I received an email this week from a mom of two who published several books through Amazon.
She was wondering if there was a lawsuit pending against Amazon because of the many reports of Amazon KDP terminating authors’ accounts without warning, and with vague excuses about the author violating their policies (though not telling them what violation occurred).
She added, “To get an email from Amazon KDP that they were suspending my account for ‘violation of their terms of service’ was shocking to say the least. I am literally fighting back tears because I was working so hard on these books…”
I asked her to send me a screenshot of the message that Amazon sent to her. Here it is:
Notice the part about Amazon getting to keep her royalties! And, notice how they don’t tell her what terms she violated. It’s clearly just a form response from Amazon. Typical…
She contacted them again, and received a slightly different but similarly vague response:
This should serve as a warning to ALL authors considering using Amazon KDP to publish their books (and existing Amazon KDP authors). Amazon can giveth, and Amazon can instantly taketh away. They literally put this author out of business with the push of a button. And, she’s not the only one!
Amazon is continuing to randomly terminate author accounts, not give specific reasons why, AND keeping those authors’ royalties.
Amazon recently laid off 18,000 workers, closed 21 warehouses, cancelled opening 21 others, and has delayed opening an additional 27. AND, Amazon recently took out an $8 BILLION term loan when they are already billions in debt. They even said they’re going to use some of that money to pay off other debts.
“Amazon had about $35 billion in cash and cash equivalents and long-term debt of about $59 billion at the end of the third quarter ended Sept. 30.” – Reuters
I just can’t get past the part where Amazon gets to keep the terminated authors’ unpaid royalties. The author is considering contacting a class action law firm.
If this author had used a publishing services provider, her books would likely still be on the market. I haven’t heard of Amazon terminating any publishers, nor specific books by some publishers. It looks like they’re only going after individual authors who have signed up to publish their books directly through Amazon KDP.
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This just happened to me. They canceled my account, accusing me of opening multiple accounts. I did not do this. They reply to all of my emails with a rewritten version of the same vague material, similar to what you posted above. Each of their emails is signed by a different agent. I am starting to think that the whole thing is automated.
Fortunately for me, my one published book was not a major source of income. It ranged from a few dollars to pennies, and maybe one good month of about $18. I was planning to publish another book there that I thought might do better, but that is not going to happen for now.
I found this in their Terms and Conditions:
10.1 Disputes. Any dispute or claim relating in any way to this Agreement or KDP will be resolved by binding arbitration, rather than in court, except that either party may elect to proceed in small claims court in the United States if the claims qualify under applicable law. The United States Federal Arbitration Act and federal arbitration law apply to this Agreement. There is no judge or jury in arbitration, and court review of an arbitration award is limited. However, an arbitrator can award the same damages and relief as a court (including injunctive and declaratory relief or statutory damages), and must follow the terms of this Agreement as a court would. Before you may begin an arbitration proceeding, you must send a letter notifying us of your intent to pursue arbitration and describing your claim to our registered agent Corporation Service Company, 300 Deschutes Way SW, Suite 304, Tumwater, WA 98501, USA. The arbitration will be conducted by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Commercial Arbitration Rules. Payment of all filing, administration and arbitrator fees will be governed by the AAA’s Commercial Fee Schedule. You and we each agree that the underlying award in arbitration may be appealed pursuant to the AAA’s Optional Appellate Arbitration Rules. The AAA’s rules and fee schedules are available at http://www.adr.org or by calling 1-800-778-7879 (in the United States). You and we each agree that any dispute resolution proceedings will be conducted only on an individual basis and not in a class, consolidated or representative action. If for any reason a claim proceeds in court rather than in arbitration you and we each waive any right to a jury trial and you and we agree that any such suit may proceed only in state or Federal court in King County, Washington.
Goodreads, owned by Amazon, sends me monthly solicitations to purchase books. At the top of each Goodread solicitation is a listing for my books, the books Amazon has hijacked from me. There is nothing like having it rubbed in your face that Amazon keeps your royalty checks while soliciting book buyers.
Add another wrinkle to the Amazon complaints. Amazon is selling my books, keeping the royalties, and sending me W1099’s forcing me to pay income tax on sales that Amazon kept the money on. I have said that before but it has been going on for almost 10 years. Attorneys want a minimum retainer of $10,000 to take my case against them.
What a nightmare story for this poor author. I do hope she is able to resolve the issue.
Hi Angela,
Why do we bother selling our BookLocker works on there — their tactics could affect us eventually…?
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