💔 The Day Amazon Broke my Heart
And my bank balance.
Let me share a horror story with you that happened to me last month. Flicking through my emails, I discovered an email from Amazon saying my KDP account had been banned. For those that don't know, KDP is the service that allows writers to publish their books.
That was it the email said nothing else except it was a copyright problem, and the account was banned. So when I accessed my books, I couldn't, I could not remove my books from their server, and I couldn't sell them either.
The problem was that I had forgotten one of my golden rules. I had put all my books exclusively on Amazon and nowhere else. So I was if you excuse the language screwed.
There is a happy ending; with many emails exchanged, I got my account back, and Amazon admitted a bot had flagged my account. But this did not solve my problem. I no longer felt safe having only one platform for my books, so I looked around.
(Please bear in mind if you follow this strategy, your books can remain on Amazon, but they cannot be enrolled in the KDP select program, which will legitimately get your account banned.)
The solution I came up with was to put the books on two other sites. The first was to place a PDF version on my Ko-Fi, and the second was to open an account with Smashwords. Both platforms are easy to set up, Ko-Fi more than Smashwords and both sites have attractive sales pages. Click either of the links to check them out.
So my advice is don't fall into the trap I did. Ensure all your work is on at least one site, especially your books.
If you enjoy this email, please share it so more readers can find it.
Until next week stay safe
Sam 😊
Quote of the week
We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive. ― C. S. Lewis
Books I'm reading
Sell Your Work - Austin Kleon
They All Love Jack: Busting the Ripper - Bruce Robinson
The Humans - Matt Haig
Articles this week
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I have my fiction books on multiple platforms, too. (I let my publishers handle my non-fiction). You can't trust Amazon to treat you entirely right or even pay you, sometimes.
My stuff is on Smashwords, and I am thinking of expanding to a Ko-Fi shop as well, if you were wondering....