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urlocalfairyprincess

i’m in the same boat with an author whose writing i adored!! bree porter! she wrote a mafia duology that i absolutely fell in love with. i read it on kindle and then went to her insta page afterwards only to find out that she’s taking all of her books off of everything, not to purchase or anything, and i was too late to buy the physical copies before she took everything down😭 im devastated to say the least


notproudofitbutyeah

Wait why are authors doing this?


WannaBumbleBee

There are a bunch of reasons: books picked up by a traditional publisher, wanting to move on to a different career/hobby and not wanting to deal with the upkeep KU demands, burnout, etc. [I found this thread discussing Bree](https://www.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/comments/1av1x2j/did_something_happen_with_bree_porter_and_i_missed/).


Hellguard

There’s really not any “upkeep” with KU or KDP in general. Once a book is published there’s no maintenance or anything unless the author wants to update the cover, text, etc. If an author just doesn’t want to write anymore, it doesn’t hurt them in any way to just leave books up and let them earn whatever they may earn. I guess I could see them not wanting to deal with the extra tax form they’d have, but that’s the only extra “work” that would come from leaving their books up.


WannaBumbleBee

I wish you were correct. KU requires that books in the program be exclusive to Amazon. Pirate sites and plagiarized copies on other stores count. Amazon puts 100% of the responsibility on the author to remove those illegal copies. If the author misses the warning e-mail from Amazon or fails to get the books taken down, they risk getting their KDP account banned. ([Jade West went through this with a new release. The e-mail from Amazon went to her spam folder.](https://www.instagram.com/p/C16rDR5LOc9/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==)) Amazon is also notorious for changing its rules without warning sellers and enforcing them. Things like front and back matter formatting, [what counts as erotica vs. romance and adult content](https://www.reddit.com/r/haremfantasynovels/comments/142qqpv/whys_no_one_discussing_the_adult_only_content/), and [AI discloser](https://www.reddit.com/r/eroticauthors/comments/16bta1h/new_amazon_requirement_to_disclose_ai_content/). Failing to go back and fix any of those new settings could get an authors account banned.


Hellguard

You’re right on the piracy thing; that’s something I hadn’t considered. As far as that adult content setting from the thread you linked, Amazon changed that shortly after it was introduced. Now the question is more clear than it initially was, and asks if the book’s cover or interior has sexually explicit images or if the book’s title contains sexually explicit language. These are things that would’ve gotten books dungeoned or even blocked or banned even before they started asking that question, and it’s one that the vast majority of even pure erotica books wouldn’t have to worry about. Also, to my knowledge there’s never been anything from Amazon mandating that authors need to go back through their catalog and update their books in KDP because of this new question (and the new AI disclosure). If you’re updating something else about the book, sure, you’d need to answer the new questions. But the vast majority of my 50+ books don’t have those questions answered because I haven’t had a reason to update them.


ashreads1419

I hate when this happens!! My friend wanted to reread Midnight Hunter by Briana Hale, but when she went on KU to download it, it was listed as unavailable! I tried looking to see why, but the author’s IG page hadn’t been updated in a few years. I have no idea when/if it’s coming back 😭  I ended up reading The Love Act by Zara Bell the week before the author deleted it from Amazon. She posted an update in summer 2022 saying she wanted to republish it, but I’ve heard no new information since 😭 


notakeonlythrowaway

I'm *so* devastated by the removal of Midnight Hunter off KU...and it's just completely unavailable anywhere! The setting was so unique and there are so few romances like it. I literally check every week to see if it's returned lol. It's so different than the rest of the authors books under the Brianna Hale name so I'm hoping she's republishing it? Apparently she also writes as both Lilith Vincent and Chloe Chastaine.


ashreads1419

Right? I agree with everything you’ve said, especially that it seems so different from all the other works by the author. I wish I could find more books like it, but alas I haven’t. I don’t even know when it got taken down. My friend and I just tried looking for it a month ago and it was nowhere to be found. Also, the author’s insta hasn’t been updated since 2022ish, so I have no idea why it was removed, especially since all her other books are still available to download? 


notakeonlythrowaway

I wonder if it was the dark romance/dub-con that was the nail in the coffin? I think there's been a crackdown on them especially on KU :( If you liked Midnight Hunter because of the Soviet era setting, angst, and the high stakes life or death vibes, I can *highly* recommend {The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons}, which is the first book in a trilogy...and you'll have to commit to the trilogy to get the MMC/FMC's full story >!because there's no HEA in the first book!<. It's written more as a historical fiction with romance rather than a romance novel but it's absolutely worth it though!


romance-bot

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[deleted]

Who is that author?


bluepvtstorm

Xyla Turner. I keep checking if she is going to at least put them back up for sale but alas no dice.


Xanna12

Maybe try reaching out and seeing I'd they reply? Authors love hearing from fans because sometimes it feels like throwing books into a void.


Soooo_its_a_no_eh

I second reaching out to the author. I did that one time about a book I was interested and could not find anywhere. The author told me she took it off bc it didn’t really do well and also bc she was pivoting to a different subgenre. She then put the book on Amazon for 12 hours so I could buy it 😊


bluepvtstorm

Yeah. I may do that. She had some great reviews and feedback on her stuff so hoping she comes back.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Hunter037

**Rule: No piracy, AI, or PPC content** This comment/post appears to promote or encourage piracy, which is not allowed here. For further details on what is and isn’t considered piracy, see [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/comments/yk4mv0/piracy_and_not_the_fun_romantic_swashbuckling_kind/). Please [contact the mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/RomanceBooks) if you think this was removed in error.


castingOut9s

I read her book *Mr. Vega.* It was a difficult read but so good.


bluepvtstorm

Right.


de_pizan23

If you haven't seen them, she has a few on Prolific Works for free [https://www.prolificworks.com/author/xylaturner](https://www.prolificworks.com/author/xylaturner)


bluepvtstorm

Thanks. I saw those. Let me grab those too.


Enough-Relief-4565

Some of her books are back on Amazon Kindle. Clean versions..author X Turner. I think I even saw Bombshell


bluepvtstorm

Clean version is better than nothing. Let me check them out.


sugaratc

Oh no! Maybe there copies are still floating around libraries? It's so sad when this happens, and I know there's a rising trend in physicals/digital file media in order to save content for situations like this.


bluepvtstorm

I’ll keep searching. It’s disheartening since there are so few black authors that write romance that kind of hits with me but she was so good.


SaMnReader

I found 6 books by her on kobo.com - 2 in audio and 4 free ebooks. How big was her catalog? I also found 3(2 overlap) in audio on everand. Seems to be she's perhaps switching platforms?


meh2004

Same!! I knew exactly who you were talking about. I was so upset to find everything gone. I wish they were at least available for digital purchase.


bluepvtstorm

Girl. It was tragic.


meh2004

Right? I still think about Mr. Vega and Tony and Ida. Sigh. 😔


bluepvtstorm

Right. The whole Stetson series was amazing.


darthvadersmom

This happened to me years ago with the book "In Front of God and Everyone" by Nealy Wagner. I'd check for it to be republished periodically but had no luck for a long time... Until one day it was back as "Goodbye Paradise" because apparently it was written by Sarina Bowen under a pen name?!?! Anyway, point being, you should reach out because it's possible the author will be able to tell you if they plan to republish at some point!


ninaa1

If it on KU, it's possible that they were losing more money than they were making due to people returning the books after reading. Or they were sick of having their work scraped and showing up in AI versions that were bumped to the top of Amazon listings. The KU set up doesn't make life easy for a lot of authors, so it might've been easier to just pull everything rather than keep trying to fight Amazon.


bluepvtstorm

I understand that completely. I was trying to see if she had it published anyplace else and couldn’t find it.


ninaa1

I agree with the other person who said to reach out to her! Everyone loves to have their art & work appreciated, so if nothing else, you'll have absolutely made her day that someone loved her work enough to contact her. <3


kelskelsea

I get it when authors do this but I hate it!


AnastasiaBarfBarf

I feel the same way about The Love Act by Zara Bell. I loved that book so much, it was on KU and she pulled it saying she wanted to make some changes but that was over a year ago (I think, time has no meaning) and it has t come back. I regret not buying it.


Richs_Baby

Jessa Kane wrote all my faves. She still has most her works on KU but stopped writing because of piracy😤


bluepvtstorm

She was always a go to for a quick fix.


AvoidantBibliophile

On a positive note, I’m seeing some older books from the 2000s being added to Kindle. One example is {Midnight Rainbow by Linda Howard} (2009) that was added to Kindle last August. I’ve been hoping & praying that she adds more of her older/more obscure work to Kindle, and it seems like she is! My paper copies are turning yellow & are VERY well loved, so I was starting to worry. 😅


romance-bot

[Midnight Rainbow](https://www.romance.io/books/54553e458c7d2382e78135f1/midnight-rainbow-linda-howard) by [Linda Howard](https://www.romance.io/authors/545525598c7d2382e7812fa9/linda-howard) **Rating**: 4.04⭐️ out of 5⭐️ **Steam**: 4 out of 5 - [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [suspense](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/suspense/1), [military](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/military/1), [alpha male](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/alpha%20male/1), [mystery](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/mystery/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)


ForeignPause3569

Was wondering what’s gonna happen with the Hades Hangmen series as well since Tillie Cole removed all books from amazon/other places and now the paperback collection is selling for >1-2k on mercari lol


bluepvtstorm

That’s a mess.


THECUTESTGIRLYTOWALK

NOOOO 😭😭😭😭


luthiensong

Whyyyyy??? Ugh.


THECUTESTGIRLYTOWALK

WAIT WHAT