Amazon has given me trouble about publishing my book: Hitler's Big Lie and the COVID-19 Pandemic. The first problem I had was that it was flagged for plagiarism. For those of you not familiar with the book, it contains close to 400 citations that take up about 25% of the book. The number of citations actually proves the book was not plagiarized, but computer software to detect plagiarism is not that smart.
I argued that all copied content was citations or from my own online blog (or a cited quote), and that as non-fiction that is not a plagiarism issue. The color version of the book passed and I held my breath for the e-book. That also passed. Then I uploaded the Large Print version, and again it was flagged for plagiarism. Again, I contacted them with the information.
But then something strange happened. I uploaded a black and white version that would cost less, but this time I wasn't flagged for plagiarism. I was flagged because Amazon said they were not publishing books about the treatment or prevention of COVID-19 due to the constantly changing recommendations. I argued that my book is not about the treatment or prevention but more of a historical comparison of the way COVID-19 is being handled and received the same canned response: "Due to the rapidly changing nature of information around coronavirus, we are referring customers to official sources for advice about the prevention or treatment of the virus.
We've reviewed your book again and are upholding our previous decision to not offer your book for sale on Amazon.
Amazon reserves the right to determine what content we offer according to our content
guidelines.
You can find our content guidelines on the KDP website:
https://kdp.amazon.com/help/topic/G200672390"
Say what?!?!? Nowhere in the content guidelines does it talk about not offering a book simply because the information was constantly changing. Read them yourself if you don't believe me. In fact, the only example it gives as to what is definitely not allowed is offensive material such as "pornography." I assure you, there are no pictures of any human in my book--most of my images are graphs, with a fewscreenshots of the CDC website and a post I made of Facebook that was censored, too. In fact, the guidelines imply they will publish controversial material. I mean, these are the people who published a book that only contained the picture of someone's foot: Putting My Foot Down.
The other thing is that Amazon IS publishing COVID-19 books:
Unreported Truths about COVID-19 and Lockdowns: Part 1: Introduction and Death Counts and Estimates (This is a researched book, but Amazon almost didn't publish it--the author, however, has bigger names following him that apparently put pressure on Amazon by tweeting about their free-speech censorship. However, he didn't have trouble with Part 2.)
Or this 200 page book with no reference section: Covid-19 : the Natural Approach Which the author seems to be self-publishing with her own publishing company name.
Not to mention that they have no problems publishing books like this:
If the guy who wrote it truly is a real MD, it is no wonder he has so much time to write e-book on a variety of topics... PSILOCYBIN CULTIVATION: The Guide to Cultivation, Safe Use and Magic Effects of Psychedelic Mushrooms
Oh, and this, which is a 350+ page book with only 2 pages of references: Crystals for Healing: The Complete Reference Guide With Over 200 Remedies for Mind, Heart & Soul
But apparently a book with 400 researched citations most of them from peer reviewed journals is apparently not acceptable for Amazon's low standards...
Perhaps these are just ones that have broken through their censors, like my color version did. As I argue in my book, social media censorship (and Amazon censorship) is more harmful than helpful. Instead of allowing people to see and discuss fake news and come to the conclusion it is fake for themselves, it simply blocks it--this makes it more sought after and more dangerous. People are less likely to fact check if something is blocked because they assume it is blocked due to it being true and others not wanting them to know the truth.
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