Amazon...sucks.

"Look Inside" has been quite a hair-pulling experience.  First, it seemed like forever before the feature began working on Amazon. 

Flaw #1: Takes 6 - 8 weeks before it appears on your title's listing on the website.

Why so long?  So much occurs in a split second over the internet--why so long to put up a preview on a site where they have the pdf of your entire manuscript?  Their FAQs say 7 - 10 days.  The emails I got back from support said 6 - 8 weeks.  Amazon said CreateSpace was holding things up.  CreateSpace said Amazon owns the feature so they're the holdup.  Hmmm.  So you sit there between the rock and the hard place, completely powerless and waiting for the preview to show up on your listing.  I was rapt with anticipation.

Well, be careful what you wish for.

It's all very confusing because, even though Amazon owns CreateSpace--which should mean they're the same company--you have to check between four different accounts in order to exercise any kind of 'dashboard' control: Amazon, Author Central, CreateSpace, and Look Inside.  I go to my Amazon account and don't see my book--in that account, I'm just another shopper.  Maddening.

Flaw #2: Several different accounts to keep up with, though all four are the same company. 

Yeah.  Shoot me.  I hate to grouse.  This is my first book and my first experience with all of this, and they don't appear to make any real effort to make it user-friendly.  When I sign into Amazon, I should see my book--anything I own, buy, or sell on that site.  I had to explain to the support person who responded to one of my many queries what 'dashboard' control was.  Are you serious?

On CreateSpace, there is an option in the pulldown menu that is specifically labeled 'dashboard.'  Join Goodreads--you can go to your dashboard.  I don't think I've ever joined any discussion forum on any site on the web, ever, that didn't give you a dashboard.  Start a blog on any site--they'll give you a dashboard.  And I was asked what dashboard control was, by someone supposedly in tech support.  Um...

Having to keep track of four different accounts might not be a big deal...until you need to fix something, change something, add something, or delete something.  And ta-da, that's what dashboard control is.  For 'ease of use,' Amazon gets a 2 out of a maximum rating of 10.

Flaw #3: Built-in spoilers.

Big, big flaw.  Huge flaw.  I cringed as soon as I went to the Amazon site to my title's listing, saw that the "Look Inside" feature was up and running, and took it for a test drive.  First, shoppers can't see beyond page 6.  I start numbering pages in my book with page 1 of chapter 1.  I'm not going to number the dedications page or a prologue if I had one, or the table of contents.  Sorry, that would be knuckle-headed.  Some books don't physically number those pages either but they account for them.  You know that's the case when you open the book and the first page of the first chapter is numbered '12.'  I hate that, but it's beside the point. 

So I flip through to the actual story--what anyone thinking of buying the book would be interested in to the exclusion of everything else (and why not? That's where they're going to judge whether the story is exciting or boring, or the writing is good or bad, correct?)  And surprise, the preview stops at page 6.  In my book, that's not even through the first chapter.  I'm a completely unknown writer and this is my debut title.  Six pages just isn't going to cut it.

Second, my ending was up and viewable by the public.  Maybe I'm from the moon or something, but that's a spoiler, right?  This would be an issue for any work of fiction, wouldn't it?

Non-fiction is safe.  What's at the end of a non-fiction book?  Addendum?  Bibliography?  Appendix?  Even if part of the ending was featured, would 'spoiler' ever been an issue?  It's non-fiction.  Okay, say they put up a preview that shows the ending of a book about the Titanic.  Hmm.  Okay, at the risk of ruining it for someone out there, uh, the boat sinks.  Sorry.

How about a cook book?  Listen, if you're okay with me peeking at your county fair award-winning recipe for boysenberry pie that appears in the front of your book, then I'm sure you won't get your bloomers in a twist if I also get a look at your recipe for hunter stew that appears all the way in the back.  Again, a preview of the end of a non-fiction book is rarely, if ever, an issue.

Well, in fiction, a preview that includes back-matter is nothing short of a spoiler.  When was the last time you walked into a Wal-mart to the book section, flipped to the end of a book to see who the killer was, and then put it back down?  Who does this?  Nobody.  "Hmm, yep, the butler did it.  Don't need to read this one."

It's inane, if you ask me.  A preview on a fiction book should be 100% front-loaded.  Being able to see the back cover is fine, and that's not part of the preview anyway.  My title's front and back cover were already viewable before the "Look Inside" feature was even up and running--it's an image file.  So for what logical purpose would 'the powers that be' over at Amazon make the ending of my or anyone else's fictional book part of the preview?

From a few online dictionaries:

Spoil ' er  noun

1. a person or thing that spoils, as in the person or publication that reveals a plot twist or resolution from a book or movie
2. a remark which reveals important plot elements from books or movies, thus denying the reader or viewer the proper suspense from reading the book or watching the movie 
3. when someone reveals a previously unknown aspect or resolution from a book or movie which you would have rather learned on your own
4. a published piece of information that divulges a surprise such as a plot twist in a book or movie                 

Previews such as those available in features similar to Amazon's "Look Inside" should be 100% front-loaded on all fiction titles. Flaw #4: Writers who write the books that are being previewed have absolutely no say in how much or what part of the book is preview-able Set maximums--that's fine.  There will be the occasional overzealous writer who wants to make their whole book preview-able.  So set a maximum.  However, the writer should be able to determine what is viewable.  Problems such as these would not arise if the writer was given the control of what and how much is included in a preview.  And yet, it's random.  Why?  There are apps in beta testing that work better than the "Look Inside" feature.  Amazon, work on the program before you offer it as a feature.  Before. And when I say it's glitchy, I'm not the only one having issues.  But where you really run into trouble is when you find that you hate the thing and decide you want out.  It takes days, even weeks to get it back off of there, and this process is aggravated by the fact that you have four separate accounts rather than just one.  Good luck finding any 'opt out' option.  It's like you've been inducted into the cabal.  Here's a guy who couldn't find it either.  And another one.  And Amazon will tell you that revealing your book's ending by way of this glitchy feature isn't copyright infringement.  I beg to differ. So you email support.  You get an automated response saying they received your inquiry and will respond within 2 days.  Back and forth and back and forth, and finally, it comes down.  Then, mysteriously, a week or so later, it's back up again.  And the process starts all over again.  Read the comments posted on that first article--you get in and can't get back out again.  Amazon needs to show more respect to the people who are writing all the books selling through their website. But like so many things nowadays, the grousing of customers means nothing to 'the powers that be,' and it's a 'shut up and smile' kind of a thing. Want a preview?  Check out the tabs at the top of this blog.  I give you six chapters to chew on.  You can't get that at Amazon.  You've never heard of me.  I'm an unknown writer and this is a debut book.  Six chapters, I give you.  Given the circumstances, do you deserve any less?