Responding to a Kindle Direct Publishing suspension: notices, publications and appeals

Has KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) sent you an account suspension notice? Are books on your Bookshelf (本棚) now marked Blocked (ブロック), or have your royalty payments stopped? This article is for authors and publishers in that situation. Following KDP's official Help pages and Terms and Conditions, we walk step by step through how to work out what has been stopped, how to check your notices and Bookshelf, which rules can lead to a suspension, how to put together a reinstatement request (appeal), and what to watch out for to protect your royalties and data.

A KDP suspension works differently from a selling account suspension: getting the basics straight

KDP is a separate service from Seller Central. You manage it from the KDP site (kdp.amazon.co.jp), and the agreement that applies is not the seller terms but the Kindle Direct Publishing Terms and Conditions (the "KDP Terms" below). The Account Health (アカウント健全性) page and the seller plan of action format you may know from your selling account don't appear anywhere in KDP.

This article is based on KDP's official Help pages and the KDP Terms (last updated September 27, 2024) as we were able to review them as of September 2026. The terms, Help content, and on-screen labels can change, so please also check your actual screens and the latest Help pages.

Item	Selling account	KDP
Dashboard	Seller Central	KDP (kdp.amazon.co.jp)
Applicable agreement	Seller terms	KDP Terms
Main places to check your status	Account Health and similar pages	Notice emails; the Bookshelf, Reports (レポート), and Account (アカウント) pages
Appeal format	You may be asked to submit a plan of action	No set format; you explain following the steps given in the notice
Contacting Amazon	Support within Seller Central	KDP's Contact Us (お問い合わせ) page (sign-in required)

What happens when a selling account is suspended is covered separately in the full picture from account suspension to your reinstatement request.

First, work out what has been stopped: five possible situations

Situations that feel like "KDP has stopped" differ in scope and call for different responses, so start by telling them apart.

Note that the termination clause of the KDP Terms (Section 3) uses the word "terminate" (解除), but don't judge by that word alone. Read the wording of your notice to tell whether the action applies to individual books or to your entire account.

Situation	Main clues	What to do first
Only specific books were rejected or removed	A notice that a book has been rejected or removed; the book shows as Blocked on your Bookshelf, or a book that was In Review (レビュー中) has gone back to Draft (下書き) (check the email from the relevant team for details)	Confirm which books are affected and why. You can appeal a removal decision
Quality issues were flagged (sales suspended or a label displayed)	A notice pointing out quality issues. In some cases, the book stays on sale while a Quality Notice (品質に関するお知らせ) label appears on its detail page	Check the flagged issues and prepare a corrected file
You're being asked to verify your identity	An "Identity verification required" (本人確認が必要です) banner when you sign in	Complete the process from Account > Identity verification (本人確認)
Your entire account has been stopped	A notice of action against your whole account. You may also be unable to access your Bookshelf and other pages	Check the appeal steps described in the notice
Only payments have stopped	Your books are Live (販売中) and you can't find any suspension notice	Check for issues such as mismatched bank account information or payments deferred because you haven't reached the minimum payment threshold

More than one of these can apply at the same time, so when in doubt, give top priority to the wording of the notice you received.

How to check notices, publications, and payments

Confirm the facts in the following order, and keep notes on what you find to use as material for your reinstatement request.

STEP 1. Save the notice email and make sure it's genuine

First, save the notice email you received instead of deleting it. Section 3 of the KDP Terms states that if Amazon terminates the agreement, it will notify you and explain how to appeal if you believe the termination was made in error.

At the same time, check whether the notice is genuine. KDP's official Help states clearly that KDP will never ask for your Amazon password or bank account details, and it lists kdp.amazon.com, kdp.amazon.co.jp, www.kdpcommunity.com, and kdpreports.amazon.co.jp (Reports) as the legitimate KDP websites. Don't judge by the subject line or sender alone. Instead of clicking links in the email, sign in from a KDP site you bookmarked yourself and check there.

STEP 2. Write down the scope, reason, and procedure from the notice

Once you've read the notice, write down the following items.

STEP 3. Check the status of each book on your Bookshelf

If you can sign in to KDP, check the status of each book on your Bookshelf. The statuses listed in the official Help are Draft, In Review, Publishing (出版準備中), Live, and Blocked (Live can also appear with notes such as "Live - Unpublished changes" (販売中 - 未出版の変更あり)).

Pay particular attention to Blocked. A Blocked book doesn't meet the content guidelines, so you can't publish it, edit it, or remove it from your Bookshelf, and you'll need to respond by following the steps described in the notice. Make a list of which formats of which books are Blocked.

STEP 4. Check sales status on the store detail pages

According to the Kindle Content Quality Guide (Kindle コンテンツの品質ガイド), books with critical issues can't be sold until they're corrected, and books with serious issues or a significantly large number of minor issues may also have their sales suspended. When the number of issues exceeds a certain threshold, a book may stay on sale while a Quality Notice label is temporarily displayed on its detail page. The official Help doesn't say how long it takes for the label to be removed or give a deadline for corrections, so start fixing things early.

The official Help gives no general rule on whether your published books stay on sale when action is taken against your entire account, and this may vary from case to case. Open the detail page of each book one by one and record whether it can be purchased.

STEP 5. Check your payment status and the Account page

Stopped payments don't necessarily mean a suspension. The official Help also lists other reasons for not receiving payment, such as a transfer being rejected because your KDP registration details don't match your bank's records, and payments being deferred because you haven't reached the minimum payment threshold (including when tax withholding brings the actual payment below that minimum).

On the Account page, check whether a banner asking you to verify your identity is showing and whether your bank account, address, and tax information are correct. This page requires a two-step verification code (see the FAQ for details).

Rules that can lead to suspension or removal

Next, match the reasons given in the notice against KDP's rules. KDP's Content Guidelines (Japan version) consist of seven sections: rights infringement, offensive content, AI, books that detract from the reading experience, public domain, sheet music and lyrics of managed songs, and reporting violations. The guidelines apply not only to the body of the book but also to its title, cover image, and product description.

Content that doesn't comply may be rejected or removed. If a book is removed, the author or publisher is notified and can appeal the decision.

Rights required to publish: third-party rights and managed songs

The copyright guidelines explain that uploading (or attempting to upload) content you don't have the necessary rights to publish may lead to the book being rejected or removed, your account being suspended, and the loss of royalties. Check points such as the following.

• Are you using copyrighted content that is freely available on the web? (According to the guidelines, it can't be published unless the copyright holder is the one publishing it.)
• Does anything infringe someone else's trademark or brand, or their right of privacy or right of publicity?
• Are you republishing a book you previously released through another publisher? (You may be asked to verify your rights.)
• Are you trying to publish a summary, study guide, or other companion guide based on someone else's work without the copyright holder's written permission? (According to the guidelines, these can't be published outside the United States.)
• Have you included sheet music or lyrics for songs managed by a copyright management organization such as JASRAC? (According to the guidelines, these can't be published in the Japanese Kindle Store.)

Questions such as whether something qualifies as a quotation involve legal issues, so if you're unsure, consult a lawyer or other professional. The approach of identifying the material in question and checking your permission to use it is also covered in responding to copyright infringement complaints, an article written for sellers.

Disclosing AI-generated content

KDP requires you to disclose AI-generated content (text, images, or translations) in a book both when you publish it for the first time and when you edit and republish an existing book. Content created with AI still counts as "AI-generated" even if you substantially edited it yourself afterward, while "AI-assisted" content, where you used AI to edit or refine content you created yourself or to check it for errors, doesn't need to be disclosed.

The guidelines don't specify what action is taken if you don't disclose, so don't assume that "any missed disclosure means an immediate suspension." If the notice raises an AI-related issue, start by identifying which parts of which books contain AI-generated elements and reviewing your disclosures. Pre-publication checks are covered in detail in what to check before publishing an AI-generated book on KDP.

Separately from KDP's disclosure rules, on the relationship between AI-generated material and copyright, the Legal System Subcommittee of the Copyright Subdivision of Japan's Council for Cultural Affairs compiled "General Understanding on AI and Copyright" (AIと著作権に関する考え方について) on March 15, 2024, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs published "Checklist & Guidance on AI and Copyright" (AIと著作権に関するチェックリスト＆ガイダンス) on July 31 of the same year.

Metadata (book information) guidelines

The Metadata Guidelines for Books (本のメタデータのガイドライン) give the following examples of what's prohibited in titles, subtitles, author names, descriptions (内容紹介), keywords, and categories. Books that may violate these guidelines are subject to removal or investigation. Notices sometimes cite metadata as the reason for a suspension, and if you believe the determination is wrong, ask for an explanation by following the steps in the notice. Treat not only the body of your book but also information such as the title and description as things to review.

• Repeating the same generic word
• Using other books' titles or author names without permission
• Ranking claims such as "bestseller" and promotional phrases such as "free"
• HTML tags in titles, author names, or keywords (supported HTML tags can be used in the description)
• Quoted reviews, time-limited information, pricing or availability information, and spoilers in the description
• Keywords unrelated to the content, and categories unrelated to the book's main theme

Quality: typos, links, and scanned images

The Kindle Content Quality Guide sorts quality issues into critical issues, serious issues, and minor issues.

Category	Description in the official Help	Main examples and how they're handled
Critical issues	Errors that undermine the completeness or usability of the book	Books consisting entirely of scanned page images (except manga, children's picture books, and the like), unreadable displays caused by forcing white text or a black background, content in unsupported languages, and so on. The book can't be sold until the issues are properly corrected
Serious issues	Errors that make it harder to understand the book's content	If there are significantly many of them together with minor issues, sales may be suspended until they're corrected
Minor issues	Mistakes noticeable enough to bother readers (the most common type of error)	When the number exceeds a certain threshold, a Quality Notice label may be temporarily displayed while the book stays on sale

Typos are said to be the most common quality issue reported by readers. The guide also lists other points to check, such as links in the Go To (移動) menu that don't work and titles in the file that don't match the metadata you entered.

Public domain works

If you publish a work whose copyright protection has expired (a public domain work), you must differentiate it with a unique translation, unique annotations, or 10 or more original illustrations. You're also required to add "(翻訳版)" (Translated), "(注釈付き)" (Annotated), or "(図解版)" (Illustrated) to the title and to list what makes your edition unique as bullet points (up to 80 characters) at the start of the product description. For works that already have a free version in the store, only differentiated editions can be published. Public domain content is also not eligible for KDP Select (a program in which you make your eBook exclusive to the Kindle Store in exchange for eligibility for Kindle Unlimited and other programs).

KDP Select and Kindle Unlimited

An eBook enrolled in KDP Select must be exclusive to the Kindle Store for the enrollment period (each period lasts 90 days and renews automatically by default). Other formats, such as paperbacks, can be sold elsewhere, but the digital format can't be distributed anywhere else, so check your situation, including whether the full text is posted on your own blog or elsewhere. The terms provide for measures such as withholding Kindle Unlimited royalties if you breach the exclusivity requirement.

Kindle Unlimited (a flat-rate, all-you-can-read subscription) prohibits marketing that encourages people to read a particular book in exchange for rewards such as money, gifts, bonus content, or prizes. The terms also state that royalties won't be paid for borrows and reads by accounts attempting to manipulate the program. Withholding of royalties during an investigation is summarized in the table later in this article. Under the terms, you may also face measures such as being barred from future participation in KDP Select or in KDP as a whole.

Account information, identity verification, and the one-account rule

Section 4.2 of the KDP Terms states that you may have only one account at a time and that if Amazon terminates your use, you may not open a new account. Amazon may also conduct investigations to verify your account information, and if that information is inaccurate, you must provide correct information.

Identity verification is required when you set up your account and when additional verification is needed to prevent fraud. The official Help explains that if identity verification isn't completed, Amazon may take measures such as restricting access to KDP's publishing features or closing the account.

If you've unintentionally ended up with more than one account, the Help explains that you can contact KDP from the email address registered to the account you want to merge and ask for the accounts to be merged (conditions include that the account has at least one Live book and that you provide that book's title and ASIN or ISBN). This is a procedure for cleaning up accounts that were duplicated unintentionally. It is not a way to avoid a suspension, nor a way to get approval for an account created after you received a suspension notice. If you've received a suspension notice, start by responding according to the steps in the notice.

If the notice points to multiple accounts, make a factual list of any KDP accounts you have registered or used in the past and any overlap in registered email addresses, bank accounts, and tax information, then explain by following the steps in the notice.

How to proceed with a reinstatement request (appeal)

Once you have an idea of the cause, prepare in this order: where to submit, what to correct, and how to structure your appeal.

Start from the steps described in the notice

The official Help doesn't give a single, uniform contact point or form name for appeals, so the basic approach is to follow the method described in the notice you received. KDP's Contact Us page requires you to sign in, so if you can't sign in to your account, start by checking what the notice email says.

Match each correction to the evidence that shows it

In an appeal, think of "what you fixed" and "how you can show it" as a pair.

Cause	What to correct	Examples of evidence and documents you can provide
Rights	Removing content you don't have rights to, and confirming the rights needed to publish	Documents showing the previous publisher reverted the copyright to you, or documents showing the previous publisher doesn't hold exclusive rights (such as a copy of the signed contract) / copies of the terms of use or licenses for materials used in the cover, illustrations, and so on, and contracts and delivery correspondence with contractors (in every case, submit the requested documents if Amazon asks for them)
AI-generated content	Reviewing your disclosures, and disclosing when you republish	A list of the parts that count as AI-generated and a record of your disclosure review
Metadata	Removing wording and keywords that fall under the prohibited examples	A before-and-after comparison of the metadata
Quality	Correcting typos, broken links, and similar issues	A list of the corrections and the corrected file
Public domain	Adding content and labeling that meet the differentiation requirements	The translation, annotations, or illustrations, and the wording of the title and product description
Kindle Unlimited	Stopping promotions that encourage reading in exchange for rewards	What the discontinued promotions were and the date you stopped them
Identity verification	Completing the process with official ID	Passport, driver's license, residence permit, etc. (digital IDs and paper copies are not accepted)

For rights verification, the Help states clearly that Amazon accepts only the documents it has requested. You'll usually receive a response within 5 business days of Amazon receiving the documents, and it can take up to 48 hours after approval for changes to appear on the detail page. However, these timeframes apply to rights verification documents; they are not the review period for an account suspension.

Identity verification works like this: go to Account > Identity verification, enter your name, address, and date of birth exactly as they appear on your ID, choose the type of ID and take a photo of it, take a selfie (a photo of your face) if asked, and then click Submit (送信). If you reach the maximum number of attempts, you'll need to wait 72 hours.

How to structure your appeal

The general approach is to answer what the notice asks for, keeping things concise and in the following order.

1. The facts: which part of which book was related to which rule
2. The cause: why this happened (for example, you had no checking process, or you misunderstood a rule)
3. The corrections made: what you fixed and when
4. Preventing recurrence: what you'll check before publishing or updating in the future
5. If you believe the determination was wrong, your grounds for thinking so

For the approach of structuring an explanation around cause, correction, and prevention, how to put together a plan of action for selling accounts can also be a useful reference. However, don't reuse its format and terminology as is; replace them with the language of KDP's terms and guidelines. Why relying on a template tends to leave gaps in your explanation is covered in what reusing a template leaves out.

Sample appeal (hypothetical example)

The following is a sample appeal for a case where wording that falls under the prohibited examples in the metadata guidelines was flagged. It's a hypothetical example, not a real case, so rewrite it to match your own situation and the facts.

The title of the book in question included the ranking claim "bestseller," and the description (内容紹介) mentioned a limited-time price reduction. I had also registered two keywords unrelated to the book's content. The cause was that I had no process for checking my metadata against the prohibited examples in the Metadata Guidelines for Books when publishing and updating.
To address this, I have prepared revisions that remove the ranking claim from the title and the limited-time offer from the description, and that replace the two unrelated keywords with terms that reflect the book's content. I have also reviewed the titles, descriptions, keywords, and categories of all other books published under the same account and confirmed that none contain anything that falls under the prohibited examples.
Going forward, each time I publish or update a book, I will check it against a checklist of the prohibited examples in the guidelines before submitting, and I will record the date of each check.
I would be grateful if you could review these corrections and consider reinstating sales. Please let me know if you need any additional information.

What to do while you wait after submitting

There is no official guideline on how long an appeal review takes or how many days it takes to get a reply. While you wait, check regularly for any messages asking for additional information. Even if you believe the determination was wrong, avoid emotional language, and ask for an explanation by presenting the facts and your grounds, following the steps in the notice.

As for how long it takes for your changes to go live after you correct and republish a book, the Timelines (タイムライン) section of the official Help states that for eBooks, updates to a published book's title, description, and other details, as well as manuscript updates, take up to 72 hours, while list price updates take up to 24 hours (both are estimates, and updated content is reflected only after it goes through review). Keep a record of when you submitted and what you submitted.

Protecting your royalties and data: withholding rules, and why not to rush into closing your account

The KDP Terms include the following provisions on withholding and nonpayment.

Situation	Treatment under the terms (summary)
A third party claims you don't hold the rights	Royalties may be withheld until the validity of the claim can be confirmed (Section 5.4.8)
You're found to have breached your representations and warranties or the Content Guidelines	Amazon has no obligation to pay royalties for the book in question, and royalties already paid may be offset against future royalties, or you may be asked to remit the amount (Section 5.4.8)
The agreement is terminated because of a breach of your representations and warranties or the Content Guidelines	You forfeit any unpaid royalties (Section 5.4.8)
Deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity is determined to have taken place	Royalty payments may be withheld permanently (Section 5.4.8)
The agreement ends	Royalties for three months from their original payment dates may be held to cover offsets such as refunds (Section 5.4.8)
Manipulation of KDP Select is under investigation	Royalty payments for all of that author's eBooks may be withheld for up to 90 days during the investigation (KDP Select terms)

There's no general answer to which provision applies in an individual case. The terms also provide that disputes are resolved through binding arbitration rather than in court, and that U.S. law (the Federal Arbitration Act and Washington state law) applies. Consult a lawyer about what this means legally.

Note that the terms also provide that readers' rights to eBooks they've already purchased continue even after the agreement ends.

Decide on closing your account only after checking the situation

According to the official Help, if you close your KDP account yourself, the closure can't be undone and you can't re-register with the same email address.

The official Help says that after the closure is confirmed, unpaid royalties are processed in the next payment cycle. However, once the account is closed, you can no longer update your bank account or address, and you lose access to reports and tax forms. Errors in your registered details could also cause problems with receiving payment, so decide on closing your account only after checking what the notice says and your payment status.

If you can sign in and use your Bookshelf and want to stop sales of only the problematic books, one option is to select Unpublish (出版を停止) from the "…" menu next to the book. Unpublishing can take up to 72 hours, and you can unpublish the eBook and paperback separately. However, unpublishing is not a substitute for responding to the notice (appealing). Also, an eBook enrolled in KDP Select must remain exclusive until the current 90-day enrollment period ends even after it's unpublished, so be careful not to distribute it digitally elsewhere during that time.

What to save now

For how to organize your records for tax filing and similar purposes, handling accounting during a suspension may also be a useful reference, although it's written for sellers.

What not to do

The following actions risk making your situation worse.

• Creating a new account to keep publishing: This is prohibited by Section 4.2 of the Terms, and the official Help also prohibits creating a second account, whether with the same email address or a different one. The terms further state that Amazon has no obligation to pay royalties earned through a new account.
• Entering your password or bank details in response to an email disguised as a notice, or giving your login information to a third party: KDP never asks for your password or bank account details. If you suspect your account has been compromised, change your password and report it to KDP.
• Altering or forging rights documents: Submitting false documents is fraud, so never do it. If you don't have a document, obtain it by asking the legitimate issuer, such as your previous publisher.
• Encouraging reading in exchange for rewards to boost pages read: This is prohibited under Kindle Unlimited rules.
• Sending a selling account plan of action template as is: It won't line up with the terminology of KDP's terms and guidelines, which makes it harder to convey what you fixed.
• Asking for individual help on social media: The official Help says KDP does not respond to account-specific questions on social media. Use the official contact channels.

Preventing recurrence: checks before and after publishing

Split your checks into items to review every time you publish or update and items to review regularly.

Frequently asked questions

Q. If my KDP account is suspended, will I also lose access to my selling account or my Amazon shopping account?

A. The official Help doesn't say whether a KDP suspension affects selling accounts or shopping accounts, so check the screens and notices for each account separately. If you can't use your shopping account, see what to check when you can't use your buyer account.

Q. How long will I have to wait for withheld royalties to be paid?

A. It depends on which provision applies. Under the terms, withholding during a KDP Select investigation lasts up to 90 days, withholding due to a third-party rights claim lasts until the validity of the claim can be confirmed, and there's also a provision allowing royalties for three months from their original payment dates to be held when the agreement ends. Which provision applies depends on the case, so record what the notice says and the figures in Reports, and confirm by following the steps in the notice.

Q. Can I fix a Blocked book and publish it again?

A. Blocked books can't be published or edited, so first respond by following the steps in the notice, and follow its instructions on how to apply corrections as well. Avoid re-registering the same content as a different book without resolving the underlying reason.

Q. If I create a new account with a different email address, can I keep publishing?

A. No. This is prohibited by Section 4.2 of the KDP Terms (see "What not to do" for details).

Q. I'm not receiving my two-step verification code, so I can't get into the Account page.

A. Two-step verification is mandatory for KDP's Account page and can't be turned off. You can check your settings in your Amazon account under Login & security (ログインとセキュリティ) > 2-Step Verification (2SV) Settings (2段階認証(2SV)の設定), and if you can't access the registered phone number, the Help directs you to follow the account recovery (アカウントの回復) steps. For sign-in problems in general, also see what to check when you can't log in to Amazon.

Summary

Here's a recap of the key points.

• Use three things (the wording of the notice, the statuses on your Bookshelf, and your payment status) to determine whether the action applies to individual books or your whole account, or whether it's an identity verification or payment issue
• For how to appeal, start from the steps described in the notice you received
• Match the reason given in the notice against the terms and guidelines, and explain concisely, pairing "what you fixed" with "how you can show it"
• Because there are provisions for withholding and nonpayment of royalties, save your records early and decide on closing your account only after checking the situation
• Don't create a new account, alter documents, or encourage reading in exchange for rewards

The basic approach to working toward reinstatement is to confirm the facts in your notice and on your Bookshelf one by one, and then build up corrections and explanations that address the cause. Consult a lawyer or other professional about decisions involving rights or contracts.

*This article provides a general explanation. The appropriate response in individual cases depends on the circumstances.

Further reading

Before publishing AI-generated books on KDP: content requirements and suspension notices Read article → Responding to Amazon copyright complaints: identifying content and checking permissions Read article → Revisiting an old Amazon account suspension: organizing past notices and current evidence Read article →