# A question about multiple KDP accounts



## lina (Sep 18, 2012)

I did a search here about having multiple KDP accounts and read a number of posts saying in no uncertain terms that it was not allowed by Amazon. Then I sent an email to Amazon to verify that it was against their terms of service, and I got the following response. 
_
To manage your KDP books efficiently, we recommend all KDP books are maintained under a single KDP account. Both Amazon and KDP have a policy which prevents creating a second account under an e-mail address with an already existing account. If you create a new accou nt with a diffrent email that is a diffrent story, you can have relatively the same information in the account as long as they do not use the same email._

So which is it? It seems that Amazon says I can have multiple KDP accounts, so why are there so many posts saying that it's prohibited? Thankss in advance.


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

I don't see how it's even possible to create multiple accounts without using multiple email addresses so I'm not sure what they're trying to say. I can tell you I (accidentally) created two KDP accounts when I was first starting out a couple years ago. I quickly realized my mistake, so I just don't use one of them. Nobody from Amazon has ever contacted me about having that second account but maybe that's because I've never published anything through it.


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## Hilary Thomson (Nov 20, 2011)

If Amazon says it's okay, I'd take their word for it.  But you might want one account just for tax reasons alone.  It will make your accounting less complicated for you, and if you end up with multiple W-2s coming from Amazon, that might trigger an audit from some curious IRS agent.


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## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

It's against policy, but it's very easy to accidentally create a second account. However, when you also accidentally mix up the two accounts, all hell breaks loose, with you ending up being locked out of all your KDP accounts, and taking a very long time and many infuriating emails to sort it out.

Happened to me a few months ago. I didn't even realise I had two accounts.


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## lina (Sep 18, 2012)

Patty, how is it against policy? The email from Amazon that I posted seems to be saying it is perfectly okay to have two different KDP accounts as long as they have different email addresses.


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## Nathalie Hamidi (Jul 9, 2011)

I have two accounts. My reader account, and my author account. I don't mix them.


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## PhoenixS (Apr 5, 2011)

For the 2012 tax year, I had two accounts under my same social security number while we were getting all the legal stuff for Steel Magnolia worked out. The money funneled into two different bank accounts, and I had separate email addies associated with the Amazon accounts. I did this under the same advisement the OP got from Amazon. Absolutely no issues.

For 2013, with a new name and tax ID set up for Steel Magnolia, It was a simple matter to change that info and transfer that account smoothly from one name/tax ID to another, yet still retain the same email addy.

Now, when I set up the second account at the beginning of 2012, I knew which books would go in it and which would go into my personal account, so when 2013 came along, I didn't have to transfer any books between accounts because I'd planned ahead. I have no idea how easy/difficult that process may be.


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## lina (Sep 18, 2012)

Thanks for sharing your experience, Phoenix Sullivan. I'm looking to do something similar, but was worried that I would end up locked out my accounts. I guess that's not the case.


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## C.F. (Jan 6, 2011)

I have also emailed KDP about having multiple accounts and they told me it was perfectly fine.


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## lina (Sep 18, 2012)

I just got another email from Amazon. They are driving me berserk.

_Hello,

Regarding your question, if you're able to have two KDP accounts under different email addresses; with the same Social Security Number (SSN).

No, you may maintain only one account at a time. To manage your KDP books efficiently, we recommend all KDP books are maintained under a single KDP account.

Here is the link to our policy, 4.2 Account Information; No Multiple Accounts:

https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help?topicId=APILE934L348N

If you need anything else, please let us know and we'll be glad to help._

It sounds like people here have not had any problem having multiple accounts, though, correct?


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## Just Browsing (Sep 26, 2012)

Huh. That is the opposite of what Amazon advised me. I started publishing only erotica. Then added a 'respectable' imprint. Of course, the money flows to the same place, so it's not a problem at that level. But when I took a college intern one term, it would have been nice to have given her access to the 'respectable' account page, but not the erotica page (as I did not think she'd have been OK with it).

So I emailed Amazon and asked them if there was any way to split the account. They recommended setting up an entirely different KDP account, and said they could switch my books over--BUT, I'd lose my reviews and sales rankings, which at the time were pretty good, on some titles. So I have stayed with just the one account.

But it's certainly not against their rules to have two accounts, or they wouldn't have advised me to create a second one.

I do have a separate reader account from my publisher account, and I have two separate Author Central accounts, with different email addresses--one for my erotica (I've written a few titles), and one for all the books I have with trad publishers, which are not erotica.

My husband has his own Amazon account too, and our credit card is on it, but he doesn't publish or leave reviews. Half the time he can't even remember to log me out and himself in, and is always sending free poetry books to my Kindle by mistake...


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

I do have more than one account with Smashwords and Twitter for books under my pen name. For now, the argument for having an extra Amazon account might be that Author Central will not allow you more than three names under one account. So it might make sense, if you have more than three pen names (or one real name plus 2 pseudonyms), to get a second KDP account. Anyone else who has done this for the same reason?


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## Just Browsing (Sep 26, 2012)

I saved the email chain I had with them. Quote:

~~~

Hello,

You may open a new account under a different e-mail address using the same contact, tax and bank account information and publish separately.

I hope this helps. Thanks for using Amazon KDP.

~~~


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## lina (Sep 18, 2012)

I guess the easiest solution, because I'm an American, is to get an EIN and set it up with that. There shouldn't be any problems with that, I assume.


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## Talen Morgan (May 12, 2013)

I can tell you for a fact having 2 accounts is frowned upon. Amazon screwed up my account last year and I ended up with 2 accounts somehow, one under a different e-mail. I didn't even know about the second account until I logged in to see an empty account. I contacted Amazon to find out what was going on and before they got back to to me my accounts were suspended.

I think the reason people are getting different replies from Amazon is because they don't take the time to train their employees properly.


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## Chris Northern (Jan 20, 2011)

So, just from curiosity, what is the approved method when writing under two or more names?


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## lina (Sep 18, 2012)

You can have multiple authors in one account. 

Can you have payments for different projects sent to different bank accounts? This is what I am trying to do, and why I thought it would be easier to have two accounts.


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## unkownwriter (Jun 22, 2011)

I've been seeing this same confusion from Amazon for a while now. Everybody seems to get a different response, based on who answers the email.

What I think they mean is that you can't have multiple accounts under different names -- one on your real name, two or three others under pen names, all with different account info, but you can have different accounts under whatever name, as long as they have the same account info other than the email addresses. 

Clear as mud?

At least, this is my take on the question, after nearly three years. It's the only thing that makes any sense of it, to me at least, and I may be totally off base. It wouldn't be the first time.


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## lina (Sep 18, 2012)

Here's their latest email:

_While it's against our terms to maintain two KDP accounts under the same name (and the same SSN,) you can create a new KDP account under your company's name and enter the EIN details while the current KDP account under your personal name is already open under a different email address._

I tend to think that this is the "correct" answer, although I wish it wasn't. It sounds like some people manage to have two accounts with no problems, but others have their accounts shut down for doing this. I don't want to take the risk, so I will apply for an EIN.


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## tensen (May 17, 2011)

Richardcrasta said:


> For now, the argument for having an extra Amazon account might be that Author Central will not allow you more than three names under one account. So it might make sense, if you have more than three pen names (or one real name plus 2 pseudonyms), to get a second KDP account. Anyone else who has done this for the same reason?


I probably wouldn't create a different KDP account unless you wanted the tax information and payments to go to different things since the Amazon account for author central doesn't have to be the same as the KDP account.


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## kindlebiz (Mar 7, 2016)

Hi there,

I just wondered if anyone found a solution to the notice email amazon send out regarding multiple kdp accounts, even if if they were created by accident and one was not being used for publishing?

Thanks


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## fiveabook (May 22, 2019)

This is the latest official response from Amazon as of December 2019

https://blog.fiveabook.com/post/can-i-have-multiple-kdp-accounts

The short answer is, Only One Kdp Account per Legal Entity


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## unkownwriter (Jun 22, 2011)

That's always been their response. I suspect that if you are being naughty with one account, having another under a different legal entity isn't going to save you anyway. People have tried sneaking back in by opening another account under a different name, and they get caught and banned again.

And if someone needs another author central account because they need new pen names? Just open another AC account, which is allowed, simple, and saves one from breaking TOS.


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