Hello Angela,

I know you covered this issue a year or so ago, but these KDP terminations of Indie Authors’ accounts have continued to skyrocket!

It just happened to me, and I’ve been self-publishing for 12 years. As in the previous case you profiled, I received some template message for one title stating it violated “book details” and that I needed to unpublish and correct the violation. They didn’t tell me what book detail I purportedly violated. The email was sent around 8 p.m. on June 17th. I didn’t check my emails until the following day around noon. Five minutes prior to that another email had come in from the KDP Content Team stating my account was now terminated and that all of my accrued royalties would not be paid. In this email, they stated the reason as being “violation of content guidelines.”

I am retired and the royalties from my thirty plus titles have helped to supplement my income. I was confused and sought to find out the details of the termination, but with my KDP dashboard being disabled, the only link for help was one to appeal the termination. Of course, over the span of the next two days, I did use the link to send multiple requests for clarification. It got to the point I was groveling, but each time I sent a message on the appeal link, a couple of  hours later, I would receive yet another AI email from a different “representative” assigning a different case number, and stating they needed more time to look into the matter. At first they said it would take 1-3 business days; then it became 5 business days, and before it was over, there were an assortment of case numbers. Two weeks later, I am still in the same situation. I have however done some research on my own using TrustPilot to see the reviews for KDP Amazon. Wow! The amount of accounts terminated over the past two years is astounding.

I also saw that several class action lawsuits have been filed against Amazon KDP, Amazon Prime, and Amazon Audible over the past couple of years. Some of them include allegations of non-payment of royalties. There is also a pretty big class action involving 17 states along with the FTC about antitrust violations. This has been going on for years and it’s only getting worse.

Thank you on behalf of Independent authors (who over the past 15 years have helped to build KDP’s e-book platform to dominance) for shedding the light on this. Amazon KDP used the Indie Author segment of their e-book and paperback platforms to reign in the Big Five Publishers in order to drive those books’ pricing down, and to increase volume to KDP’s sales and ultimately their own profits up. Once they succeeded, and then allowed traditionally published books into the Kindle Unlimited program, the writing was on the wall for Indie Authors.

The mid-level Indies have become of no use to KDP any longer and the e-book giant is doing their best to purge them from the platform.

This is despicable behavior in my humble opinion, and I hope that more Indie Authors who’ve had this happen, or are at ultimate risk for having this happen to them, will coalesce and get a class action lawsuit in process. The legality of withholding royalties earned is criminal.

Andrea Smith

USA Today Bestselling Author

---

Hi Andrea,

Can you please send me links to where you found info. about lawsuits currently pending against Amazon KDP?

How much money do they owe you in royalties? Or, can you even see that now since they have disabled your account?

Thank you and God bless!!!

Angela

---

Hello again, Angela.

I have just learned today from a legal thread that ultimately Amazon will pull my audiobooks from the Audible platform. I have quite a few listed on that platform.

Authors Sue Audible for Back Royalty Payments

Amazon accused of audiobook monopoly in author class action

Amazon must face narrowed lawsuit over eBook prices, US judge says

US judge sets October 2026 trial for FTC antitrust suit against Amazon

Amazon.com fights DC’s bid to revive antitrust lawsuit over pricing

FTC lawsuit over Amazon’s Prime program set for June 2025 trial

State of Arizona vs. Amazon

FTC ‘Dark Patterns’ Lawsuit Against Amazon Progresses

Regarding your question about my unpaid royalties: Amazon, as you know pays in 60 days. So, at the end of June, I should’ve received my April royalties. I can’t access the exact amount, but usually my ebook royalties run around $500-$600 per month. I did receive my ACX royalties of around $150.

Here’s the other thing that REALLY screwed me over… I had just gotten a Featured Deal on BookBub for one of my 4-book box sets – in the Romantic Suspense category, which has a very large subscription base!  It was to run this weekend. I’d already paid them for the featured deal. However, after the first few days with trying to find out the problem with the one title I have under a pen name that was the problem, I notified BookBub and let them know my Kindle version of the book wouldn’t be available. They were very understanding and returned my money.

Hope this helps!

Andrea

---

Thank you, Andrea, for allowing us to publish your letter! If other authors have been terminated by Amazon KDP, and wish to speak with Andrea, please send your contact information to me RIGHT HERE and I will forward that to Andrea.

RELATED

• Amazon KDP Terminates ANOTHER Author’s Account, AND Keeps Her Royalties!
• Authors Are Moving to BookLocker After Amazon KDP Randomly Terminated Their Accounts
• “Amazon KDP Terminated My Author Account! How Can I Get It Back?”
• “I tried to publish my book through Amazon’s KDP Print (previously CreateSpace) but that has been a disaster. Can you publish it instead?”
• And, Even More SCATHING Complaints about Amazon KDP!

HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING A BOOK?

Angela is not only the publisher of WritersWeekly.com. She is President & CEO of BookLocker.com,
a self-publishing services company that has been in business since 1998. Ask her anything.

ASK ANGELA!

Got questions about Print On Demand and Self-publishing? Ask Angela Hoy.

About The Author

Angela Hoy is the publisher of WritersWeekly.com, the author of 19 books, and the co-owner of BookLocker.com (one of the original POD publishers that still gets books to market in less than a month), PubPreppers.com (print and ebook design for authors who truly want to self-publish), and Abuzz Press (the publishing co-op that charges no setup fees).

Angela has lived and traveled across the U.S. with her kids in an RV, settled in a river-side home in Bradenton, FL, and lived on a 52 ft Irwin sailboat. Angela now resides on a mountaintop in Northwest Georgia, where she plans to spend the rest of her days bird watching, gardening, hiking, and taking in all of the amazing sunrises.

WritersWeekly.com - the free marketing ezine for writers, which features new paying markets and freelance job listings every Wednesday.

BookLocker.com - According to attorney Mark Levine, author of The Fine Print, BookLocker is: "As close to perfection as you're going to find in the world of ebook and POD publishing. The ebook royalties are the highest I've ever seen, and the print royalties are better than average. BookLocker understands what new authors experience, and have put together a package that is the best in the business. You can't go wrong here. Plus, they're selective and won't publish any manuscript just because it's accompanied by a check. Also, the web site is well trafficked. If you can find a POD or epublisher with as much integrity and dedication to selling authors' books, but with lower POD publishing fees, please let me know."

Abuzz Press offers FAST and FREE book publication, but only accepts a small percentage of submissions, and only works with U.S. authors.

PubPreppers.com - "We Prep, You Publish!" Print and ebook design for authors who truly want to self-publish. Offers formatting and design services only, and then provides simple instructions for authors on where to sign up to have the print and ebook editions printed/listed/sold. Cut out the middle man. Keep 100% of what bookstores pay for your book!

Angela's POD Secrets Revealed Series can be found HERE.

Have a POD Book with another publisher? See if BookLocker can give you a better deal. (BookLocker offers "disgruntled author discounts" to those who want to move from other POD services.)

See BookLocker's publishing packages HERE.

ANGELA ON TWITTER https://twitter.com/AngelaHoy

BOOKLOCKER ON FACEBOOK - Provides links to free excerpts!
https://www.facebook.com/booklockerbooks

ANGELA ON FACEBOOK
https://www.facebook.com/angela.hoy.750

ANGELA ON LINKEDIN
https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelahoy/

Angela is the creator of the Original 24-Hour Short Story Contest!
https://24hourshortstorycontest.com/

Read More Of Angela's Articles HERE