You're so welcome!
About the cover art, here's a super-easy way to tell if a book was hit with the adult filter.
Go to this site: www.salesrankexpress.com, and plug in the author's name or the title of the book.
Aside from sales-rank, it will indicate whether or not a book has been flagged as adult. (If a book is rated "adult," you'll see the words ADULT in red capital letters next to the "content rating" field.) If you're wondering if your planned book pushes the boundaries too far, whether in the cover image, the writing, or the blurb, this would be a great way to get a handle on it.
One caution though... Depending on your Amazon settings, you might not even SEE the books that have been flagged as adult. So if you find (in Amazon) a book you think is pushing the boundaries, remember (in SalesRankExpress) to plug in the author's name, not the name of the title. Odds are decent that some of that author's books will be flagged, even if some have slipped through the cracks.
Looking at the book-covers you listed above, the top ones are definitely riskier. But it's a crap-shoot. If you plug in that author's name in the salesrankexpress Web site, you'll see that some, but not all, of her books are rated "Adult," even though the covers are pretty similar. If it were me, I probably wouldn't risk it by using artwork that explicit. But I see that she has her fans, so she's obviously doing something right. It's a risk-reward trade-off. It's also a matter of branding. If you're looking to make an erotica name for yourself, you might push the boundaries more than someone else who may, for example, want to trend more toward romance.
Of all the links you provided, I thought this book-cover was the safest, and oddly enough, the sexiest, even though it had no nudity: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016NG7UDO/?tag=tff-amazonparser-20
I agree! I've also heard that Amazon has some secret algo that analyzes your manuscript to determine if it's too adult. Like, maybe they only allow so many of those X-rated sexual words before you get slapped with the adult tag.
Boy, I don't have a good handle on that, but hopefully some Fastlaners can chime in here? I'm following a different model, with full-length romance novels that include explicit sex, but aren't pure erotica. I don't have nearly that many books out, and have done well financially. But my books are a ton longer and more mainstream.
One neat thing... After you get the first one out there, you'll know a lot more. You'll see how your audience responds. You'll see how well your voice fits the genre. You'll hopefully get some reviews and feedback. That, along with the publishing experience, will put you far ahead of those who only think of going that far. It will be interesting to see how it goes!
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