Yesterday I received an e-mail from Kindle Support informing me that my collection of short stories, The First Time did not comply with KDP Select’s terms and conditions. What on earth had I done to receive this missive? Had I slandered a prominent personage who was, even now instructing lawyers to sue me for every penny I haven’t got?! Maybe I had copied huge chunks of a fellow author’s work and he was out for my blood?! I am pleased to report that none of these breeches apply. It turns out that Amazon had found The First Time for sale from an outlet other than the Kindle store. In order to enrol one’s books in KDP Select you must ensure that they are exclusive to Amazon which, in this instance The First Time was not.

I can hear shouts of “you brought it on yourself. Why are you belly aching. It’s a fair cop guv. You should stop waffling on about the situation and remove The First Time from all outlets other than Amazon forthwith”. Would where it that simple! The First Time was published using the services of a self-publishing company who as part of their service enrolled my book with a variety of e-book distributors. However due to no sales resulting I asked the company to remove The First Time from all outlets other than Amazon. Once I received confirmation that this had been done I enrolled my book in KDP Select assuming that it was now exclusive to Amazon. As you know from the above dear reader this is not the case! I have written to the self-publishing company asking that they ensure The First Time is removed from the outlet which Amazon drew to my attention. I live in hope that it will be removed from sale ASAP thereby ensuring that The First Time remains enrolled in KDP Select.

The lesson I draw from the above is the importance of ensuring that authors keep control over their works. I am listed as the author of The First Time but not the publisher. In my case it is only the publisher who is able to remove books which has led to the problems outlined above. Dear fellow authors please, please read the small print prior to signing contracts.