As of this month, some authors who publish via Amazon’s KDP will be prompted to complete an identity verification process. This requires uploading photos of government-issued identification that matches the name on the account. If the account holder declines to verify their identity when asked, they will not be able to publish and/or the account may be closed.
Amazon’s help page says, “Identity Verification is one of many tools for providing authors and publishers with a trustworthy, enjoyable KDP experience, and for protecting readers from fraud and abuse. … Identify Verification will reduce abuse by bad actors, which will have a positive impact on customers’ book-buying experience.” Authors who use pen names or LLCs are not prevented from publishing under the new system.
One can only assume this process was put into place due to the growing number of KDP titles, often AI generated, that mimic established authors or bestselling titles or that otherwise try to deceive customers.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
