Amazon rolls out ID verification for KDP authors
The move touches publishing on the platform authors already depend on most, and the details are still thin
Here's the honest version: we don't have the specifics yet, and I'm not going to pretend we do. What we know is that Amazon is asking KDP authors to verify their identity, and that's the kind of change that sounds like housekeeping until it isn't. My advice this week is simple — don't ignore any KDP notice asking for ID, but also don't rush to hand over documents to anything that isn't the actual KDP dashboard. Scammers love a headline like this one.
Why it matters to you: Any identity requirement on the platform where most self-published authors earn their living is worth watching closely, even before the details are clear.
This story ran in the Coral Wire edition of Thu, Sep 24 2026, when the Coral Index stood at 37/100 (Headwinds).
Coverage — 1 source
Every outlet found reporting this story.
- Amazon KDP ID Verification: What Authors Need to Knowselfpub.substack.com
Also in this edition
- Amazon caps KDP authors at two new titles a weekPlatform — The limit applies per format, so the same book in ebook and paperback counts twice against your quota
- Authors describe Amazon KDP account terminations in reader roundupPlatform — Jane Friedman's site gathered author accounts of losing KDP access, with no dollar figures or resolution timeline attached.
- The Kookaburra sells into eight territories at onceMarket — a4 Literary landed the deal for Charlotte Guest's Allen & Unwin title across the US, UK and six more markets
- Spotify opens a direct audiobook publishing path for authorsWire — Written Word Media lays out the actual steps to get your audiobook live on Spotify without going through a middleman first
- Award-winning novelist accused of using AI to write his bookWire — Thélyson Orélien's win is now under a cloud, with no public detail yet on what evidence backs the accusation.
- Copycat scam books are landing right beside new releasesMarket — Knockoff titles are showing up close enough to real launch dates that shoppers are grabbing the wrong book first.
- OpenAI's own words call its LibGen use sketchy AFLegal — Unsealed court filings show OpenAI kept a "central library" of pirated books, echoing the same setup Anthropic already got caught for.
- KU payouts slip even as the broader economy growsMarket — Author Media flags a widening gap between overall economic growth and what Kindle Unlimited pays writers per page.