In January Good e-Reader broke the story that Amazon was going to start displaying warning messages if an e-book had a number of spelling mistakes or formatting errors. Amazon developed this system because that wanted to protect consumers and make them aware that a Kindle book might have some problems. I am proud to report that this new system is live on the main Amazon.com website.
The Kindle e-book warning system has two different stages. If an e-book only contains a few spelling mistakes, but is still readable, a simple warning message will appear on the details page. If the book has a number of formatting issues that renders it unreadable, Amazon will suppress it and the book listing will be removed.
I think the development of this warning system was essential because many authors simply ignored the messages from Amazon, letting them know their e-books had errors. This was the case with thousands of authors, including myself. If you look at the image at the top of this article, it is an outdated buyers guide from 2011, there was no point in fixing any of the mistakes.
It is important to note that the Kindle e-book warning system is only available on the US and is not available in Canada or the United Kingdom. Amazon has not confirmed whether or not this feature will be rolled out into international markets.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.