Indie Authors: Get Ready for KDP’s Identity Verification

Identity checking is coming to Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing)!

Or, so says their new announcement on the Help home page:

The key words there are “rolling out” … because we haven’t seen this actually happen yet, in our own account or our clients’. I helped a client set up a new KDP account just this week and not a peep out of KDP about verifying his identity. If you or anyone you know have experienced the process, I’d love to chat and learn more about how it works in the real world.

The rollout started a month or so ago and I was waiting to run through to have more to report, but it seems important to be aware of, so here are the details from KDP:

Why Require ID Verification?

I expect KDP has multiple reasons as their generic sounding explanation is to “protect those who publish with us and buy books on Amazon.” But the biggest problem I think they are working to protect both authors and the book buying public from is book piracy.

I don’t know how big the problem has become, but I have read troubling stories of authors having their books republished by fake KDP accounts and losing whatever royalties were generated by sales of those pirated copies. One author wrote that he only learned about the piracy when readers complained about the formatting of the Kindle version of his book (showing why Amazon would be concerned for its book buying customers, as well as the cheated authors).

The author in question was surprised, because he had not published a Kindle version of that book!

Now, I’ll admit I am not a fan of uploading photo ID to the servers of large companies. But in this case, I think fighting book piracy is important enough to justify the risk. So let’s start there.

What Happens to Your ID After It’s Verified?

Well, KDP gives this reassuring response in its community forum:

“We take privacy seriously … and delete all identity documents after the ID verification process is complete.”

If this happens automatically and immediately after the process is complete, then your identity documents are probably as safe as can be on the internet. And Amazon has its own self-interest in avoiding scandals and business disruptions from hacking, ransomware attacks, and the like, so they are likely doing all they can to protect their systems while you are being verified.

So let’s go with Amazon’s own purposes as a reason for believing the assertion that,

“KDP is committed to providing legitimate authors and publishers with a trustworthy, enjoyable publishing experience.”

We legitimate authors and publishers appreciate the sentiment.

So How Will Identity Verification Work?

As I say, I haven’t been through it myself. But here’s how the Help article says it’s supposed to go:

“1. Log into KDP. Under Your account, go to Your identity.
2. Enter or review your information (e.g. full name, address, date of birth). The name on your account should match your ID.
3. Save your information if you made changes.
4. Click Verify identity.
5. Select an ID type and the country that issued the ID.
6. Upload the required photos of your ID.
7. Submit for verification.”

According to the article, the verification process should “only take a few minutes” and Amazon will notify you when it’s complete.

What Form of ID is Acceptable?

The short answer is that KDP will “primarily accept passports, driver’s licenses, and residency permits,” which covers most authors in the US.

But we have clients in the UK, Canada, and Australia. And of course KDP has them in most places around the world, where available photo IDs vary widely.

So if you’re located outside the US, you’ll need to check the Help article on acceptable forms of ID for your specific country in the lengthy set of charts organized by region.

Also, note the items that KDP says it will not accept:

“military IDs, school badges, paystubs, tax documents, or utility bills. Paper IDs of any kind cannot be processed. When verifying, please use an ID that is not printed or copied onto paper.”

Picky, aren’t they?

What About Pen Names, Business Names, or Other Aliases?

Some fiction authors publish books under a pen name. Or a nonfiction author may use a business name, with credentials listed that don’t show up on their ID.

If, for whatever reason, the name on your KDP account doesn’t match the name on your ID, you’ll need to follow KDP’s instructions to sync them up before running the verification process.

For example, in the pen name situation, the instructions tell you that in your KDP account:

“your current legal name [i.e., as shown on the ID you’ll be using to verify] should be entered within the Your account > Your identity page, so we can verify your identity.”

For a business account, you’ll need to use the name of the “authorized representative” on the account and their matching ID.

What Happens If Identity Verification Fails?

KDP states that “verification can fail for multiple reasons” and provides at trouble-shooting chart to help you deal with them. The reasons include: country mismatch, ID type mismatch, expired ID, name mismatch, blurry photo of the ID, glare, and more.

As with most of working with Amazon and KDP, they offer links to yet more articles for solving various problems, but do not invite you to contact them for actual human assistance.

That’s what I’ve learned about KDP’s new identity verification so far. Please do leave a comment or get in touch if you’ve been asked for verification and help other authors by sharing your experience.