# Pen Names and KDP Accounts



## Matthew Milson (Sep 25, 2012)

Hey folks. Hope everyone is having a happy Friday! Quick question: I'm looking to release some new books under a pen name. Should I create a new KDP account specifically for the pen name, or should I use my regular account/bookshelf and just type the pen name in the book listing?

Thanks for any advice!


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## Doglover (Sep 19, 2013)

Matthew Milson said:


> Hey folks. Hope everyone is having a happy Friday! Quick question: I'm looking to release some new books under a pen name. Should I create a new KDP account specifically for the pen name, or should I use my regular account/bookshelf and just type the pen name in the book listing?
> 
> Thanks for any advice!


You are not allowed more than one publishing account. If you have more than that you can get banned. You use your own account and just put the pen name in the author section in your book details, make up a profile for the author bit.


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## Talbot (Jul 14, 2015)

Here's a link that shows you how... http://selfpublishtoday.com/author-central-tutorial/


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## Matthew Milson (Sep 25, 2012)

Perfect! Thanks! I was worried about having to create multiple accounts and getting overwhelmed with tracking it all. Glad that won't be the case. Thanks again!


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## Jerry Patterson (Nov 20, 2013)

You can have up to 3 pen names for an author central account.  You can have more than one author central account however.  That enables you to have more than 3 pen names if desired.


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## ancaiovita (Feb 13, 2016)

Does anybody know if the royalties are then issued to the real name assigned to the KDP account? Would publishing under a pen name complicate things?


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## The 13th Doctor (May 31, 2012)

ancaiovita said:


> Does anybody know if the royalties are then issued to the real name assigned to the KDP account? Would publishing under a pen name complicate things?


The royalties all get issued to the name/bank account assigned to kdp. I have three writing names and all my royalties (not that there's much) go to my real name/bank account.


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## Ann Grant (Jul 16, 2015)

Matthew Milson said:


> Hey folks. Hope everyone is having a happy Friday! Quick question: I'm looking to release some new books under a pen name. Should I create a new KDP account specifically for the pen name, or should I use my regular account/bookshelf and just type the pen name in the book listing?
> 
> Thanks for any advice!


I have books under two names and two accounts, my real name and a pen name (which is my middle and last name). 
(1) When I set up the pen name, I added it to my real name's account. You're allowed 3 pen names under one account.
(2) Amazon promptly mixed up the names and books on both accounts. A pen name book would appear with my real name and bio.
(3) After a bunch of emails to KDP, I unpublished the pen name books, set up a new email and new account under the pen name, and republished the books under that account. 
(4) I told KDP everything I was doing and they said fine. The books and names are totally separate now and I have had no problems at all. Again, I told KDP what I was doing and why and they approved. No being banned, no problems.
(5) BUT my real full name and bank info are the same on both accounts in the payment and tax section.


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## CassieL (Aug 29, 2013)

Just to clarify, your KDP account and your Author Central account are two separate things.

Per the Amazon Terms of Service you should only have one KDP account where you upload all of your titles for all of your pen names and give your real life information for payment purposes.  As mentioned above, you just change the author name to reflect which pen name is publishing the title.

For Author Central, you can only have three pen names under a specific email address.  When you claim the first title for your second name under your Author Central account it will ask you if this is a pen name, you say yes, it assigns that book to the pen name and not your original name.  If you don't do that, I'd imagine it would put the book under the original name.  Once you hit your fourth pen name you need a new email address to use Author Central for that fourth name.


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## W.W. (Jun 27, 2011)

Ann Grant said:


> I have books under two names and two accounts, my real name and a pen name (which is my middle and last name).
> (1) When I set up the pen name, I added it to my real name's account. You're allowed 3 pen names under one account.
> (2) Amazon promptly mixed up the names and books on both accounts. A pen name book would appear with my real name and bio.
> (3) After a bunch of emails to KDP, I unpublished the pen name books, set up a new email and new account under the pen name, and republished the books under that account.
> ...


Ann, you must be talking about Author Central. There is no way KDP can mix up your books like that. YOU put the author name in the right spot, and it comes out just the way you entered it. Beware Nook Press, who "helpfully" auto-fills the author field with your legal name. You must type the pen name over it. But KDP doesn't do that.

A KDP account is a essentially a *PUBLISHER account. You, the publisher, can publish books through that account from many different authors (or pen names). You, the publisher enter the author and title information.

*I'm aware that big publishers and many traditional small houses have a different type of account, but I'm trying to keep it simple.


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## Ann Grant (Jul 16, 2015)

W.W. said:


> Ann, you must be talking about Author Central. There is no way KDP can mix up your books like that. YOU put the author name in the right spot, and it comes out just the way you entered it. Beware Nook Press, who "helpfully" auto-fills the author field with your legal name. You must type the pen name over it. But KDP doesn't do that.
> 
> A KDP account is a essentially a *PUBLISHER account. You, the publisher, can publish books through that account from many different authors (or pen names). You, the publisher enter the author and title information.
> 
> *I'm aware that big publishers and many traditional small houses have a different type of account, but I'm trying to keep it simple.


Nope, I put everything in the right places and the names and books were mixed together. I went around and around with KDP about it. They apologized, tried to fix it, and eventually I got tired of dealing with it, unpublished the pen name books, set up entirely separate accounts and emails, and published the books again. I've been doing this for five years now. This was the first time this kind of problem happened, but it was a complete headache.

My advice to the OP: people who have questions about pen names and different accounts should ask KDP. You will get the story from the horse's mouth, plus if anything goes wrong you will have their advice in writing.


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## W.W. (Jun 27, 2011)

Ann Grant said:


> I have books under two names and two accounts, my real name and a pen name (which is my middle and last name).
> (1) When I set up the pen name, I added it to my real name's account. You're allowed 3 pen names under one account.


Ann, this is why I think you're confusing KDP with Author Central. There is no limit to the number of author names you can publish through one KDP account. I exceeded 3 names a long time ago.

Your KDP account is linked to your social security number or a business ID number. The only way to have multiple KDP accounts is to formally create a business entity with the appropriate tax ID number. There is only one account allowed per ID or per Social Security number.

For any newbies reading this:
Author Central accounts can be created through any Amazon account by any author (even those who don't use KDP, like those with traditional publishers). It's essentially a way for you to add to your Amazon author page (the page you see when you click on an author's name on an Amazon product page). You can "add" books to your profile there so they'll show up as yours when readers check you out. But you don't publish them there. You just let Amazon know which books are yours through that account.

KDP is the account you use to actually publish the books, monitor sales, etc.


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## ancaiovita (Feb 13, 2016)

Did anybody here register their copyright with their pen names? 
I thought about using a pen name before publishing my first book, but my real name would have appeared in the copyright claimant section anyway so I gave up this idea. 
I notice many of you already published under a pen name - what was your experience regarding this aspect?


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## CassieL (Aug 29, 2013)

ancaiovita said:


> Did anybody here register their copyright with their pen names?
> I thought about using a pen name before publishing my first book, but my real name would have appeared in the copyright claimant section anyway so I gave up this idea.
> I notice many of you already published under a pen name - what was your experience regarding this aspect?


You can register your copyright under a pen name if you choose to register your copyright. The time period for the copyright is different if you do so, though.


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