A SERIOUS QUESTION TO ALL AMAZON KDP PUBLISHERS - THIS COULD HAPPEN TO YOU TOO...

***taildive777*** · 03-17-2023, 05:21 PM

Hello - I'm in desperate need of feedback.

In mid-November 2022 I signed into my KDP account to find it had been CLOSED. i was in SHOCK. There was a link to click and form to fill out if I felt that the closing was unjust. I immediately wrote politely asking them what was going on. Upon sending the email a message popped up saying I would hear back from them within 72 hours. I never heard from anyone.

I wrote a total of five times without any response.

In mid-Feb. 2023 I finally found a way to get through to the powers that be asking what was going on. I rec'd a cryptic response saying that they'd found some anomaly in my account but we aren't going to tell you what it is and your account remains closed.

I wrote back stating that I've had my kdp account since 2011 and in all that time have not done anything different since the first day so please explain to me what the anomaly is so I can address it. I've heard nothing back and I don't think I will.

Has this happened to anyone else?
If so were you able to get your account re-instated?
If so, how did you do it?

Do you know that once your KDP account is closed you can NEVER open another one EVER?

I am starting to wonder if Amazon is on a mission to reduce the number of publishers because their system is overloaded.

I suspect they aren't telling me the reason for the closing is because they don't want any lawsuits.

If anyone has any information that could help me to understand what's going on with Amazon KDP or how I can get my account re-instated, I would deeply appreciate it.

Thanks ever!!!!

***lifeofriley*** · 03-17-2023, 11:38 PM

I lost my account as well long as you do not reupload your books you can publish through another person not from same house as you treat account like a stealth account from eBay and never access from same location ip as closed account.

Im also republishing my low content book online and hoping to get 10% of the sales Amazon produced for me. In my case I was even spending more and more money on KDP ads so it blew my mind when they shut me down.

***layna61524*** · 03-19-2023, 12:37 PM

@taildive777: I'm so sorry to hear that you had your account locked. Believe it or not, as much as I write, I haven't yet put anything on Kindle and the more I think about it, I might not.

But this isn't about me --- I'm here for YOU.

First, I'll say that, unfortunately, this type of behavior by Kindle seems commonplace.

Of course, that doesn't make things any less painful to say you're not alone.

If you haven't already done so, you can put these keywords into Google and be amazed:

Help! My KDP Account is Suspended and Amazon won't tell me why!

That will bring up enough links for you to read through to make you second guess using KDP, if you haven't already.

Just an example of what I found includes links like these...

READ 'EM AND WEEP

Magic Button :

Here is a link where people from the KDP community forum are baffled as to why they've been locked out:

Magic Button :

There are enough horror stories to scare the living sh*t out of you!

And here is a YouTube video posted by someone it happened to:

Magic Button :

The internet is rife with stories like these.

For every KDP guru who touts the opportunity to make easy passive income, there are 3 stories that mirror what happened to you.

It pains me to know that this can happen but their reluctance to even discuss what the problem is adds another layer to the insanity. How else can you know what THEY feel is wrong so that you can make some effort to change it?!!!

Needless to say, being locked out of one's account impacts their (and Kindle's) revenue. So it makes no sense to go around locking people's accounts for no good reason and then refuse to communicate as to why.

All in all, you can probably find a workable solution by searching Google with keywords like these:

[Image: ice-screenshot-20230318-190239.png]

That search brought up this YouTube video, that promises a solution (but there are plenty of others):

KDP ACCOUNT TERMINATION - RESOLUTION FOR AUTHORS

Magic Button :

Just read some of the comments and you will see that this happens more often than we know.

Here's another one (with some insight into what you can do):

Magic Button :

And these keywords brought up a whole slew of additional issues (with helpful solutions):

how to get KDP to tell why your account is suspended

And this one:

solution to kdp lockout

Again, I am sorry to hear this. I'm sending you a warm bear hug, if that helps and hope you're able to get this resolved.

All-in-all, there are alternatives to Kindle. And while it is listed at #1 on the list I link you to below, you've got plenty of options:

TOP 10 SELF-PUBLISHING COMPANIES FOR
SELF-PUBLISHING A BOOK

Magic Button :

@lifeofriley: Just to be sure what you're suggesting is okay and won't get you into further problems down the line, here is what I found on Quora:

AMAZON KDP CLOSED MY ACCOUNT: CAN I OPEN ANOTHER
ACCOUNT WITH A DIFFERENT NAME ON THE SAME DEVICE?

Magic Button :

for reading!
Layna61524

***Novelist*** · 03-19-2023, 12:48 PM

Layna, you are wonderful.

***layna61524*** · 03-20-2023, 02:44 AM

@Novelist: Thank you for the kind words, friend. I appreciate you.

Layna61524

***taildive777*** · 03-21-2023, 08:24 PM

Thank you Layna for all this work you did. I am indebted to you. I'll write more in a PM.
Max reps added. I wish I could give you a hundred more!

***discomix*** · 03-21-2023, 10:56 PM

Thanks mate for insightful post to keep us updated on perils on being dependent on big KDP platforms!!

***layna61524*** · 03-22-2023, 12:49 AM

@taildive: I'm glad you got to see it. I also got your PM and replied back. It may not look like it now, but by going through the helpful advice online from other KDP authors who have experienced this, there could be a glimmering gem of hope that gets you out of KDP purgatory. They should be ashamed of themselves for taking this kind of brutal action without allowing any recourse for discussing the "problem" --- if there is a problem at all (since they are basing things off of what they -- or their algorithms --- perceive to be an issue).

I found another article that addresses the situation, but this one features thankful posts from people who were able to get their accounts reinstated... so just in case there's something here to help you, I'll give you the link:

WHAT TO DO IF YOU'RE LOCKED OUT OF YOUR KDP ACCOUNT

Magic Button :

Be sure to note the resource links at the end of the write-up. The one in particular I want to make you aware of is a website for US based KDP authors (if, in fact, you reside in the USA). You can contact KDP via this link and ask for a call-back regarding an issue with your account. This may just solve your problem. Here's a screenshot of the link:

[Image: ice-screenshot-20230321-073318.png]

Anyway, there's a story in that article about Violet Gaze Press, an indie publisher out of the United Kingdom. Well, it happened to them, too. And some bit of advice from this very article worked to help that publisher get reinstated. VGP sent a warm and fuzzy "Thank You!" to the author. You can follow the full conversation on their Twitter account here...

VIOLET GAZE PRESS --- THANK YOU! WE'RE BACK!

Magic Button :

If I find anything else I feel will help get you back on board, I'll send it to you in a PM

@discomix: Thank you for posting, friend. Yes, it's good NOT to put all one's eggs in a single basket. It's always best to diversify.

[Image: ice-screenshot-20230321-072959.png]

for reading!
Layna61524

***mehere001*** · 03-22-2023, 09:51 AM

I was with them for around 2 years as a hobby
I am great at automating tasks
I created 22 000 books mostly low content no content (Yep you read that right)
I was making brilliant money

You can submit 1000 books a week so I did (Around 160 a day they had no problem with this at all)
They got me for 3 book titles and before that I was in good standing without and problems at all.

I looked up the top 1000 girls/boys names and 3 of those names they claimed was copywrited
How TF do you copywrite Dior? (it is in the list of 1000 girls names)
Chanel also

They are out to steal from their publishers plain and simple

They could have paid me out for that month
They could have just not listed the books (They didnt have any sales)
I was also buy advertising (I do a little SEO)
HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE
They totally ignored my requests (I showed them that these are legit girls names)

***layna61524*** · 03-22-2023, 11:46 AM

@mehere001: I appreciate you sharing your personal experience with us. I'm so sorry to hear about this happening to people on BBHF but I'm aware that it routinely happens, based on sites I read and from watching related YouTube videos.

They're being very tight-lipped about it, which makes me think there is no clear and obvious reason for doing it. It's not like Amazon needs the money they're cheating KDP creators out of.

At first, I thought that maybe it was fear of legal action. As in your case, yes, ordinary people choose brand names as first names for their children and they're not dragged into court behind it. Amazon must know that.

I just read a few insights on "fair use" of trademarked names and generally, you can name your child Tiffany (ex: Trump's youngest daughter by Marla Maples) or Burger King, if you choose to. If the words in the trademark are already part of the language (ex: can be found in a dictionary) it's considered fair use.

Recently, the Kardashian clan sought to trademark their children's unique monikers for the purpose of monetizing them. So, prepare to hear about Stormi's Kiddie Lip Kits and Dream Sickles in our future.

They may be disappointed, though, to learn that trademarking a personal name isn't as clear-cut and simple as they think.

I'm no attorney and I'm sure with the right amount of money, you can make anything happen. But how can you trademark North West when the words are fair use words to designate directions? Or Chicago, Psalm or Saint? And Stormi? Well, maybe the spelling makes that name unique enough to be trademarked --- but that doesn't stop Joe and Jane Citizen from naming their kid the same.

From what I can determine, this only becomes an issue if the celebrity kid and the average-citizen kid by the same name both have business enterprises selling the same or similar products or services and they both use their given names. Then there would be conflict between those two entities with the potential to confuse the customer base. And unflattering news about one company could adversely impact the other.

Otherwise, there is no issue.

[Image: ice-screenshot-20230321-180751.png]

CAN A PARENT GET SUED FOR NAMING THEIR SON OR DAUGHTER
AFTER A TRADEMARK NAME?

Magic Button :

You can even name your child Palm Olive (a brand of dishwashing liquid detergent) ... but would they ever forgive you for it?

Probably not.

A mamoth entity like Amazon certainly has the big-guns to face down any legal action by (Christian) Dior's or (Coco) Chanel's legal eagles but it doesn't seem a potential lawsuit is what's behind this.

There's no rhyme or reason for who Amazon is targeting or why they're doing it. It seems so arbitrary --- meaning it can happen at any time to anyone and you don't get to know why or how to fix it.

Thanks

Layna61524