Yesterday I set out to accomplish a fairly straight-forward author task. I attempted to advertise my book. I set up an ad on Amazon for Pretty Little Princesses, the third book in my Maiden Harlow mystery series. This seemingly benign assignment became trickier than I expected.

How could I possibly mess that up?

To better explain the bump that belched upwards from the earth to lodge itself firmly in my road, I find myself sort of straddling genres. When I started out publishing my first mystery – Murder Checks Inn – I called it a cozy mystery, and it is. I’d say of all my books so far, that one fits the bill the most.

Enter book 2 – A Fair Chance of Murder. Still a cozy, all things considered, but definitely with an edge. There’s a higher victim count and a couple of near misses. This was the first time someone described my books as cozy thrillers, and it’s probably a more accurate description.

And now onto my most problematic child, book 3 – Pretty Little Princesses. As I’ve mentioned before, this is a more sinister book in some ways. It is dealing with a serial killer with a grudge after all. It’s not graphic or traumatizing though, I don’t go for the really gritty stuff. Personal preference, each to their own.

So, I went through all the steps of setting it up to advertise. I researched keywords, wrote the blurb, set up all the details. I then submitted the ad to be moderated and, I assumed, actioned. But a few hours later my ad was rejected for the following reason:

Your ad contains content prohibited from advertising. This may include images and videos of weapons (including realistic and non-realistic firearms, swords, bows and arrows, etc.) that are shown in a violent, threatening manner, displayed in a gruesome way, pointed at a character, or directed out toward the customer.

I read this through twice and then looked at my book cover. I then read it once more. And then I started laughing because it was such a fair objection, as you can see for yourself below.

The dangers of genre straddling

The politely phrased email included a link to appeal the decision but…what exactly could I say? A knife plunged into a hat that’s oozing blood doesn’t leave me much wiggle room in the whole “Well, what’s gruesome about it?” argument.

So, that’s where I’m at. Skating through a literary landscape that’s filled with seniors enjoying tea and scones on one end and maniacal butchers on the other. I wander somewhere in between, hence my tagline of ‘Cozy Mysteries That Aren’t TOO Cozy’. I simply have to accept that such a distinction won’t always come across clearly.

As for Amazon, I really can’t fault anyone for maintaining their own rules. The cover is a skillful representation of exactly what I asked for. No complaints (or appeals) here. However, I want the freedom to advertise my book.

(Fun fact: The original proof for this cover was actually much bloodier. I mean like an upturned cherry pie kind of bloody splatter. If you’re eating pie right now, I apologize.)

What’s the solution?

After leaving it for a while, telling myself I’d just advertise elsewhere, I thought about the problem a bit more. It really went beyond being barred from one, albeit massive, platform. I started to realize that the cover was misrepresenting the book, and I’m not okay with that.

So, I went back to my cover designer and requested some very specific changes. The final result is shown below and I’m incredibly pleased with it.

Apart from the obvious removal of the knife, the pool of blood is also smaller. These tweaks still represent the more menacing tone of the book without straying too far from the cozy thriller vibe. It’s not a gory book and I feel the cover better represents that now.

And there we have it. I hope this glimpse into my personal brush with cover quirks can help other authors to avoid similar pitfalls. You may have something in mind that seems perfect to you, but scrutinize it carefully. The covers for books that you want to sell have to accurately represent the content and they have to be appropriate for advertising.

I learned that the hard way, and I invite you to learn from my mistake.