A woman in a black dress and heels sits on a stone ledge against a textured, blue-lit wall, looking down with her arms crossed.

How do I get my erotic story out of the Amazon Dungeon?

What Is the Amazon Dungeon?

If you’re reading this, it’s more than likely that you have written a short story or a novel, submitted it to Amazon, it’s been approved, and is now live on Amazon. Yay!

But. You cannot find it when you search for it.

Almost always, the reason for this is that your book has been sent to the Amazon Dungeon.

What does this mean?

Well. You should know that this entire post is built on rumour, supposition, guesswork, other people’s guesswork, blog posts, and other absolutely not scientific sources.

Why? Because Amazon is VERY unclear on any of this.

So.

What the writing community thinks happens when your story is sent to the Dungeon is this. A person, not a bot, not an AI, but a human, has made the decision that your work contravenes some unwritten rules from Amazon.

Don’t panic.

Almost certainly, you’ll be able to get your story out of the dungeon.

Here’s what to do.

The first thing is to check that it is actually in the Dungeon.

There’s a free tool from BookSpry.com that you can use to check that your story has in fact been sent to the Dungeon (you will need to create a free account).

A notification banner with text about a book called "Finishing School For Girls," a pink "Add to Books" button, and a cartoon red dragon on the right.

Once you’ve established that it is, you can then take steps to get it out.

Here’s what I did on a story I just published a few days ago when it was sent to the Dungeon (Finishing School For Girls: Book One).

I went back to KDP and I re-edited the book blurb and removed the final line, which was…

With themes of feminisation, school uniforms and trans-lesbian sex.

I also modified the tagline to remove the word “knickers.”

I then resubmitted it and 24 hours later, it was live and it no longer in the dungeon.

Would I get success with this strategy every time I re-edited? I don’t know.

Screenshot showing a book titled "Finishing School For Girls: Book One" by Jenny Raven, priced at £1.99 GBP, with a notification about Amazon availability.

I’m pretty certain that a human being reviewed this, and depending on who that person was, where in the world they are, what their belief systems may be, whether they had a burrito for lunch, whether they argued with their kids before going to work, all of those things, all may have played a factor in being dungeoned or not. It’s very random.

I know another author, Keary Hayes, who published a book which she rather brazenly called ‘Glory Holed’, and that was Dungeoned.

She changed the book’s name to ‘On Your Knees’, and it was then removed from the Dungeon and was available to be discovered in searches.

Glory holled by keary hayes.
A confident woman in a black leather outfit stands in a dimly lit room; the book title "On Your Knees" and author "Keary Hayes" appear over the image.

So the question really is, what is it that causes a book to be effectively blacklisted?

I think it comes down to the blurb, the title, and the tagline, and of course, the image on the book cover.

Cover. It’s easy to keep that tame enough to not get banned. It’s pretty obvious by looking at your competitors.

Book blurbs? I think it’s wise to avoid disclaimers that say things like, “Warning, this story contains scenes of an extreme sexual nature.” That’s not gonna help you. I think anyone who’s looking at your book will know what’s in it, and you’re really just flagging to Amazon that your book should be sent to the dungeon.

I have no specific guidance on the blurb aside from, just don’t push it too far. Here’s the blub from my book, the one that just got through, just as an example…. (I have crossed out the only changes I made when I resubmitted)…

Finishing School For Girls: Book One

A sensual, subversive coming-of-age story that will fill any shy gurls hearts, and… knickers.

When secretive Sasha ticks the wrong gender box as a prank, on an application to a prestigious all-girls school, he doesn’t expect to be accepted. He definitely doesn’t expect it to feel… right, when he is, you know, a boy.

But with a little help, and a tartan miniskirt, black lace panties, and a rebellious alter ego, Sasha’s about to become the girl he’s always dreamed of – bold, beautiful, and just a little bit norty.

But who is the helper?

Ruby. Wild, wicked, and unfiltered. A pierced punk goddess who’s equal parts best friend, makeover queen, and seductive chaos. She sees Sasha. She teases Sasha. She wants to help make HER the schoolgirl of her dreams. And Ruby has no intention of playing by the rules.

Together, they explore desire, identity, and how far a girl is willing to go to be her full and true self – and maybe even find a deeper connection in doing so.

Provocative, filthy, and fiercely feminine, Finishing School For Girls: Book One is a decadent descent into teenage lust, queer longing, and the electric freedom of finally saying yes to who you really are.

It’s all red nails, black stockings and one very dangerous school uniform.

Welcome to the girlhood you dreamed of having.

With themes of feminisation, school uniforms and trans-lesbian sex.

One final tip, which I picked up from a blog post that I can’t find, otherwise I would credit. When you submit your book via KDP, it asks if the book has ‘explicit content’. The blogger suggested you say, “No, it doesn’t,” even though obviously it does. That’s one thing I also did with my story that I resubmitted yesterday, and maybe that also played a part in pulling it out of the Dungeon (or definitely according to this author on Medium).

Hopefully, even if your book is consigned to the Dungeon, maybe after one or two attempts, you’ll get it re-published and discoverable.

Good luck. Stay kinky. And if you found this article helpful, please do have a look at my most recent book, Finishing School For Girls: Book One, on Amazon. That would be rather beautiful. Thank you.

JennyX

Pair this with Jenny’s full guide to writing successful erotica and how to remove your works from piracy sites.

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