Moving books to a different KDP account?

[ItsMe]

Does anyone have experience with moving their books to another KDP account? I don't mean two accounts held by the same person - I realise that isn't allowed.

If you have done this, can you confirm:

1) the process - is it as simple as unpublishing them on one account and then publishing them again on the new account?

2) do the ASINs change during the process - I assume so.

3) Are/can ratings reviews be transferred to the 'new' books.

4) Were there any unforeseen issues?


Thanks in advance for any help offered.

[TimothyEllis]

STOP!!!

What you do is contact KDP, supply them with a reason for why the books are moving, and ask them to do it for you.

For example, when an author dies, you supply them with a death certificate, the KDP account for the heir, and once they review and verify, they move everything to the new account.

Nothing gets lost. Readers never notice it happening.

You will need to supply proof of why the move needs to take place.

[JRTomlin]

You don't have to have KDP do it for you. Timothy may well be correct that you could, but I can tell you from my own experience that you don't have to. In fact how could I since I did not control the original account?

I moved all my novels from one account controlled by someone else to one I control by the process the OP gave. I did have to ask KDP to move the reviews, which they did. I did not run into any problems that I recall. (My business partner controlled the original account which was before Amazon allowed more than one person on account which I *think* they allow now. When we ended our partnership of course I moved the novels to an account in my business name)

No, KDP did not ask for proof just a statement of ownership.

[ItsMe]

Thanks for both replies. Both perspectives appreciated.

[Simon Haynes]

I still get my account halted (temporarily) on google books because I got the rights back to my first novel in 2012, but they have the original 2004 trad-pubbed edition floating around in their system.  So, now and then I get an email saying my content is under review and my account is on hold.

Not the exact same situation, of course, but where computers and very dumb algorithms are concerned I would err on the side of caution.

[JRTomlin]

I wouldn't do it myself. The problem isn't whether you can do it technically because you can.

The problem is if the bots that sweep the system decide you have stolen books. If that happens, then they send a flag to the Content Management team and they will delist the book(s) and suspend your account until you prove you own the book(s). If you have KDP handle the transfer for you, then there is an email and system trail showing KDP moved the books at your request.

How do I know this?

Because it happened to me. Luckily, I had used KDP to move the books and my account was immediately reinstated.

That is solved by providing evidence of ownership when you request your reviews be moved. After five years, I have never run into a problem.

[Writer]

A friend and I moved her books from my account to hers years ago, but it's been so long I've forgotten the process. We emailed KDP about switching over the reviews and I don't think we ran into any problems.

[RPatton]

I recently got a call from KDP because I had some requests and it was easier to get a call then do the email thing. At the end of the call, he recommended that I request a call every time I make a significant change or request to my account. If they are the ones doing it, there is less likely a chance of something going sideways later on. He even said that if you have to cancel a pre-order call them and have KDP do it so your pre-order privileges don't get suspended.

In this case, I would recommend requesting a call from KDP and asking them how they want you to handle the transfering of books from one account to another. If there isn't an automated system in place for authors to handle it themselves, then always resort to the call. I've never had a request refused when I was on the phone with them (and I've had some odd requests). If anything, the agents I have spoken to have gone above and beyond the call of duty.

It's also probably important to know that content-review's responsibility has shifted recently (and they don't ever consider the context) which has included being separate from everything else and no contact with authors or publishers. KDP support can't even call them until it gets high enough up the chain. They have to go through emails too.  I am assuming content-review will be the ones checking this and having someone from KDP who can contact content-review on your behalf to help put things in context can only help and not hurt.

In this case, I would ask, is there any harm from reaching out the KDP first? Since I see the answer as being no, I would recommend that option. Doing it yourself and hoping content-review doesn't act first and ask questions later is a potential issue. (For reference, I had a title appropriate to my genre, but included a single word that raised flags with content-review for print. It took 4+ days before support contacted me and said the problem had been fixed and that I wouldn't have any more problems because it had been noted in my account in big bold letters.) The phone call costs you nothing but time and you'll know that you're covered from any super strict content-review person who acts without looking at the entire picture and making a decision based on context.