&N has defined its list as you have. The First Amendment traditions and protections in the US can significantly differ from other countries.
> 
> We can find guidelines from the Federal Trade Commission, and people will cite them as evidence an advertiser is in the wrong. But nobody really cares much about claims of best selling, most popular, highest rated, etc.
> 
> ...


Interesting.

I'm fairly sure in most countries in Europe you can't outright lie in advertisements. There probably is some leeway for vague exaggerations.

Nook - UK is a company based in Europe, namely Luxembourg. So it would be their laws that apply.



> Welcome to the Barnes & Noble NOOK.co.uk website (the "NOOK.co.uk Site"), a website owned and operated by Barnes & Noble S.à r.l., a Luxembourg limited liability company (société à responsabilité limitée) existing under the laws of Luxembourg, having its registered address at 2, rue Joseph Hackin, L-1746 Luxembourg and registered with the Luxembourg register of Commerce and Companies under number B 167208, and having a share capital of EUR 12,500.


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## Maya Cross (May 28, 2012)

TexasGirl said:


> I would hypothesize that when an indie book starts a sales run, someone hand reviews it for some unknown criteria and puts in a database marker that prevents its ascension beyond 125.
> 
> A few puncture the top 100 because they were a surprise or sudden breakout that gets caught too late (and then is slammed down to 125 once the marker is in place).
> 
> ...


I think this is pretty accurate. It's has been going on for a while, and at any one time, it looks like there could be 5-10 books pinned behind the barrier that should be ranked higher. That means there are going to be hundreds of authors out there who have been affected by this, most of them without even realising. Dalya mentioned on Hugh's blog post that she'd hit the wall, but hadn't known at the time why she'd stopped progressing.



TexasGirl said:


> Ha, yes
> 
> Real Authors
> Get 126'd
> ...


I would totally wear that =)



Selena_Kitt said:


> Don't reinvent the wheel. Post it on the FB group Banned Erotic Books.
> 
> ETA: Just did it for ya.


Thanks! I'm in the process of getting in touch with someone about an article on this so stay tuned. The former journalist in me is itching at the prospect of making as much media noise about this as possible.

Also, it appears there is a silver lining here. I'm not sure how much of this spike is organic and how much can be attributed to my blog post getting linked around, but Lockout just cracked the top 100 on Amazon this morning =) I think I'm going to go ahead and give Hugh all the credit. Thanks Hugh! Hope your 'wife' is enjoying the books BTW =)


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## LilianaHart (Jun 20, 2011)

Hugh Howey said:


> I wish I had T-shirts for BEA.


I'd totally wear that shirt every day of BEA. And stand right in front of the B&N booth with you.


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## dalya (Jul 26, 2011)

Maya Cross said:


> I think this is pretty accurate. It's has been going on for a while, and at any one time, it looks like there could be 5-10 books pinned behind the barrier that should be ranked higher. That means there are going to be hundreds of authors out there who have been affected by this, most of them without even realising. Dalya mentioned on Hugh's blog post that she'd hit the wall, but hadn't known at the time why she'd stopped progressing.
> ...


Yep, I think I hit the wall, but I wasn't tracking the dailies that closely, and my book may have just petered out on its own. But now we'll never know, will we?

One of our nice KBoarders, June Gray, did very well on B&N last fall when several of her serial titles ranked very high on B&N for quite some time. That was last fall, of course, so perhaps it couldn't have happened in May 2013.

This self-publishing path isn't easy. It blows some serious goats that even our retail partners are sabotaging our efforts to deliver what readers want. Serious goats.


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## Kwalker (Aug 23, 2012)

Dayla, (is it cool that autocorrect keeps trying to change your your name to Fatal?)

If you go through pubit or nook press it is possible to see your day by day sales history still, so the numbers might still be there.


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## dalya (Jul 26, 2011)

Kwalker said:


> Dayla, (is it cool that autocorrect keeps trying to change your your name to Fatal?)
> 
> If you go through pubit or nook press it is possible to see your day by day sales history still, so the numbers might still be there.


I'm Canadian, so I have to go through a distributor and kiss goodbye to 15% of whatever I get. I'm on D2D.

Doesn't matter too much if they 126'd me or not ... they're clearly doing it to the other New Adult indies, and they'll probably do it to my next book, because it is very juicy. I should be so lucky to sell enough copies to get 126'd, of course, but I feel very GRRR about the whole thing.

What is the other option? Go Select for the first 3 months of the new release and hope to double down with KOLL rentals and extra exposure from the Borrows lists? Is it possible this would make up the lost sales?


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## Maya Cross (May 28, 2012)

You could help me throw a huge tantrum =)


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## Hugh Howey (Feb 11, 2012)

Maya Cross said:


> Also, it appears there is a silver lining here. I'm not sure how much of this spike is organic and how much can be attributed to my blog post getting linked around, but Lockout just cracked the top 100 on Amazon this morning =) I think I'm going to go ahead and give Hugh all the credit. Thanks Hugh! Hope your 'wife' is enjoying the books BTW =)


Congrats! But it wasn't me. I only bought one copy of each. Unless Amazon weighs my purchases! Scandal!


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## Maya Cross (May 28, 2012)

A quick update to this. Still no replies from B&N. My blog has done a few rounds on some other more prominent blogs (thanks Hugh!), but just now I got an email from the books journalist at one of the largest newspapers in Britain, asking me for more info. I gave her everything I've got (which by now is quite a lot), so I'm hoping something comes of that.


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## Wansit (Sep 27, 2012)

Maya Cross said:


> A quick update to this. Still no replies from B&N. My blog has done a few rounds on some other more prominent blogs (thanks Hugh!), but just now I got an email from the books journalist at one of the largest newspapers in Britain, asking me for more info. I gave her everything I've got (which by now is quite a lot), so I'm hoping something comes of that.


New article on the Nook UK problem & it mentions the 126 problem as well.

http://www.teleread.com/barnes-noble/authors-notice-romance-books-missing-from-barnes-noble-uk-website/#comment


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## Just Browsing (Sep 26, 2012)

I did my weekly chat.
~ ~ ~
You are now connected with Olu Oshodi from Nook Press

1001 Nights Press: Our books are still not available in the UK store. Why not?

Olu Oshodi: Thank you for contacting NOOK Press™. I have read your question. One moment please.

1001 Nights Press: Are you still there?

Olu Oshodi: I do apologize for any inconvenience .We have forwarded the issue to the NOOK Press Business Team. They usually respond via email in 1-2 business days, however due to heavy volume it may take a longer for a resolution.

1001 Nights Press: That's what we were told on May 14.

1001 Nights Press: But we haven't had any resolution yet.

Olu Oshodi: Once the Business Team have a resolution for the issue, you will be contacted.

1001 Nights Press: Well, last time we were contacted was May 23. The message was "sorry for the delay." Then silence.

1001 Nights Press: We have no direct email, no phone number, no way to contact anyone except this chat. So, once a week, we will put in a request again. What else can we do?

Olu Oshodi: Unfortunately, all you can do is wait. They are aware of the issue and are working on it.

1001 Nights Press: It should take 2-5 minutes to fix, though. So we're perplexed as to why it's still an issue 2 weeks later. And why we can't talk to anyone about it.

Olu Oshodi: The only form of communication for NOOK Press is via this Chat medium.

1001 Nights Press: So... can you fix our problem today?

Olu Oshodi: No I cant fix the issue. As I said earlier it has been forwarded and they are aware of the issue.

1001 Nights Press: What kinds of problems can actually be fixed via this chat?

Olu Oshodi: We answer general inquiries.

1001 Nights Press: Can you give any information that is not available on the website already?

Olu Oshodi: Sir or madam I have given you an update of your issue and once again I do apologize but we are going round in circles now.

1001 Nights Press: Yes, I've been going around in circles with Nook on several issues since July 2012. It's very frustrating for publishers that Nook and Barnes & Noble can't or won't help us. If you check the chat board, you'll see lists and lists of problems from authors and publishers who are terribly frustrated. Oh well. I will chat again next week, I guess... Have a nice day.

Olu Oshodi: Thank you for contacting NOOK Press™ and have a great day.


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## Nathalie Hamidi (Jul 9, 2011)

1001nightspress said:


> Olu Oshodi: Sir or madam I have given you an update of your issue and once again I do apologize but we are going round in circles now.


THE NERVE. 
I admire your patience.


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## Just Browsing (Sep 26, 2012)

i understand that the person I'm chatting to has no information or power, and can't do a thing to help. I sure wouldn't want that job. All you do all day is tell people you can't help them--because you can't.

On the other hand ... it's not like I (as a publisher) have any other communication options from Barnes & Noble.

Worst 'help' ever? Department of Homeland Security. OMG. I eventually complained to my Senator. Even their office was shocked ("That's not what they told us in the briefing!"). But that is not a publishing issue.

Thank you for contacting NOOK Press™ and have a great day.


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## portiadacosta (Feb 28, 2011)

Thanks to Lynn Mixon, who commented on the Teleread piece, I've now discovered that all my books are findable at Nook UK.

To discover them, I have to put 'Portia Da Costa erotica' or 'Portia Da Costa erotic' instead of just 'Portia Da Costa' into the search box... and shazam, all 54 titles appear!

But I wouldn't have known I had to do that before reading Lynn's comment. And I've no idea if the books have been there all along. 

Many thanks to Lynn! 

Not sure how this relates to the *non* erotic titles that others have reported as missing.


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## Lo/Roxie (May 11, 2011)

I received a reply from Nook Press about the disappearing books and the 126'ing but it was very vague. I know that my publishers (EC, especially) are still trying to figure out why all of their romance titles vanished. I mean, you couldn't even find Laurann Dohner's newest book in their dang store. She writes steamy stories but they are not even close to erotica--and they are mega sellers (consistent USA Today/NYT list hitters in their first week.) It's like B&N doesn't want to sell any _any_ books.

The (canned?) response:



> Lolita,
> 
> Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We're working with the necessary teams to investigate and address this issue as soon as possible
> 
> ...


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## portiadacosta (Feb 28, 2011)

Lolita Lopez said:


> I received a reply from Nook Press about the disappearing books and the 126'ing but it was very vague. I know that my publishers (EC, especially) are still trying to figure out why all of their romance titles vanished. I mean, you couldn't even find Laurann Dohner's newest book in their dang store. She writes steamy stories but they are not even close to erotica--and they are mega sellers (consistent USA Today/NYT list hitters in their first week.) It's like B&N doesn't want to sell any _any_ books.
> 
> The (canned?) response:


I just searched for Laurann's books using the search term 'Laurann Donner erotica' at Nook UK, and 28 titles appeared. Using just her name, there were no results at all. And when I was searching in vain through their actual erotica section for my books, I don't think I saw any of Laurran's listed either.

I did some other searches for comparison:

Alison Tyler - 2 books just by name, 52 findable by Alison Tyler erotica

Sommer Marsden - no actual results by name, *93* findable by Sommer Marsden erotica

And I can't remember these two top erotica authors showing up in the erotica section, either. At least not as far as I scrolled...


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## Zelah Meyer (Jun 15, 2011)

I have deleted this post as I do not consent to the new Terms of Service that Vertical Scope are attempting to retrospectively apply to our content.  I am forced to manually replace my content as, at time of editing, their representative has instructed moderators not to delete posts or accounts when users request it, and Vertical Scope have implied that they will deal with account deletion requests by anonymising accounts, which would leave personally identifying information in my posts.

I joined under the previous ownership and have posted over the years under different Terms of Service.  I do not consent to my name, content, or intellectual properties being used by Vertical Scope or any other entity that they sell or licence my data to.
words.


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## MegHarris (Mar 4, 2010)

Yep! I just searched "meg harris erotica" and darned if everything didn't pop up, including the m/m erotica as Gem Frost. So have they put it under a kind of filter, where you can only find it if you enter the word "erotica," or is this sheer incompetence on this part?

Alas, I still can't find my other name, which writes "regular" romance. "name erotica" doesn't do it, nor does "name romance."

ETA: I also discovered "meg harris erotic romance" works. This prompted me to check my other name, and lo and behold there are my books: "name erotic romance." The only problem is they are NOT erotic romances. Zelah, yours can be found by "zelah meyer erotic romance" too. I think we've all been tagged and stuck behind a wall, guys. It would appear to be a variant on Amazon's "adult dungeon"-- you can only find the book if you know the trick to find it. And it seems to be applied rather liberally (and incorrectly, in some cases) to indies.

This trick also appears to work for individual titles. "meg harris the wolf ring" brings up nada, but add "erotica" and the book magically appears. There seem to be two different filters. "Erotica" or "erotic romance" brings up my erotic romances, but only "erotic romance" brings up my non-erotic titles-- and "erotic" won't work. It has to be "erotic romance." This is true for Zelah's title too-- "zelah meyer erotic" doesn't work, but it pops up as "zelah meyer erotic romance." Tricky, and more complex than a casual browser of the site would guess.


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## portiadacosta (Feb 28, 2011)

And the best bit is, books that require 'erotica' to be added to the search term, whether that be book title or author's name, *don't* seem to be listed in Nook UK's actual erotica section. 

Their erotica section is a subdivision of Books>Fiction and contains quite a few subdivisions within it. Try the Open Minded Erotica section. I checked some titles randomly, and they *are* findable in general search, by book title or author name and *without* the words 'erotic' or 'erotica' being added. 

None of this makes sense. There's no consistency. I wouldn't mind so much being hidden, if everything comparable to, or stronger than, my writing is also hidden.

It's a very complex situation, and it doesn't give readers looking for erotica, erotic romance or romance, whether self published or traditionally published, a true picture of what's available for their Nook devices in the UK.


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## MegHarris (Mar 4, 2010)

It's actually worse than Amazon's "adult dungeon." There, you can at least find a book in the Kindle store, even if it's not available on the general list. But here, you have to have some pretty esoteric information or be good at guessing ("erotica" and "erotic romance" seem to be two different lists, and books that are neither are showing up on them-- who would ever think to look for my regular romances by adding the tag "erotic romance"?) These books are well hidden, and it would take some work to find them.


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## Zelah Meyer (Jun 15, 2011)

Thanks Meg, I don't know how my sweet romance wound up classified as erotic romance.  Any readers who do find it by searching for that will probably be very disappointed!

Does anyone know if there is any way for a writer who doesn't go direct to get hold of the staff at Nook to let them know that a title has been misclassified?


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## MegHarris (Mar 4, 2010)

Like I said, it's absurd that my other name romances have been classified as "erotic romance" too. I don't know if they're targeting indies, or if they noticed the other books on my account were erotica, so assumed these must at least be "erotic romance." But they're not, and people looking for erotic romance will be woefully disappointed in them. 

I haven't heard positive things about Nook Press support, though I admit I haven't tried them myself. I'm not sure they'd admit a title was misclassified, anyway, as they currently seem to be denying any knowledge of this whole issue. I'm hoping if we all keep yelling about it, things will change. I tweeted about it today; I suggest others do likewise.


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## Zelah Meyer (Jun 15, 2011)

Yep, I sent a tweet out earlier about this.

I tried their online support and they suggested I e-mail [email protected] - so I have.  I don't know if I expect any response, but I feel that I ought to at least try.  I'd understand if I had a secret stash of erotica.  But sadly for my bank balance - the only titles I have published are the two sweet romances in my sig!  All I can assume is that the fact it features handcuffs (when she's under arrest) and is classed as romance was enough to trigger some automatic filter!


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## Pnjw (Apr 24, 2011)

Well that's ridiculous. Nook UK, My urban fantasy and the second book in my Bourbon Street series do not come up unless I search Deanna Chase erotic romance. Wtf? My UF doesn't even have one sex scene. The other one has 1 and isn't even close to erotica. It's PNR.


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## Kwalker (Aug 23, 2012)

I still can't find my missing titles there, using any combinations of my name and or title and or erotica or erotic romance ( They are not erotic at all ) (Second Stone and Gifted Stone are missing)

I also tried searching by fantasy romance, forbidden romance(that's one of my keywords), Romantic Fantasy -None of it brought up my missing titles. 

Bleh.


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## MegHarris (Mar 4, 2010)

I don't see yours anywhere either, Kelly. I searched under everything I could think of, and _nada_.


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## TexasGirl (Dec 21, 2011)

Well THAT was an interesting search.

All Deanna Roy books come up with just my name, including my romance.

My secondary pen name all comes up with just my name, including my steamy NA.

My third pen name brings up 6 of 7 books with just the name (all erotica.)

Add "erotica" to my third pen name and you get 3 of the 7 books, including the one that wasn't listed before.

It would be super hard for anyone to read my series on Nook UK because you couldn't find the others easily.


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## Maya Cross (May 28, 2012)

Wow. I didn't even know my books were on UK, but searching Maya Cross erotica brings them both up. Very interesting. And very draconian. I wish these policies had some kind of consistency. PNR getting marked as erotica. God.

As an aside, a little fairy sent me the email address of the VP for Digital Content for the Nook Store this morning, so I sent her a message. I'm fairly sure she'll just continue the stonewalling, but it's worth a try.


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## portiadacosta (Feb 28, 2011)

Maya Cross said:


> Wow. I didn't even know my books were on UK, but searching Maya Cross erotica brings them both up. Very interesting. And very draconian. I wish these policies had some kind of consistency. PNR getting marked as erotica. God.
> 
> As an aside, a little fairy sent me the email address of the VP for Digital Content for the Nook Store this morning, so I sent her a message. I'm fairly sure she'll just continue the stonewalling, but it's worth a try.


Yes, I checked a sample of authors, and yours was a name that only came up with erotica added... although I can swear that when I looked for your books last week, one of your titles *was* there just searching for Maya Cross.


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## Zelah Meyer (Jun 15, 2011)

Pubit have responded that they don't manage Smashwords editions - even though the flag/filter/whatever won't have been set by Smashwords...  About as (un)helpful as expected.

I truly expect Nook/Barns & Noble to fold in a year unless they get outside investment/help/bought out.


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## Kwalker (Aug 23, 2012)

It's not just a smashwords edition issue, because my two titles that are missing are direct through Nook Press. 

Yeah, I don't think they are going to last much longer, either.


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## CDChristian (Jun 4, 2010)

I've been following this and thanks to the tip was able to find my pen names by adding "erotic" or "erotic romance". One odd thing I saw was under "Edition Description" the following (or a variation) was added: _Digitized from 1877 volume_. All the titles I found there under my pen names had something like this. I then looked at Portia's titles. I didn't see it with the unfiltered ones but "Tempted by Two: a menage erotic romance" had: _Digitized from 1810 volume._

Granted, I didn't search further than that title but I wonder if this is the marker they use to filter us?


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## portiadacosta (Feb 28, 2011)

CDChristian said:


> I've been following this and thanks to the tip was able to find my pen names by adding "erotic" or "erotic romance". One odd thing I saw was under "Edition Description" the following (or a variation) was added: _Digitized from 1877 volume_. All the titles I found there under my pen names had something like this. I then looked at Portia's titles. I didn't see it with the unfiltered ones but "Tempted by Two: a menage erotic romance" had: _Digitized from 1810 volume._
> 
> Granted, I didn't search further than that title but I wonder if this is the marker they use to filter us?


That's curious. I'll check it out. Thanks for highlighting this. I've heard authors mention this '18** volume' thing before, and assumed it was some wacky date glitch. But might not be that, after all.

ETA Checking my filtered titles, the 'Digitized from 18** volume' is on some of my self published titles but not all. It's on one of my Samhain titles. Not on any of my trad published titles.


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## Lynn Mixon (Jan 2, 2011)

portiadacosta said:


> Thanks to Lynn Mixon, who commented on the Teleread piece, I've now discovered that all my books are findable at Nook UK.
> 
> To discover them, I have to put 'Portia Da Costa erotica' or 'Portia Da Costa erotic' instead of just 'Portia Da Costa' into the search box... and shazam, all 54 titles appear!
> 
> ...


You're welcome. I'm just glad I had the information to share. I'll admit that I only did a cursory check for using the "erotica" and "erotic" keywords. Not enough to realize that "erotic romance" got a different set of results.

I really hope Nook UK gets their act together. More, I hope this doesn't come to Nook US. That would be awful.


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## Just Browsing (Sep 26, 2012)

My goodness. That is weird. Yes, if I search for my authors with their name + erotica, most (although not all) of their books show up. And they're all "digitized from ... volume." Different dates, every one--1904, 1902, 1894, 1989, 1850, etc. How very bizarre! And certainly a ... how do I put this? A lie. Those 'volumes' did not exist in 1894. The only book that does not have that "digitized" label on it is the freebie distributed via Smashwords. Of my four freebies, only one is there at all, though.

I might add... none of these books has ever SOLD in the UK store. So the hiding of them is working. Assuming that BN's goal is to not sell the books they have up for sale. Still trying to wrap my head around that one.


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## ElisaBlaisdell (Jun 3, 2012)

Zelah Meyer said:


> Yep, I sent a tweet out earlier about this.
> 
> I tried their online support and they suggested I e-mail [email protected] - so I have. I don't know if I expect any response, but I feel that I ought to at least try. I'd understand if I had a secret stash of erotica. But sadly for my bank balance - the only titles I have published are the two sweet romances in my sig! All I can assume is that the fact it features handcuffs (when she's under arrest) and is classed as romance was enough to trigger some automatic filter!


Okay, I'm horrified at what happened to you, and feel deep sympathy, but still, that sent me into uncontrollable fits of giggling.


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## MegHarris (Mar 4, 2010)

I'm not convinced that the "digitized from..." thing is a marker. I found it on one of my own books (hidden behind the erotic romance wall). I then clicked the alsobot, a Bella Andre book, and found the same thing on that one. But when I looked at Bella's other books, one that was visible without the "erotica" label (a foreign edition) also had the "digitized from." I looked at Maya Cross's books and found that one showed "digitized from," and one didn't, yet both are behind the erotica wall.


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## Maya Cross (May 28, 2012)

I just caught up on the Nook UK stuff in here now. That's very interesting. And you're right, my books are there, but only with the erotica tagged search. Very frustrating =/

In news about the US site ranking tampering, I've still got Draft2Digital on the case. B&N have been jerking them around and pleading ignorance, but now the same thing has happened to a second author that they publish. She shot up the charts with her second book, but the first refuses to move any higher. I'll give you a pat on the back if you can guess the magic number it's stuck at =)

With my situation already in the past (the books have started to drop now), it was easier for B&N to fob them off, although I do have plenty of screenshots etc, but now the exact same thing is happening a second time. Obviously it has happened to tons of other authors, Cassia, Liliana etc, but this is another D2D author, which gives them more leverage when approaching Nook about it. At some point you can no longer get away with being wilfully dense about something.

The VP for digital content from Nook that I emailed on Thursday has been ignoring me so far. I sent her another this morning, but it's not looking like she's even going to acknowledge me. It definitely seems like a case of 'stick our fingers in our ears and it will all go away'. Awesome business practices for a company that's circling the drain.


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## Bree Roberts (Dec 1, 2012)

Maya, I hope you don't mind - I copy/pasted (with credit to you, of course) your Goodread's article on my blog, and tweeted it out as well. I have all the credit and links in the article to you. If you would prefer I take it down, please send me a PM and I'll do so (I may not check this article for several days, but a PM I'll see).

http://breeroberts.com/2013/06/04/walls-dungeons-and-censorship-oh-my/


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## Maya Cross (May 28, 2012)

Totally fine, Bree. The more the word gets spread, the better =) Thanks!


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## Emme Rollins (Jun 12, 2013)

Did this ever get resolved? Did BN ever respond to anyone??


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