Amazon has deleted my book account. As far as they’re concerned, I no longer exist there. Apart from a few unavailable paperbacks and anthologies, there is no trace of me.
Why? Because I uploaded an anthology under the Electric Eclectic Books brand. It was meant to join the two I published a couple of years ago, which caused no problems at all.
The paperback edition of Victory in Europe is published through another account belonging to Paul White, the founder of Electric Eclectic Books. I contacted Amazon to ask if it was possible to link my ebook to the existing paperback, and they told me it was.
As with all new books, it went into review while Amazon checked it over. They then decided they needed documentation to prove I had the rights to publish it. I contacted Paul, who sent me the necessary paperwork within a week or two. Ironically, on the very day I received it, Amazon notified me that my account had been terminated.
I immediately sent them the documents, along with an explanation of why I was publishing the book. They replied within a day to say they were upholding their decision.
I believed this was a mistake, so I appealed. Once again, they rejected it.
I sat on it for a few days because I simply couldn’t imagine not having an Amazon account. My books were in Kindle Unlimited and had recently been doing well. So I submitted another appeal, this time explaining who I was, that I had been publishing with Amazon for thirteen years, and outlining the history of Electric Eclectic Books and the two anthologies already available there.
Two days later, they refused to reinstate my account. So that is it. I no longer have any books for sale on Amazon, and there is nothing more I can do about it.
I’m not trying to build a writing career anymore. I’m long past that stage. I write because I love it, and that hasn’t changed.
All of my books are now available through Draft2Digital. They distribute to a variety of retailers, including Apple Books, Kobo, and libraries. They don’t distribute to Google Play Books, so I have uploaded my titles there separately. The good news is that I can add the Draft2Digital link to my website, giving readers one link that covers all retailers.
Amazon has the kindle reader, but it also has an app, which can be downloaded onto almost any phone or tablet. Kobo has its own e-reader, while Apple Books and Google Play Books both have their own apps, with Apple Books for iPhone users and Google Play Books for Android devices.
To read my books, you’ll need one of those apps or one of the other options offered when you click on the book link. I’ve now reduced all my titles to either 99p/99c or free. Simply visit my book page and click on the cover of the book you’d like. Everything has been updated with one convenient link for all retailers.
I do hope you’ll continue to support me.
If you prefer reading on your Kindle, and unless someone knows differently, you can purchase an EPUB file from me and send it to your Kindle. If anyone knows of another way, please do let me know.
World of Stories 
Wow, Karen, I am so sorry to hear this. It’s a bit unsettling to think Amazon can just cut you off like that. I wish you all the best of luck in the future. Keep in touch.
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Thank you, and yes it is scary. I’d heard of it happening to others, but never thought it would happen to me.
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I am just now learning about this. Oh, Karen, I am so sorry. How gut-wrenching! I am glad I bought those books when I did so they’re still on my Kindle. I also have the Google Play app on my phone. I’ll have to see Google Play has a text feature I can access. I have Apple, too, but I find Google Play easier to use.
It’s been years since I was on Smashwords to download a book to my Kindle, but I do remember doing it once upon a time.
I’m glad you’re still out there but am so sorry you had to do it this way. I will continue to read your books. (((Hugs)))
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Thanks Ruth, that’s kind of you to be so supportive. I’m over it now, instead I’m looking forward. The only thing I really miss is Amazon reviews. Some are still there on the unavailable paperbacks.
What do mean about a text feature on Google Play? I’m trying to learn as much as I can about other retailers. I’m going to buy a book on Smashwords to see how that works. I’m also investigating BookFunnel.
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Shoot. That means I lost the reviews I did on your books, too. Ugh. I’ll see what I can do about getting them on Google Play.
I looked it up, and you can listen to Google ebooks. In the Google Play app, it says to enable “Voice Over” in the settings if you have an Apple phone (which is what I have). I went through the tutorial, but I couldn’t figure out how to get “out” of the settings part of the iPhone, so I had to disable the Voice Over feature. Maybe I’ll find something on Youtube. I need to listen to books. Right now, I’ve been going to Amazon because of the Alexa feature on ebooks. It’s been a godsend to my dry eyes.
I don’t know if you’re inclined to put your books on audio using the digital narration feature. It’s free to do on Google Play. They take the epub and convert it. You can manually go in and work through any words that aren’t right in the audio, and you adjust chapters or anything else. Draft2Digital also allows you to make audiobooks on Apple for most fiction as long as you have the ebook file on hand. This is also free, but you can’t go in and manually adjust anything. It takes a few seconds to do. (Just some ideas if you’re interested.) I’ll still look into Google Play with their text-to-speech feature. I know they have it because someone used to listen to my ebooks on their app.
I’m somewhat familiar wth BookFunnel. I used to do promos on there. I have found most of those readers don’t want to buy books. They want free ones. They do, however, have that retailer option, and I haven’t checked it out. People using it do say it’s easy to download books to their e-readers.
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Yes, I did lose a lot of reviews. But those that remained on paperbacks, I took, including yours and put them on the Book page on my website. It would also be great if you put them on Google Books, that would be cool.
Yes, I know about on audio books on Google and I’m going to do it, but I didn’t know about them on Apple through D2D, and will investigate that. Thanks!
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I’m so sorry that happened. I’m glad your books are available on Draft2Digital.
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Thank you!
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Sorry to hear this. Draft2Digital is a great distibuter. You can buy a book on Smashwords and still read it on your Kindle. All the best of luck!
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Oh you can? How does it get there? Not everyone knows how to send a epub to their kindle. I shall investigate thst. Thank for telling me.
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If you buy a book on Smashwords, it asks where you would like it sent and it walks you though how to get it on your KIndle.
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Thanks. I’m going to try it so I understand how it works.
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