Why Amazon KDP Keeps Asking Authors to Verify

About this video

Dale Roberts examines why Amazon KDP keeps asking authors to verify their identity. He says KDP rolled out a new identity verification process on July 30, 2024 to reduce fraud and abuse, and cites a Substack post by Rachel Thompson, who was told she would not be paid royalties unless she verified again through a biometric system requiring her phone, laptop, a QR code, two-factor authentication, government ID, and a facial scan that took three tries. Roberts says he found more than 50 KDP community posts about ID verification, with authors reporting problems. He notes authors report being given three attempts (Amazon confirms a limit but not the number), after which the identity section locks for 72 hours, and that Amazon says failure to verify can lead to restricted publishing features or account closure. He urges reading Amazon’s troubleshooting page first: the name and country on the KDP account must match the government ID, the ID must be the correct unexpired type, and photos must be clear with the barcode visible, front and back when required. He also notes KDP cut the weekly limit for new titles from 10 per book format to 2 per format, an 80% reduction, and points to Draft2Digital’s April 14, 2026 announcement of a $20 activation fee for new accounts and a $12 annual maintenance fee for accounts earning under $100 in the previous 12 months, citing automated content farms. His interpretation, which he calls speculative, is that Amazon is raising the barrier to entry against bad actors and content farms, but the verification system itself must be reliable for legitimate authors.

Key takeaways

• Read Amazon’s ID verification troubleshooting page before starting, so small mismatches do not burn through your limited verification attempts
• Make sure the name and country on your KDP account exactly match your government-issued ID, use an unexpired ID of the correct type, and photograph it clearly with the barcode visible, front and back when required
• Authors report three verification attempts before a 72-hour lockout, and Amazon says failing to verify can restrict publishing features or close the account
• Keep your KDP account information current, actively check the email tied to the account, and never ignore or postpone a verification request
• Do not build your entire business on one platform: Roberts cites a friend whose account was shut down while he was on extended leave, though it was reinstated after he verified

Episode details: published September 23, 2026 · 7:29 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dale L. Roberts’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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