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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/26186
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

 **Amazon isn't going to clarify their policy anytime soon -- nor make it consistent -- unless a Court or their customers force them to.**

Here's an example of something they carry with a cat-derived 'underperson' who is essentially a programmed-by-genetics sex worker, Cordwainer Smith's celebrated story, 'The Ballad of Lost C'Mell': [https://www.amazon.com/Norstrilia-prequel-Ballad-Lost-CMell-ebook/dp/B00NBAVZOG/ref=sr\_1\_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1484924790&sr=1-1&keywords=the+ballad+of+lost+C%27mell](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00NBAVZOG)

However, _your_ mileage may vary greatly! And/or Amazon might suddenly decide to ban all works by this writer. We won't know until they do -- or don't -- or change their minds yet again.

IMHO, what Amazon is really doing is deciding (perhaps entirely automatically/algorithmically) to carry your book based on what they think it will do to their bottom line, including brand/reputational/traffic damage. What they're doing is estimating whether publishing your story (including its elements that may hurt sales, customer traffic or their perceived value of their own brand, rightly or wrongly, now or in the future) worth the risk of selling it.

**If -- for any reason (including changing tastes) -- Amazon thinks publishing your book will hurt their eventual/overall bottom line, they will likely find a reason to decline. Their stated reason (if any) may well be more dictated by what's legally allowable than by their actual decision-making process.**

Original score: 1