# What to do when a createspace/kdp author dies? [Updated with the processes.]



## e-chant (May 6, 2014)

I'm going to start with this analogy because it really helped me to understand how this works.

ANALOGY: Amazon treats Createspace/KDP accounts like bank accounts, and it treats books like money in a bank account. Hence, when an author passes away, the account is STILL THE AUTHOR'S. It does not become the property of the executor(s) or the heir(s).
This means that, as with a bank account, the executor(s)/heir(s) should NOT attempt to access the Createspace/KDP accounts directly - just as they must not directly access a deceased's bank account. The executor(s) should go through the legal process of transferring the books in the deceased's account(s) (analogous to the money in bank account(s)) to the account of the new legal holder of the copyright (the heir, as stated under the will).

CAVEATS: Sorry, but I have no idea how the process changes if there is more than one heir, if the author had formed a company, if the author wrote jointly with others, or if the author was intestate. If the author wrote under a pseudonym, I think this doesn't change the process below.
In this particular case, I am both the executor and heir, which may have made the process easier to follow for me, as I am empowered to do all the parts.

STEP -1 (author): Tell the executor(s) of your estate of the existence of your books, and what platforms those books are on, and what name(s) they were written under.

STEP 0 (executor/heir): DO NOT be tempted to access or change anything in the account(s) of the deceased, even if you have the password(s). This breaches the terms and conditions of the deceased's account(s).

STEP 1 (heir): (If you do not already possess Createspace/KDP accounts) set them up under the HEIR'S NAME. Fill in the heir's bank account and tax details in the kdp account. I don't think this is compulsory at this stage, but it will have to be done at some point in the process, and it might help, in that Amazon will know that you are contacting them (next step) from the account you wish to transfer the books to. (If the heir happens to have pre-existing accounts, simply use these instead in the next step.) If you make a fresh Createspace account, don't yet bother to populate the royalty, tax and bank account information, as it seems to be overwritten with that of the deceased in STEP 12.

KDP STEPS:

STEP 2 (heir): Contact KDP support, from this account, giving as much information as possible about the deceased and his/her books, including pen names if any. State that you are the heir to the deceased under the terms of the will. State that you would like to continue to sell the books in question, and ask how to proceed further. Wait.

STEP 4 (Amazon KDP Support): Will email back asking for links to the deceased books on Amazon and this documentation: "the death certificate and documentation that you are the executor of his estate (if
this is not mentioned on the death certificate) as an attachment."

STEP 5 (heir/executor): Send links, a scanned copy of the death certificate and a scanned copy of the will back by return of email. Wait

STEP 6 (Amazon KDP Support): Respond that "the book(s) will be transferred to the heir's account within 48 hours". This happened. Note that the book does not transfer with any previous royalty or sales information; it looks fresh in the heir's account. Note also that the reviews etc. on the books' web pages are untouched by this process.

STEP 7 (heir/executor): Email back to KDP support asking about how outstanding royalties will be paid. Wait

STEP 8 (Amazon KDP support): Write back to say that "The royalties that are due to be paid to [&#8230;], will be paid to you via the payment option chosen in your KDP account associated with your email address [&#8230;]. The outstanding and the future payments will be processed to the bank account mentioned in your KDP account."

CREATESPACE STEPS:

STEP 9 (heir/executor): Contact Createspace support from your Createspace account and ask how to start the process. Wait.

STEP 10 (Createspace team): Write back to say this: "For security purposes, I will need a copy of the death certificate or a court-issued letter of administration before I can begin the process of transferring this account over to your name. You can either fax a copy of the scanned document to us at (206) 922-5928 or send an email with a picture of the document attached to [email protected] Please include all the current information on the new account (First and Last name, email address, etc.) in your communication. Someone will be in touch with you once we update the information in the account. You will then need to agree to the Member Agreement to complete the process. "

STEP 11 (heir/executor): email back with links and an attached copy of the death certificate. Wait.

STEP 12 (Creatsepace team): sends a slightly confusing email telling you can access the account you have made in Step 1, but they have changed the password, to one they give you. Access the account, and change the password to one you want as instructed. Then go to My Account > Royalty Payment Information, and change the information to that of the heir. Then redo the tax interview as the heir. In the account you will find the books of the deceased (including draft unpublished ones) and (unlike KDP) the royalty payment statements.

AUTHOR CENTRAL STEPS:

STEP 13 (heir/executor): Write to the author central teams (for US use: [email protected]) about access to the author central accounts, or creating new ones if they don't exist. Note that this part of Amazon's structure is country specific. If the deceased has Author Central pages in US and UK Amazons, you need to contact both, independently. Wait.

STEP 14 (Amazon.com Author Central Team): If the accounts don't exist, write back and say this: "I'm glad to hear of your interest in creating an Author Page for "xxx". We realize friends, relatives, and agents would like to act on an author's behalf, but we're currently only able to verify and enroll authors in our program. 
If you represent a deceased author, please send written documentation that you have the legal right to act on behalf of the named author and a death certificate or press release of the author's death to [email protected] I appreciate your patience and understanding. We look forward to seeing you again soon." 
I'm not entirely sure what that means.

STEP 15 (heir/executor): Email back to [email protected] (for US) stating that you have the legal rights, and attaching death certificate and copy of the will. Wait.

OR STEP 15 (heir/executor): If you have access to the deceased's author central account(s) this might be the one time to just quietly go on and use them - as there are no finance or bank account implications. Your call.

The END.
E.
-----------------------------------

Original Opening Question:

Hi:
I'm sorry for this difficult question, but I tried to Google this, and to search Amazon's on-line help, and I've not found anything.
A little while ago someone very close to me died. I'm both the beneficiary under his will, and an executor of his estate. Most other things are settled now, but not Amazon - where I've not started any process.
Does anyone know what the process is for letting Amazon know he has passed on, and that the "termination interest" (I've read it's called that in copyright law) should be transferred to me?
I read the KDP terms and conditions, which don't seem to help much, except they rule out him authorising any third party to use his accounts. So, though I have his Createspace and KDP passwords, I think I would be breaching the T&Cs if I used them?
Many thanks for any help anyone could give me! I can't seem to find where to start with this.
E.


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## thewitt (Dec 5, 2014)

I would simply write to KDP Support and ask them what the process it. I'm certain they have had to deal with this in the past.

Sorry for your loss.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Worst case is with Amazon, you leave it as it is and they don't know and don't care who is operating the account.

The main issue I would have thought is where the royalties are going. If that's under your control, then the main issue is solved.

But yes, contact KDP support and at least try to get it changed to you.


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## Lindy Moone (Oct 19, 2012)

Unfortunately, more and more of us will experience what you are going through as the years go by. Sorry for your loss.
Please keep us posted when you have time, whatever you find out. I'm sure it will be of great help.


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## thewitt (Dec 5, 2014)

TimothyEllis said:


> Worst case is with Amazon, you leave it as it is and they don't know and don't care who is operating the account.
> 
> The main issue I would have thought is where the royalties are going. If that's under your control, then the main issue is solved.
> 
> But yes, contact KDP support and at least try to get it changed to you.


You cannot do this. The SSN/Tax information on the Payment account at Amazon will be that of the deceased. This is not legal in the US, and in fact Amazon no longer needs to pay...

You need to protect this property, not ignore it.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

thewitt said:


> You cannot do this. The SSN/Tax information on the Payment account at Amazon will be that of the deceased. This is not legal in the US, and in fact Amazon no longer needs to pay...
> You need to protect this property, not ignore it.


Ok I didn't know that. In that case, both need changing. It also suggests that Amazon have a procedure you just need to ask to be started.


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## 75845 (Jan 1, 1970)

I recently complained to CreateSpace about this because they require you to sign in to contact them, which causes problems in a situation like yours. After a rude reply from the first "customer service" agent I made a further complaint and finally got given the following details

[email protected]
1-866-356-2154 toll-free US
206-922-0860 international

Of course I had to sign in to read the message with that information.

Sorry for your loss and best wishes in contacting CreateSpace, may you be responded to by one of the nicer staff members.


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## e-chant (May 6, 2014)

Thanks to everyone for the replies so far.
Yes, Mercia, that's my problem too. I would have to sign in to his account to contact support. Catch 22.
Thanks so much for that Createspace email address. 
I wonder if there is anything similar for KDP.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

e-chant said:


> Yes, Mercia, that's my problem too. I would have to sign in to his account to contact support. Catch 22.


I cant see that as a problem. You need to to contact them. You state up front you are the executor for the person's estate, which includes this account and then ask them the procedure for dealing, giving them your main email address to respond to. You probably need to get them a copy of any official documentation with that first contact, if its possible then.


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## MissingAlaska (Apr 28, 2014)

I wish I could offer insight - but don't have any.  Condolences on your loss.

Once you resolve this, as this is a matter important to many authors, please post the outcome here.  I'm sure many would be interested.

As I think about this, all of us probably need to leave instructions in our wills for our benefactors.


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## 75845 (Jan 1, 1970)

michaelsnuckols said:


> As I think about this, all of us probably need to leave instructions in our wills for our benefactors.


That was the basis of my complaint to CreateSpace. If I change the email address (which doubles as the user name) or password and die or am mentally incapacipated before telling my benefactors they have no way to contact CreateSpace as they do not even send an acknowledgment that you have changed the email address. If CreateSpace were a British based company this would be in breach of disability legislation as it does not provide a publically available alternative for those with memory related disabilities.


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## e-chant (May 6, 2014)

Yes - I'll definitely do a post here of the process(es), once I've been through them.
My problem, Timothy, was how to contact them. I've searched, and can find nothing which says, in case of a bereavement, contact this email address. They probably do have a process, but it would be great if they had somewhere with the contact details of how to begin it.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

e-chant said:


> Yes - I'll definitely do a post here of the process(es), once I've been through them.
> My problem, Timothy, was how to contact them. I've searched, and can find nothing which says, in case of a bereavement, contact this email address. They probably do have a process, but it would be great if they had somewhere with the contact details of how to begin it.


Actually, that in itself should be suggested to them. It should be a contact point on their site for anyone in this situation.

The alternative, is get one of us to contact them asking for the procedure on behalf of someone on Kboards who needs to know how. I'd be happy to try if you want.


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## e-chant (May 6, 2014)

Timothy, that would be really nice of you! Thanks very much!


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## e-chant (May 6, 2014)

Thanks David. I am the executor, as you suggested.
I did think about just logging on, and contacting Amazon that way. What stopped me was this bit of the KDP terms and conditions:

_4.3 Account Security. You are solely responsible for safeguarding and maintaining the confidentiality of your account username and password and are responsible for all activities that occur under your account, whether or not you have authorized the activities. You may not permit any third party to use the Program through your account and will not use the account of any third party. You agree to immediately notify Amazon of any unauthorized use of your username, password or account. _

Weirdly, I think by logging on I would be making him break these, after he's no longer with me. And I really didn't want to do that.

Oh.. and as I have a KDP account - so have signed up to these - I would be breaking them too as I would be using the account of a third party. I think.


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## Gina Black (Mar 15, 2011)

I don't see it as a problem if you log in. I also question what they mean by "use the Program through your account" because that sounds more to me like they are saying he can't allow you to access his account to sell your books. As for the "You agree to immediately notify Amazon of any unauthorized use of your username, password or account," you are *not* unauthorized. As his executor you are completely *authorized.* It's your job.

They need to know he is deceased so they can stop sending royalties to him but to the estate (different tax ID), and then, when the estate is closed, to the beneficiary. At least that would be my best understanding of the process. 

I'm not an attorney but I was once an executor.


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## Gina Black (Mar 15, 2011)

Alternately, you could send a certified letter to their legal or business department with a copy of the death certificate and instructions for converting the account into and "estate of" account (which you would manage as executor) until the estate is closed.

ETA: It sounds like you're doing this without an attorney? This would be an instance where a letter from an attorney might be really helpful.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

I've sent KDP a message. Lets see what comes back.


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## ElHawk (Aug 13, 2012)

TimothyEllis said:


> I've sent KDP a message. Lets see what comes back.


What will come back will NOT be helpful, I guarantee it. The first response from KDP never is helpful, on any issue. However, down at the bottom of the message, there's a little link that asks whether it was a helpful response. Click no, and it will be escalated to a supervisor. That should get the ball rolling toward providing a useful answer.

I'm assuming you have your friend's actual books (the files, etc.) somewhere. If so, you can always shut down his accounts on KDP and Createspace and open new ones under the estate's tax ID. You will be challenged on whether you have the right to publish those previously published materials, but with the will showing that you are the executor of the estate, and that he intended for his books to remain available after his death and under your control, that won't be a problem to clear up. Both Createspace and KDP are good about giving you the green light if you've got documentation of a change of copyright holder. It happens all the time in this business, in the form of copyrights passing from one publisher to another.


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## Sapphire (Apr 24, 2012)

There is one point I don't see anyone making. I'm not an attorney, but if seems you should not be taking over his account. You are inheriting his intellectual property. Therefore, you will manage his account as his executor until you can establish a new account for the material (which belongs to you). If you wish material to remain available and paying royalties to you, I would recommend consulting an attorney as to the proper steps to transfer ownership of intellectual property. Then you'll be ready to deal with Amazon and their account system.


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

e-chant said:


> Thanks David. I am the executor, as you suggested.
> I did think about just logging on, and contacting Amazon that way. What stopped me was this bit of the KDP terms and conditions:
> 
> _4.3 Account Security. You are solely responsible for safeguarding and maintaining the confidentiality of your account username and password and are responsible for all activities that occur under your account, whether or not you have authorized the activities. You may not permit any third party to use the Program through your account and will not use the account of any third party. You agree to immediately notify Amazon of any unauthorized use of your username, password or account. _
> ...


As the agent of the deceased, you are a first party, not a third party.

Disclaimer: I am not an attorney, but I was a claims representative for Farmers Insurance from 1999 to 2007. That is the capacity in which I learned this principle.


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## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

PS I used agent here in its legal sense: anyone a party authorizes to handle its affairs.


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## Rykymus (Dec 3, 2011)

Be prepared, as Amazon will most likely pull the books down and close the existing account the moment they catch wind that the owner of the copyright (the author) has passed away. You will probably have to republish everything under your new account, and then provide proof of transfer of copyright to you, all before they will actually allow the books to be republished. And of course, you will lose all reviews by republishing. 

I hate to be the voice of doom, but you should probably expect this and be prepared, especially if you are counting on a continuing revenue stream from the books. Honestly, I would be shocked if it turned out to be an easy process. 

Off the topic, sort of, but that's why I recently incorporated and moved the copyrights into the corporation's name. (There are probably other ways to do this, such as trusts and what not. I had other reasons for incorporating as well.) The corporation will continue to exist after I pass. My heirs will not have issues with Amazon. Something everyone should think about, even if you aren't selling much now, as you might start selling more later.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Konrath did a blog post a couple years ago on death and the indie author. I'll see if I can find it.

ETA: Found it, but I don't think it'll be useful in this situation.


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## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

michaelsnuckols said:


> I wish I could offer insight - but don't have any. Condolences on your loss.
> 
> Once you resolve this, as this is a matter important to many authors, please post the outcome here. I'm sure many would be interested.
> 
> As I think about this, all of us probably need to leave instructions in our wills for our benefactors.


^This^ 
I've copied the info and sent it to the person who will be my executor, but would like to know if anything more concrete becomes available.


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## Shane Ward (Jan 25, 2013)

I think it would have been better to just leave the amazon account alone and just keep an eye and manage the rolties from the bank account. Messing around with amazon will probably get the books removed or the company will do something that will terminate the royalties. If you got the password and account login details, just use it to keep an eye on things from time to time, but don't sturr the pot as to say otherwise you could get undesired results that will be a huge headache later on.


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## Gina Black (Mar 15, 2011)

Shane Ward said:


> I think it would have been better to just leave the amazon account alone and just keep an eye and manage the rolties from the bank account. Messing around with amazon will probably get the books removed or the company will do something that will terminate the royalties. If you got the password and account login details, just use it to keep an eye on things from time to time, but don't sturr the pot as to say otherwise you could get undesired results that will be a huge headache later on.


You can't do that because of the tax implications. Any money earned after his death belongs to the estate and the estate pays taxes on it. Once everything is accounted for and the estate is closed then the beneficiary becomes the owner.

Whether at each change of ownership (death/estate/beneficiary) Amazon allows the account to transfer or wants to close the account and open a new one is anyone's guess. But because of how the taxes are done ownership needs to be transferred.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

No response so far.

I'd take the warning about having the account shut down seriously, and copy all the reviews now. Even if you cant put them back, you should still be be able to use them as part of re-advertising.


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## 75814 (Mar 12, 2014)

Rykymus said:


> Be prepared, as Amazon will most likely pull the books down and close the existing account the moment they catch wind that the owner of the copyright (the author) has passed away. You will probably have to republish everything under your new account, and then provide proof of transfer of copyright to you, all before they will actually allow the books to be republished. And of course, you will lose all reviews by republishing.


I don't think you necessarily have to lose reviews. If the paperback versions are already linked to the current ebooks, then the reviews will remain up because the paperback page never goes down. Then you can have KDP link the new editions to the previous ones. Not quite the same situation, but my first book was published through Lulu and not KDP or CreateSpace. Then last year I took down the Lulu version and republished it through CreateSpace and put it up on KDP. KDP Support had no problems linking the Lulu version to the CreateSpace version and the reviews carried over.


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## 555aaa (Jan 28, 2014)

As executor, you have "letters testamentary" (in the U.S.) Those notify other parties that you the power to have the deceased accounts closed and the assets gathered. You will be closing their bank account also, and no doubt you've had to deal with notifying whoever was on "auto-pay" that they're not going to get paid any more.  You will need to figure out who is the beneficial owner of the copyright(s) - I think you said it is you. There is a way to have what I think is called a filing of recordation that records that the copyright is transferred to you as the beneficial owner, but you have to talk to your lawyer here - In the U.S. we have this thing called probate you know, which is where the assets are held basically in escrow until everyone who might have a claim on the estate has a chance to speak up and make their claim. Often copyrights are held for the remaining duration of copyright by the estate of the deceased and not transferred directly. 

As far as Amazon is concerned, there is a real problem in that there is apparently no way to transfer ownership of an ASIN from one party to another. This is a huge problem for lots of reasons, such as authors who recover their publishing rights from their original publisher, clever folks who hold their copyright in their corporation and then go bankrupt, or people whose titles are contested in divorce.  I think what you are going to be stuck with is the ability to close the account and unpublish the title, and then re-publish under a different account.  You won't retain the sales rank and that is a big problem.

Again I want to emphasize that you must work with the attorney handling the estate. This is critical, and that attorney may need to consult with a specialist in intellectual property and copyright.

If someone has better information, I would love to hear. 

My condolences for your loss.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Reply from Amazon:



> In the event of passing of an author, if the author's estate or heir would like to continue to sell his book in the Kindle Store, they can establish a KDP account with a new payment address or bank account and we can help them publish the book through the new account.


Short and very uninformative. However, it does say to create a new account, so presumably you contact them through the new account giving details of the other account and books to be transferred.

I guess you will just have to follow through and then let us know what happens to reviews and whathaveyou. With luck, nothing actually happens to the book, they just change the account the book is attached to. Anyway, let us know.


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## EllisaBarr (Apr 22, 2014)

If they really make you unpublish all of the books and republish them on another account, that could be a huge revenue loss for an author's loved ones.  I wonder if this is a good reason for an author to set up some kind of business entity, like an LLC or S-Corp.  That way if they die, maybe their business ownership and holdings could be transferred to someone else, while uninterrupted royalty payments would continue to be paid to the business.


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## e-chant (May 6, 2014)

Thanks Timothy. Wow, I didn't think that would be the reply - they really do mean what they say about an account being personal. 
I will follow this process through, and come back to write a summary for the board once it has all been - hopefully - republished.


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

Cherise Kelley said:


> PS I used agent here in its legal sense: anyone a party authorizes to handle its affairs.


I've done this: asked someone to sign into my account to do something important for me when I was traveling in an area without Internet access. I can't see why that would be wrong. I could ask a member of my family to do that for me; that too would be okay. But in any case, this is a good question, and thanks to the OP for raising it. It must be solved with clarity, and I hope you let us know how you solved it.

I'm also wondering if there's something simpler than assigning rights to a corporation. What if the author was using pseudonyms, and didn't wish to have the pseudonyms known to readers from the other name--which would happen if the corporation publishing the books happened to be one and the same?


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## 75814 (Mar 12, 2014)

Richardcrasta said:


> I'm also wondering if there's something simpler than assigning rights to a corporation. What if the author was using pseudonyms, and didn't wish to have the pseudonyms known to readers from the other name--which would happen if the corporation publishing the books happened to be one and the same?


I don't really know anything about assigning rights to a corporation, but how would this situation be any different than if someone was writing under two different pen names? If I were writing erotica under the name Chesty Sexmore and military sci-fi under the name Buff McShootington, but I managed them both from the same KDP account, wouldn't that same problem exist?

And no one better steal those pen names. I know you're all jealous of how awesome they are.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

As far as I can see, readers don't see the account information at all. Just the book covers. So you should only need one account regardless of how many pseudonyms you use. Readers will never know they are on the same account.


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## 75845 (Jan 1, 1970)

TimothyEllis said:


> As far as I can see, readers don't see the account information at all. Just the book covers. So you should only need one account regardless of how many pseudonyms you use. Readers will never know they are on the same account.


I think the point is that if Sexy Shoot Ltd is the declared copyright holder for both that it would imply a connection between The Buff and The Chest. This may not be an issue with e-chant's case, but it shows that assigning copyright to a corporation has ramifications and this may not be the best time for such changes to be made.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

I don't suppose we actually have any legal writers here do we? Be interesting to get a legal perspective.


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## MissingAlaska (Apr 28, 2014)

TimothyEllis said:


> Reply from Amazon:
> 
> Short and very uninformative. However, it does say to create a new account, so presumably you contact them through the new account giving details of the other account and books to be transferred.
> 
> I guess you will just have to follow through and then let us know what happens to reviews and whathaveyou. With luck, nothing actually happens to the book, they just change the account the book is attached to. Anyway, let us know.


I am guessing that you will need tech support to move the books - and their ratings - to the new KDP account. After all, Amazon doesn't want to lose those ratings and that data either. They just want to make sure they are in compliance with tax law.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

New response from KDP:



> When we move books from one KDP account to another (for example in the event of a deceased publisher) then all reviews, books' rankings and all customer facing information remain intact.


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## unkownwriter (Jun 22, 2011)

Kristine Katherine Rusch had some blog posts a while back about setting up a writer's estate to handle things if they became incapacitated or died. Her site is kriswrites.com


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## Lane Casteix (Jun 10, 2014)

This time without TapaTalk screwing up...

You will almost certainly need to supply them with a death certificate and a judgment of possession. The JoP should identify all the deceased's assets and accounts, and who they now belong to. This is generated by the court handling the estate. Once they have these docs, they will likely become very helpful. Don't expect much until then.


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## Rykymus (Dec 3, 2011)

When I was preparing to incorporate and facing the decision of continuing using the same KDP account or creating a new one, I was told by Amazon that although the reviews and rankings would remain intact, I would lose all past sales data from my KDP reports page.


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## e-chant (May 6, 2014)

Thanks to all of you for the comments and condolences above. 
I am now going to edit the opening question with what I've learnt of the processes.


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## PearlEarringLady (Feb 28, 2014)

Thank you so much for doing this. I've printed out your very detailed notes and filed it with my will.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Thanks for the detail. Bookmarked and the link saved separately.


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## e-chant (May 6, 2014)

You are very welcome. It was nice to be able to give something back to kboarders. You've all done such a lot for me.


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## LifesHumor (Feb 5, 2014)

Thank you so much for doing this.


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## Silly Writer (Jul 15, 2013)

Thanks so much for the detailed information. Very useful!


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## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

Thanks so much. Very useful


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## Goulburn (May 21, 2014)

I wanted to share that advance estate planning for your book royalties doesn't have to be complicated.

I contacted Amazon to ask if I could transfer my royalties and or my account to my granddaughter now, or if it could be done in the future and after my death. They were helpful in regards to all possibilities.  It can be done. If I changed the account to another person, I'd only lose my author ranking and not my reviews. The change can be made before or after your death.

Then I asked Pronoun the same question. It all seemed to be a simpler process. As Pronoun plays by PayPal, it would be as easy as changing the PayPal payment address to allow another family member to access my royalties. Pronoun will even allow me to have my granddaughter become co-administrator of my Pronoun account. 

That sounded so easy. Today, I unpublished a third of my books on Amazon, and all from D2D. I have begun the process of moving them over to Pronoun, still in my name but knowing that a family member can easily access my royalties in the future. 

I did not ask D2d, but they have always been helpful, so I assume they also mould have transferred the payments, and or the account and payments. I chose Pronoun as they will publish to Amazon and thus keep things simple and all in the one place, making it easy for my young adult granddaughter to manage. 

By doing this in three stages, I can test that my reviews do follow me. Now, when I'm not publishing new work, is a good time for me to take the drop in author rank, and it's worth it for the peace of mind of having planned for the future. 
I'm happy that this estate planning for your royalties isn't complicated.
Cheers, Ryn.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Mark Cooper posted this video. Copyright and estate planning.

http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,226318.msg3159753.html#msg3159753


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## Goulburn (May 21, 2014)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> Mark Cooper posted this video. Copyright and estate planning.
> 
> http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,226318.msg3159753.html#msg3159753


Thank you, Margaret. I've bookmarked it to watch later.


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