What Do Amazon KDP Terms Mean For Self-Published Authors in 2020?

2020 sees a shake-up to the Amazon KDP Terms, so let’s take a look at the main clauses that affect both authors publishing on KDP and reviewers who leave reviews for Kindle Books.  You can find the Terms here (link will geo-locate).

Here are the highlights that may affect you on your publishing and marketing journey:

Publishing Your Book

5.1.2 Content Requirements…”If you discover that content you have submitted does not comply [wth our Program], you must immediately withdraw the content by un-publishing it or by re-publishing content that complies through the Program procedures for Book withdrawal or re-publishing. We are entitled to remove or modify the metadata and product description you provide for your Books for any reason, including if we determine that it does not comply with our content requirements.”

In other words, if you do not follow the policy guidelines on content, that is, acceptable formatting, cover, and writing with no offensive content as outlined here, you should be fine. The main topics Amazon will not tolerate include:

Copyright Infringement

Reprinting other people’s work, including quotes and lyrics you do not have explicit permission to use, will get your book taken off Amazon.

Violence, Intolerance, and Hate

Hate speech might not be illegal in the US, but it is in Europe and other parts of the world. This includes books that promote intolerance based on race, religion, and sexual orientation, including political commentary. It also includes books that promote abuse in consensual relationships and r*pe-fantasy books.

Child Abuse and Exploitation

This includes ‘lolita’ style fiction and boy-man books.

Poor Customer Experience

If you do not edit, format, or present your book with any effort and a customer complains, you will be taken out of Amazon’s Program.

5.1.3 Book Rejection. “We are entitled to determine what content we accept and distribute through the Program in our sole discretion.”

5.1.5 Reformatting. “We may, in our discretion, reformat your Books, and you acknowledge that unintentional errors may occur in the process of reformatting of your Books. If any such errors do occur, you may remove the affected Book from further sale in the Program as provided in Section 5.1.4 above, and this will be your only remedy for the errors. We may also, in our discretion, correct any errors existing in a Book file as you deliver it to us.”

Reviews and Marketing

4.2 Account Information. “No Multiple Accounts… You may maintain only one account at a time. If we terminate your account, you will not establish a new account. You will not use false identities or impersonate any other person or use a username or password you are not authorized to use.”

In other words, you must not make multiple accounts to review and buy your own book, or you will be banned from Amazon forever.

5.2.1 Marketing and Promotion. “We will have sole discretion in determining all marketing and promotions related to the sale of your Books through the Program and may, without limitation, market and promote your Books by making chapters or portions of your Books available to prospective customers without charge, and by permitting prospective customers to see excerpts of your Books in response to search queries… we have no obligation to market, distribute, or offer for sale any Book, or to continuing marketing, distributing or selling a Book after we have commenced doing so.”

In other words, if Amazon decides it doesn’t want to promote your book, they will simply drop you out of the algorithm, or they may actually promote your book more often by serving your Look Inside to potential readers. If you have followed the quality check info given in Section 4, you really should have no worries with this clause.

And the review anti-manipulation section gets hardcore:

“If we determine that an Amazon account has been used to engage in review manipulation, remittances and payments may be withheld or forfeited. Misconduct may also violate state and federal laws, including the Federal Trade Commission Act, and can lead to legal action and civil and criminal penalties.”

Although it seems from other cases that Amazon will not press for this unless you refuse to comply, it can damage your reputation if you do slip up and employ a dodgy company — you can see the horrific abuse endured by

What could this mean for reviewers and authors looking for reviews?

• Never pay individual reviewers you have direct contact with to write a guaranteed positive review for money (usually only offering unverified reviews)
• Never pay a company that guarantees reviews will be positive (usually only offering unverified reviews)
• Never get family/friends to write reviews of your book — they are bound to be biased
• Never get other authors to write reviews in exchange for a review of their book (author swap)
• Never get others to write reviews in exchange for gifts or a copy of your book

The only accepted way to garner reviews that meet these policies is to promote your book yourself, or using highly trusted services, to readers who may buy and review your book.

See our guide to getting reviews here.