I joined SPAN.net to warn its members about this kind of situation – here is an e-mail I got from a friend recently…

Hi John,

It's a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Charlotte, NC!

It's 67 degrees and the rain has stopped falling.

The sun is starting to peak out from behind the clouds.

Spring has sprung early and the flowers are in full bloom.

The birds are singing and the squirrels are playing in my back yard.

My Kindle Account was terminated...

Earlier this week I started noticing some of my eBooks disappearing from the Kindle store.

I didn't think much of it at the time. Amazon has been doing a lot of changes recently and sometimes when they make changes things bounce around for awhile.

But, when I woke up Thursday all my books where gone. I had not received an email so i wasn't sure why...

Until I remembered my Kindle account has a different email address that I rarely check.

And when I checked the email there it was...

Account Terminated. They actually sent notice over a week ago. When I emailed the address listed "for questions please contact" it bounced back.

Lesson #1: Check your Kindle email account regularly. Or just set up a filter to forward the emails to your regular address.

The Account was terminated due to my having another account. The other account was one I set up in 2008 and had completely forgotten about. I had opened it so I could record a video showing people how to set up their own KDP account.

That old account had the same physical address as my new account. Different bank account information, different email address, different TID. Same physical address.

Lesson #2: If you have any old KDP accounts - CLOSE THEM. Unpublish the books first then close the account. You can't close an account yourself, you have to ask Amazon to close it for you. Use this link: https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/contact-us

Choose the other option under Accounts.

I've heard several stories this week of people having their accounts closed due to duplicate content. In the past Amazon has given publishers an opportunity to prove the content belongs to them. That no longer appears to be the case.

Lesson #3: If you have any eBooks that you suspect MIGHT have some duplicate content run a check on them using CopyScape. It will cost you $5 to sign up but it's well worth it.

Bottom line is if you have one Kindle account with books that offer solid unique content you have little to worry about.

Just be sure to focus on quality first and foremost.

So what am i going to do now?

That question brings me back to the subject of this email: Why adversity is a great thing... because it discourages the weak and leaves the market open to those of us who persevere.

I choose to NOT give up.

This experience has been a good one. I've learned a lot.

I'm going to partner with someone who has never had a Kindle Account. I'm going to help her with her Kindle Publishing business and in return she will take the payments and pay me the royalty on my books.

If your Kindle Account has been closed you could do the same as me.

If your Kindle Account has not been closed take the steps now to ensure that you are in compliance with the TOS. (see Lessons Learned above)

If you have never had a Kindle Account you are in the catbird's seat... you can learn from all us who have come before you and make sure you don't make the same mistakes.

Persevere!

James