Amazon

I have received a message from Amazon requiring me to verify my identity on pain of having my account at KDP (their publishing platform) closed.

They say:

To continue using Kindle Direct Publishing publishing features, we ask authors and publishers to verify their identity. This promotes safety and trust across Kindle Direct Publishing and Amazon, and may be required from time to time.

This is the first time such a requirement has been made of me.

The process involves photographing the front and rear of one of the following:

Passport

Driver’s license (sic)

National ID

Residency permit

I have no further wish to travel abroad, so my passport expired years ago; on medical grounds I have given up driving; as yet I am unaware that there is any such thing as a ‘National ID’; and since I am a native Englishman I do not need a residency permit.

KDP’s robotic help assistant informs me that a ‘human representative’ is available in case of difficulty but does not provide a way of contacting this creature.

I would pursue this matter if I could be bothered, but I can’t. Thus, as from 12 September (the arbitrary date supplied by Amazon), my books will probably not be available from its websites. From now on please patronise any of the other sites where my books are available. (Listed in the sidebar.)

Amazon’s practices have become increasingly high-handed and anti-competitive over the 14 years I have been selling books through them, and I can’t say that I’m sorry to see them in my rear-view mirror.