Life gets in the way, at least, it did for me during the pandemic lockdowns. I suffered a roller coaster of anxiety and panic attacks at being stuck in my house (I’m an introvert and I couldn’t stand to be in my own house!). I also have the a-cursed “underlying medical conditions”, and I was certain COVID-19 would mean my demise should I catch it.

During those long days of ‘can’t stand my house but too afraid to go outside’, I also didn’t write.

We also chose to move house across the country.

We were crazy!

When the dust settled and I was back at the keyboard, I logged into my KDP account, all excited to publish the 4^th Book in my Rose Cross Academy series. Upon clearing the dust off my KDP account, I came to a horrific discovery.

I couldn’t access my KDP account anymore.

After we moved, my phone number changed. Thanks to that villainous beast called Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), any attempts to log into my old KDP account required a verification code to be texted to my old number. A call to Support told me that after a year of no account activity, the Amazon side of my account had been terminated and could not be retrieved.

Keep in mind that there is zero public-facing information on how to contact KDP Support without logging into a KDP account (which I couldn’t do since KDP wanted to send an MFA code to my old phone). All links redirect to Amazon customer support. So I racked my brain at what to do about my lost books and KDP account.

Important Note: Online KDP Support will point you towards forms to fill out to prove your identity in order to change the phone number for MFA. Unfortunately, those forms require you to log into your KDP account that, in my case, wanted to send MFA to the old phone, thus providing no help to me. All civilian links for KDP Support redirect to Amazon Support, and Amazon Support is not equipped to deal with KDP issues. (It took me 5 different Amazon Support team members before I finally gave up).

Long-story-short, after trying many different things over the course of a month, I finally regained control of my previously published novels. Here’s how I did it.

Prerequisites:

• An error-free formatted manuscript ready to be published to physical media (not an eBook), complete with cover matter. This is a must.
• A separate email account other than the one used for the locked/lost KDP account. One can easily be obtained from Google.
• An ISBN number of a published book in the old account.
• Banking account info used in the old account.
• Mailing address used in the old account.

Step 1: Create a new Amazon KPD account

It is true that Amazon will delete “duplicate” accounts. I’m not sure what kicks off that process on the Amazon side. What we’re going to do is create a new account, then have KDP Support merge the old account into this new account. I thought I heard a rumour there was a one-month grace period to do so, but don’t quote me on this!

Set up this new KDP account as if you were a new author just starting out, using a different email address than that used in the old account. Make sure to enter tax and banking info, and set up the account as directed.

Step 2: Publish a physical book

This is an essential step. KDP will only merge into an account with an active, published book. Yes, this can be an eBook, but the physical book is required in order to hook up the Amazon Marketplace portion of the KDP account. You can simply publish a rough draft manuscript formatted into a book template or old CreateSpace template, then bring that through to being ‘Live’ if a final draft is unavailable. The important point is to have a physical book live for the next step.

Step 3: Set up the Amazon account

Once the physical version of the book is ‘Live’, order an author copy. No worries, you don’t actually have to order the copy in the end. The point of this activity will be to get the Amazon Marketplace account set up and linked to the KDP account. I chose Amazon.com as the marketplace as the U.S. was my largest market even though I am a Canadian author.

Go through the motions of setting up the Amazon account, including adding a credit card and mailing address. Once set up, if you don’t want to purchase the author copy, simply remove the book from the cart.

Step 4: Request a call from KDP Support

Go back to the KDP Bookshelf, scroll all the way to the bottom of the page, and click the “Contact Us” link.

Under “Account, taxes, and getting started”, choose “Close or merge accounts”.

Choose to be contacted by phone. Fill in the form as needed, then wait for the call back. I receive the return call in about 10 minutes.

Step 5: KDP Support will help you merge accounts

The KDP Support person will ask questions about books in the old account. They will ask for information that can personally identify the old account as yours. This verification process took about 5 minutes.

Once that has been completed, the Support person will email the address on file for the old account to seek permission to merge. At this point, the Support call will likely end. Login to the email account associated with the old KDP account. Once you receive that email from Support, simply reply to that email stating that you approve of the merge.

I waited until the next morning and found all my old books now popped up in my new account! I was so happy.

Step 6: Clean up

Whether there have been changes to the way the physical books and eBooks are linked, I wouldn’t know since I hadn’t logged into my account in about two years. I did have to re-link my eBooks to my paperbacks. This took about 24-hours to sort itself out as the eBooks stuck around individually even after I linked them.

As of writing this, all my books are back under my control, complete with all the ratings and reviews I had received. All my original short links still work as well.

What did I learn?

So the moral of this story, I guess, is to log into both the KDP and Amazon Marketplace accounts at least once a year. This is to approve or acknowledge any changes to the functionality of your books, or agree to changes in terms and conditions that may happen on either site.

When I was going through the motions of trying to reclaim my previous works, it helped that I had my copyright notice from the United States Copyright Office. I know registered copyrights are a polarizing topic to some indie authors, as your work is technically copyright as soon as you write it. My case may be different, but I was told I needed to seek permission from “the original publisher” (aka myself) in order to claim the novels in my own account. Having that physical copyright proof saved me the step of having to write and certify a publishing release statement from myself to myself, and got me immediate help with KPD during the process.

All in all, I’m glad to have my novels back in my control, and I’m more than happy that all the reviews and ratings came with them. I’m not as prolific at writing as I’d like to be, so I’ve set myself up a reminder to log into my accounts at least every six months to keep them active, and tend to any updates in terms of service that may be pending.

This year is going well for writing, and I’ve published 1 of 2 scheduled books already. I may not be as prolific as some of my favourite authors (Sanderson, I’m looking at you!), but I’m honing my craft to become more prolific than I have been.

Until next time, keep writing and keep dreaming!

– Rissa