What To Do When Your Amazon KDP Account Is Terminated in 2024?

An unexpected KDP account termination is the most horrible thing for an author. It is right to say that this type of unexpected problem can be a nightmare for a bookseller/author. This problem isn’t new and has been faced by authors for years.

For example, an author at Warrior Forum stated that his account with 70 eBooks was terminated by Amazon KDP even if he had made changes after a warning and removed the books they had mentioned.

Being an author, I can feel how hard it was for that author and for those who have just faced the situation. For all of those authors, I am here with a comprehensive guide on what to do when your Amazon KDP account is terminated.

This guide will involve a thorough guide regarding this restriction/deletion of your account. Also, I will show how you should respond to this action and get back your account.

The following sections involve those steps/guidelines that have helped me recover one of my friend’s KDP accounts. So, I hope you will also benefit from reading this guide and follow what I have mentioned below.

What Does “KDP Account Terminated” Mean?

KDP account termination means the deletion of your account from where you were selling books on Amazon. It is right to say that you/your customers won’t be able to see your account if Amazon has terminated it.

Many authors just read about Amazon KDP in detail and start selling their books. Undoubtedly, it is the biggest platform to sell eBooks but it doesn’t mean that you don’t have to learn about termination or suspension of your account.

Without this type of information, you will never be able to learn what to do when your Amazon KDP account is terminated. That’s why I have made up my mind to write this guide and help my fellow authors in detail.

Are KDP Account Termination & Suspension the Same?

Most authors have the concept of account termination and suspension in their minds. Don’t worry, it is common as I also had the same concept and realized that account termination and suspension are the same on Amazon KDP.

After comprehensive research, I found out that they have different meanings. Undoubtedly, both actions look similar but they have different aspects and expected outcomes.

Amazon KDP account suspension means that your account has been kept on hold temporarily by the team. The KDP team will look into your account and let you know if it has violated the terms or not.

You can say that if your account is suspended, it might be possible you will get it back soon automatically if you haven’t violated their rules. For example, you may have tried to link Payoneer to KDP which has been affected by any wrong/falsified transactions.

On the other side, KDP account termination means that your account has been deleted by the administration. It happens when they have found you violating their terms seriously without any consideration.

Sometimes, Amazon sends you warnings if you are doing so. But, in case you are violating their terms regularly, they will terminate your account. It is considered to be permanent damage to the author’s career.

Can You Recover the Amazon KDP Terminated Account?

There is no exact answer to this question as it depends on the reason why your account has been terminated. So, I must say that it may either be possible or not depending on different factors.

You shouldn’t feel hopeless and try your best to find a way to get out of this situation. It may help you retain your account and let you sell your books again.

Undoubtedly, you can go with many other ways and leave the platform. But you have to start from scratch and face different complications like low sales, no profit, etc.

What to Do When Your Amazon KDP Account is Terminated?

If your Amazon KDP account has been terminated, no need to be panic. Be at ease and take steps like you have taken while creating a book on KDP.

Simply, I must say that being comfortable will help you go ahead instead of being panicked which will let you make wrong decisions. Sit on the chair and follow these simple phases to get your account back on the platform.

Find the Reason of Termination

Your first reaction is to find the reason behind this termination. If I say you will never know what to do when your Amazon KDP account is terminated if you know the reason, it will be right.

So, you should be focused and try to find the reason behind this termination. You can explore the email that you have connected with this account as you may have got something there.

Here are a few common reasons that can be behind the removal of your Amazon KDP account.

Content Duplication

It might be possible that you have copied content intentionally/unintentionally from the internet that leads your account to termination.

Be mindful that KDP may ignore the internal content of your book like the paragraphs from chapter, lines, etc. But it will always run a quick verification of the covers or external content.

It can be done anytime and if you have been found using the copied content, you may lose your KDP account. For example, if you have picked a book cover from Canva and uploaded it to KDP, your account may be terminated due to this reason.

Copyright Material Usage

Another reason behind KDP account termination is copyrighted material usage in your book. It might be possible that you have picked figures, facts, or lines from another author without giving them credit.

They can take a copyright strike to your book and if Amazon has found you doing so, it will terminate your account. In some cases, they may send you a warning to take that book/material out of their platform.

If you haven’t done so, you will face the consequences. The best approach to resolve this problem and be safe from copyrighted material usage is by hiring a professional writer. They will let you get a book without this kind of material or content duplication.

Multiple KDP Accounts

Being an author on KDP, keep in mind that Amazon doesn’t allow anyone to have multiple accounts. Simply, you can say that you must have one account to publish your books and sell them via this platform.

It is becoming common for authors to deal with multiple accounts to sell and earn more. Most investors want to make money from KDP without writing and creating multiple accounts.

If you are one of those, be ready as your accounts can get terminated. It is because Amazon KDP will take action for sure if they have found you have multiple accounts with their platform.

Amazon Rules Violation

Undoubtedly, Amazon has a long list of rules that an author must obey at any cost. For an author, it isn’t an easy task to keep them in mind and fulfill the requirements. As an author, I have faced complications regarding this section too.

Then, I realized that the rules must be kept in mind but obey the important ones. In simple words, you have to read and understand all the rules of this platform.

But you should obey only those rules that can lead you permanent damage like Amazon KDP account termination. For example, you should understand and follow the content duplication rules by the platform to avoid termination and other important rules like them.

Spamming the System

With the idea of selling more books to make an extra profit, many authors started spamming on this platform. Be mindful that spamming doesn’t only belong to sending bots to a platform.

But it is also spamming to act unethically to enforce the platform to promote your books or add something to engage readers. For example, Amazon adds a look inside button to KDP books after checking their performance.

Some authors try to get the attention of random users through different techniques like social sharing to enforce the system to add this button. This kind of action can lead your account to a dead end which means your account can face termination.

Offensive Content

KDP doesn’t allow offensive content publication and selling. Be careful while creating content for your eBooks to be sold on this platform. Here are a few types of content you should avoid while working on books and want to keep your KDP account safe:

  • Sexual Content
  • Nudity Sketchbooks
  • Political Offensive Content
  • Religious Hate Speech
  • General Hate Speech

I have seen many authors with not recoverable terminated accounts just because they have published such books by mistake. Keep in mind that KDP will take a serious charge against you and will never allow you to create another account using the same details in the future.

Wrong Meta Data

“To sell more, attract more” is a common phrase that you may have heard from Amazon KDP authors. Undoubtedly, the phrase is 100% correct as you can’t sell books without engaging readers/buyers.

But it doesn’t mean that you should write the wrong metadata like title, description, and search terms/keywords. You must have to be accurate in these sections too and add exactly what is inside your book.

Some authors play with the platform and try to deceive it by adding the wrong metadata. When a buyer gets their books and files a complaint against the seller, KDP takes action according to the complaint level.

It might be possible that you will get a warning from the platform. But you may have to face account suspension or termination in most of the cases. So, you should write accurate metadata instead of having fishy thoughts to sell more by deceiving the platform/buyers.

File a Complaint

Once you have found the reason, it is time to file the complaint to the forum. Keep in mind that filing a complaint doesn’t mean contacting the court and asking for a decision according to law.

But it means that you have to speak to someone at KDP like customer support via email, phone number, or other available methods. You must have to open your case there and ask them to assist you and let you find a way out.

It is the best and most effective approach to restoring your account. If I say that you will not find any other effective way than this when you are reading what to do when your Amazon KDP account is terminated.

Sometimes, you may be asked to fill out the form to send a complaint. But, in some cases, you will get direct access to customer support with instant responses to find the best solution to get rid of termination if it is possible.

Things to Care About While Contacting Amazon KDP

It is common for authors to strictly behave with the customer support representative and end up with a weird experience. Undoubtedly, Amazon KDP has a team of professional support members who always work for the authors.

I have experienced multiple happy communication phases with them in my career. But it doesn’t mean that the author starts yelling at the customer support team. So, I have listed a few things to take care of while contacting someone at KDP and have a happy experience.

Be Patient & Polite

Keep in mind that being patient and polite will not only help you be calm but also resolve your problem. While connecting with customer support at KDP, you should try to be polite and patient.

It is right to listen to customer support first with great care and then respond to them politely. You should call them sir/madam as well as be well-behaved. In simple words, you should avoid using harsh words or adopt strict behavior with them.

Follow Guidelines Strictly

Once you have been connected with a customer support member for quick answers, you need to follow their guidelines. Undoubtedly, they may be sharing the same guidelines you can find on the platform’s author guide.

But they are working for you and sharing only those guidelines that are related to your account termination case. So, you should always follow their guidelines to take action and resolve the problem due to which your account has been terminated by KDP.

Offer Solution

Keep in mind that an author is the person who is looking for help, not the customer support. Being an author, you should offer the solution to the KDP administrative instead of waiting for their decision.

For example, if your account has been terminated due to the use of offensive content, you should offer them the solution in the form of removal of that book. Similarly, you just need to offer them a solution as per the reason behind the account termination.

What to Do if Amazon Account Termination is Not Revoked?

No doubt, I have shared the most effective ways to get your KDP account back if it has been terminated. But it doesn’t mean that I guarantee you that your account will be revoked.

Sometimes, you may have violated their rules to an excessive limit that leads your account to permanent termination. In such a case, you will never be able to revoke your account.

You shouldn’t worry about this situation and adopt the following guidelines to go ahead. I hope these guidelines will help you in solving this problem.

Move With KDP Alternatives

The most effective tip is to choose another platform like ETSY to sell your books. It means you should also consider these platforms to sell your books. Be confident while doing so as you can sell KDP books on ETSY without any problem.

You can find many other alternatives to Amazon KDP with a single search. The only thing you have to care about is the reliability of the platform. No denying you have to get started from scratch and create a strong presence there to sell more books.

But it doesn’t mean that this isn’t possible as you can earn as much as you want by using multiple alternatives. It will open doors to reach new heights in your career and reach the limit of maximum profit.

Hire a Lawyer

Another way to go out is to hire a lawyer to file a complaint against KDP account termination in the US court. Keep in mind that you can go with an LLC complaint and file a case against the platform to compensate you for your loss if you haven’t done anything wrong.

But it will be an expensive method to resolve this problem. It is because you have to invest a lot of money to hire a lawyer, file the complaint, and proceed with the case.

So, I will never recommend you to go with this process unless you haven’t found any other way to go out.

Final Wrapping

It may not be a question to think about what to do when your Amazon KDP account is terminated after reading this guide. I have discussed everything in this blog as per my experience and deep analysis of the market.

For writing this blog, I have communicated with 100s of authors and asked them queries related to the main topic. After that, I have written this blog just to let you know how to deal with Amazon KDP account termination.

I hope you have learned what you were looking for and are ready to get your account back. You can either revoke your account or go ahead with other platforms to sell more books and earn a handsome amount.

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