{"id":10856,"date":"2025-08-26T03:59:48","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T18:29:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vietleadershipcoach.com\/?p=10856"},"modified":"2025-08-26T03:59:48","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T18:29:48","slug":"amazon-withholding-royalties-from-authors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leehopkins.com\/vi\/amazon-withholding-royalties-from-authors\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon is blocking me from accessing royalties I\u2019ve already earned"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Call it what you like\u2014I call it unconscionable<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

My books are selling. Amazon is collecting the money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But thanks to its broken systems, I can\u2019t access the royalties I\u2019ve already earned.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not a story about a single glitch or a short-term delay. It\u2019s about a structural failure inside the world\u2019s biggest retailer, where customer service has collapsed into scripted theatre, and accountability has been replaced with bureaucratic recursion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The loop that never ends<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s what happens when you try to resolve a serious issue with Amazon\u2019s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Retail support<\/strong> says it\u2019s a KDP issue.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. KDP support<\/strong> insists it\u2019s a Retail issue.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Both sides tell you to start from scratch.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. The same system error blocks you every time.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Meanwhile, Amazon keeps sitting on the royalties from books that have already sold and been paid for by readers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It\u2019s Kafka in a call centre\u2014a theme I\u2019ve already explored in detail in this post<\/a>, where even the support inbox itself failed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n\n\n\n

    What Amazon tells you<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    At every turn, I\u2019ve been given variations of the same empty phrases:<\/p>\n\n\n\n