Support for Indie Authors discussion

Hi there...
I've been having an issue with unpaid royalties ever since Amazon forced the transition of my CreateSpace books over to KDP... I'm wondering if anyone else is having similar problems?

Basically, on CreateSpace I chose to be paid by check, so there was a min. threshold of $100 before I would get a payout. When my books were transitioned last Nov/Dec, I was in the middle of reaching that threshold and basically $47 in royalties were left in my now non-existent CreateSpace account. I was hoping they'd move over too, and I can see them on my history, but the money has never been paid out. I've contacted Amazon 4 times since Dec and they keep putting me off telling me to expect the payment, first at the end of the year, then the end of Jan, then the end of Mar. As of today, still no payment. I'm getting my other current royalties, but not the backpay.

Has anyone else lost money through this transition? Has anyone had success filing a complaint? I keep contacting Amazon, but it appears I'm not being taken seriously. I'm now considering the BBB, but who knows if that will work. I just wanted to put this story out there in case there was someone in a similar situation who might be losing out on some money. I know $47 isn't a ton in the publishing world, but if Amazon was doing this to a large group of indie authors, that might add up. I don't want to violate any rules against Amazon, but maybe this post will get the proper attention?

I'm in the same boat. Royalties accumulated in CS but not enough to reach the threshold for payment. I can see the sales and royalties in Amazon looking in the history. I contacted them before Christmas and they said there would be a payment "in a few months". Somewhere else on another thread I read it was to be at the end of April. So far, the message is consistent so it's wait and see.

Thing is, I can't see how they can justify doing anything other than paying out. Any new paperback sales will now fall under the new terms and so get paid out at the end of the following month like other Amazon royalties, regardless of the amount. So there is no mechanism now to bring your legacy royalties up to the old CS threshold.

I’m glad I’m not the only one! When I wrote today, they blamed the delay on a software glitch. It’s getting old though. I hope others aren’t overlooking this and missing out on some of their royalties.

Amy wrote: "Hi there...
I've been having an issue with unpaid royalties ever since Amazon forced the transition of my CreateSpace books over to KDP... I'm wondering if anyone else is having similar problems?
..."

It's good that you put it out there so other people can see. If it happens to a significatn amount of people then maybe together, we can do something. I'm new in KDP and are owed no royalties as yet, but I appreciate the information.

I switched over early this year, but have been receiving royalty checks as though I were still with CS. Royalties always had at least three months delay in being paid, so perhaps when that period has expired, you'll receive the balance owed.

Angela wrote: "I switched over early this year, but have been receiving royalty checks as though I were still with CS. Royalties always had at least three months delay in being paid, so perhaps when that period h..."

I was planning to move my books over from CS to KDP at the beginning of 2019, but as I was preparing for a book launch on CS last November, KDP forced my books over. It really threw me through a loop for my launch, and about a week later I couldn't even access my CS account, including my balance of royalties. (I am getting my current KDP royalties at the end of every month though, just not anything from my CS balance).

So since the forced transition it's now been over 4 months, plenty of time for them to payout. Now that I'm on KDP I have automatic deposits, so that should speed up the process. Not to mention every time I contact Amazon they keep making excuses about computer glitches. The fact of the matter is that it's been long enough and I should've had this payout by now. I doubt I'm the only one.

To anyone who isn't sure if you're missing out on royalties, you can find them under the Prior Months' Royalties tab of your KDP dashboard. The Royalties are broken up into categories with CreateSpace (US, UK, DE, and JP). Then you can compare the royalties against what you've been paid under the payment's tab and filtering the marketplace to the CreateSpace marketplaces. (The farthest left filter) If those numbers don't match, you might be missing royalties, depending on when you transitioned.

Just wanted to report a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. I used CS since 2014, but never earned enough in any one currency to trigger a payment.

I moved over to Amazon last August, on the basis that it was coming anyway so may as well get it over with, and hopefully get any problems sorted out before they got swamped with the big migration of stragglers.

I have just checked my Amazon reports and can see a payment in the works from my 2014/2015 paperback sales in GBP. Not much, most of my sales were in USD, but it's a sign that they've sorted out whatever issues they were having. Here's hoping the USD royalties will follow soon.

Follow up to this, the USD royalties from CreateSpace got paid this week. I also received an email from Amazon KDP yesterday explaining the process. However, it sounds like this only applies if you get paid by direct deposit. If you get paid by check/wire you still need to accumulate the minimum threshold. Direct deposit payments have no threshold.

Hope everyone else who was waiting has also been contacted about this.

Other Ian wrote: "Direct deposit payments have no threshold."

They do if you live in New Zealand. I get paid by direct deposit, and have to earn $100 US or £100 to get a transfer from Amazon. Selling is some miscellaneous Amazons is merely a gift because I shall never get the $100 equivalent, at least at current sales there, which for some of them amount to one per year. :-(