Amazon going after KDP manipulators

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by Hitch

As the others have told you, that "TOC in the back" thing is a STRICT no-no, and has been since the advent of time, pretty much. It used to be an accident--Calibre-built MOBIs sliding through with the TOC at the back of the book, but then, during the beginning of KENP, people did it deliberately to game the system.

The TOC "rule" has been in place since AT LEAST 2012. I have all the Kindle Publishing Guidelines, back through the beginning of 2012, and it's stated there, as well, although differently than it is today; it said:

I don't know what you've been reading, but no: Amazon has NEVER gone after a single author for having their TOC where it is supposed to be. I can tell you that they have absolutely forced authors to move their TOC to the front of the book, even where no nefariousness was meant. (We are commercial formatters, and we've done ~3500 eBooks, so in this, I know whereof I speak.)

Hitch

What is the issue with the TOC in the back? It's a PITA, for the reader, but how does it scam the system?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by GlenBarrington

What is the issue with the TOC in the back? It's a PITA, for the reader, but how does it scam the system?

Because KDP pays "per page read", and if the TOC is at the back of the book, and the user looks at it, Amazon's servers think the user's read the entire book, and pay accordingly.

[Philippe D.]

That's a problem with Amazon's system really, if it only records the last page and not, say, the "last standard page" - obviously the TOC, index, promotions, etc. pages should be out of the competition for "last page read".

Doesn't Amazon deliver ebooks in its own format? Why didn't they implement something like this in the format? It might even be used to justify using their own format.

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Because KDP pays "per page read", and if the TOC is at the back of the book, and the user looks at it, Amazon's servers think the user's read the entire book, and pay accordingly.

Ahhh! Thanks! That makes sense.

[Pajamaman]

it would be simple to record what pages in the book are visited. they coild also record how long the reader spent there.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by HarryT

That's the author's responsibility, not Amazon's. When you upload a book to Amazon, you specify what percentage of the book should be in the sample.

Actually, Harry, the "tour" from the olden days, when we used MBPC (Mobipocket Creator) is no more. Now, Amazon automagically puts up 10% from the cover, period. If you want that changed, you have to especially request it, and they aren't all that likely to honor a request if the amount requested is significantly less than 10%.

Hitch

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Actually, Harry, the "tour" from the olden days, when we used MBPC (Mobipocket Creator) is no more. Now, Amazon automagically puts up 10% from the cover, period. If you want that changed, you have to especially request it, and they aren't all that likely to honor a request if the amount requested is significantly less than 10%.

Hitch

I picked up a booklet today that the sample would have been one or two pages.

[Philippe D.]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

it would be simple to record what pages in the book are visited. they coild also record how long the reader spent there.

That's much more information to record, so I'm not too surprised that they don't go that way.