Okay, so before we get started, I should warn you this is rant-y and contains adult language.

Between this situation and #cockygate which you should check out, I’ve had one hell of a month. I’m not directly affected since I don’t have a “cocky” book, but if we’re trademarking titles now…? Holy shit.  What the hell? I’ll just trademark “biker” or “billionaire” or maybe “love”, how about that?

Yes, I’m kidding.  Anyway, let’s get started.

So, on April 23rd, I received a nasty gram from Amazon about my book, Black and White.

Hello,

We found that one or more books you’ve published don’t meet the KDP Select content guidelines. Books enrolled in KDP Select must be exclusive to Amazon in digital format during the entirety of their enrollment in the program.

Black and White: Black Star Security (ASIN:B07B6RRXBF) is available on: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/black-and-white/id1372791951?mt=11

You can copy and paste the entire URL above into your web browser to see where your books were found. You can also do an online search for your book(s) to discover where else it may be available.

In order for any book of yours to remain in the KDP Select program, we’ll need you to ensure that it is exclusive to Amazon within five days from the date of this email. If, after this five-day period, your book(s) is still not exclusive to Amazon, it will remain for sale on Amazon but will be removed from KDP Select. Upon its removal, your book(s) will no longer be eligible to earn a share of the KDP Select fund and any scheduled Kindle Countdown Deals or free promotions will be canceled.

Please note that continued violation of the program’s exclusivity requirement may result in the additional loss of KDP Select benefits, including participation in Kindle Unlimited and the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library (KOLL). To ensure KDP Select benefits are not revoked, please be sure that all of your KDP Select-enrolled books are exclusive to Amazon in digital format at the time of enrollment.

Check out this page to learn more about the KDP Select guidelines:

https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help?topicId=200798990#eligibility

You may reply to crm-exclusivity-compliance@amazon.com if you have any questions regarding this email or believe this decision has been made in error.

For all other KDP questions visit: kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/contact-us

Thank you for taking the time to ensure your book(s) meets the requirements of the program.

Best regards,

Amazon KDP

http://kdp.amazon.com

My favorite part of this? It’s a form letter and it ends with best fucking regards after dropping a bombshell on me. And I love how Amazon just assumes I did it, without asking.

So, yeah, I clicked the link and there was my book on Apple. It has since been taken down.

I’m still speechless. A fucking book pirate uploaded B&W and tried to make money off my work. It’s like somebody stealing your paycheck. That takes some balls. And stupidity. To upload a book, you have to give your information (SS#, name, DOB, etc.). Nothing like waving at Apple and saying “Hey! I committed a crime and here’s my name and address…”

It can take one to two weeks for a book to be uploaded to Apple.  Since my book was ready to go on Apple on April 16th, I’ve got a pirate on my ARC list.

My Solution

I’ve taken measures to protect my ARC by defacing it. I’m going apologize in advance to everyone, because it’s going to make the book annoying to read. I don’t have much choice though.

Okay, end of rant. Thanks for listening to me vent.

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