Amazon Prison

Amazon has a strict policy for authors who submit a book on preorder and punishment for those who don't make their deadline. Writers refer to the punishment as Amazon jail or prison.  When this happens, an author won't be able to submit another preorder for one year.

One of the advantages to preorders is that the book publishes on an exact date, and that makes it easier to manage, especially if it's in a multiple-author series. They're also helpful with sales and promotions. Not being able to do this is a big handicap for an author, and a year is a long time.

However, I can understand why Amazon has a stiff penalty for non-compliance. The readers preorder books in good faith that they will be delivered when promised. It's like a breach of contract when they aren't. I do know a few authors who have endured Amazon prison for a year, but I haven't, and I pray I never do. I had Boone's Burden uploaded a week before the deadline, and that's the closest I've ever come. The novel published on May 30.

Amazon Link to Boone's Burden -

__________________________