IndependentPublishing.com’s Ask a Self-Publishing Expert column provides answers to reader questions. This month, our self-publishing expert, Sarah Kolb-Williams, answers a question from Khalid, who is trying to become the authorized representative of his deceased mother’s KDP account.
Here’s the email (lightly edited for length, clarity, and privacy):
To whom it may concern,
My name is Khalid. I am the biological son of ***** ****, the author of the book titled *** ****** *** *** *******. It’s just me and my sister. Our mother died 5 years ago, when I was 30 and my sister was 25. We were both just getting out on our own, so we never knew any details about the proceeds or sales figures, but now we’re wondering what happened to her royalties and how to manage her book listing. She published with BookSurge in 2005. How can we get this figured out?
Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you guys soon.
Sincerely,
Khalid
This is a tough situation, and our hearts go out to these siblings. To get to the bottom of this, let’s answer a few key questions
Where Is the Author’s Publisher Account?
BookSurge was later bought by CreateSpace, which was eventually folded into Amazon. This migration happened automatically, and authors’ books remained for sale and continued to earn them royalties during and after the transition.
Khalid’s mother would have been notified about all of this, of course. But even if she hadn’t seen the emails, her book is currently for sale via Amazon Prime and her book listing shows a “Read Sample” button—both signs that it’s connected to a live KDP account.
What Happened to the Royalties?
Have royalties been paid out over these last five years? And if so, where have those payouts been going?
Any Booksurge royalties would have automatically become CreateSpace royalties, and those royalties would have become KDP royalties. And ordinarily, there would be no reason to suspect that KDP has not been distributing them reliably.
But this is not a normal case. To track down her royalties, we need to know:
- Was her bank account ever closed?
- Is Khalid the legal owner of her accounts and intellectual property?
In the best-case scenario, the author listed her children as account beneficiaries or joint owners, and the bank account stayed open. In that case, royalty payments may have continued uninterrupted.
But if no beneficiaries were named and the bank account was closed, things get more complicated. In the US at least, the bank account would likely have gone through probate, and the estate executor would have overseen the distribution of funds and access to other accounts.
If payments were disrupted, KDP may still be holding on to those royalties, just waiting for someone with the legal authority to come and claim them.
It’s a complex and difficult situation, and without more knowledge of the details (or legal advice specific to this situation), it’s hard to say exactly what happened.
I believe Khalid’s best next step is to check with his mother’s estate executor to determine whether the will addressed the ownership of her intellectual property and what happened to her financial and online accounts.
How to Gain Control of a Deceased Author’s KDP Account
Whatever happened to the bank account or royalties until now, it’s not too late for this author’s children to claim her KDP account and ensure any unpaid or future royalties are distributed appropriately.
Here are my recommendations for Khalid and any author in a similar situation.
Step 1: Claim the Account
If you are a legal heir or successor claiming a deceased author’s KDP account, you’ll need to prove two things:
- That the author is deceased
- That you have the legal right to the author’s account
If you are able to provide this proof, here are the steps to take to claim the author’s KDP account:
- Log in to YOUR (separate) KDP account. If you don’t have one, you can create an account for free.
- Contact KDP by clicking “Help” at the top of your screen and then “Contact Us” at the very bottom left of your screen. Look for the “email us” button.
- Initiate an email with a brief explanation that the author is deceased. Include the ISBN of one of the author’s books for identification purposes (find this toward the bottom of the book listing).
- Attach:
- A copy of the death certificate.
- Documentation showing that you are the legal rights holder: will, executor, next-of-kin, etc.
If more information is required, KDP will send you an email.
Step 2: Verify Banking Information
Once you have access to the account, click “Your Account” at the very top of KDP. If a bank account is set up and payments are being made, you’ll see something like the following:
However, if the bank account was closed, follow the instructions to resolve any pending royalty payments. (And, of course, any concerns about past royalty payments should be directed to the estate executor.)
Step 3: Close or Merge Your KDP Account
Once you have access to the deceased author’s account, KDP can help you close it or merge it with your own.
IMPORTANT: When you close or merge a KDP account, you will lose access to the original account, including sales reports and tax documents. Before closing or merging an account, download backups of all documents for your records.
If you want to close the account, follow these steps:
- Unpublish any available books (from the bookshelf, click “…” next to the book, then “Unpublish”).
- Verify or update payment information so you can receive outstanding royalties.
- Contact KDP to authorize the account closure.
However, if you plan to continue managing the book and collecting royalties, you may prefer to merge the accounts rather than close the original. When a KDP account is merged into another, the published books from the old account remain active and are transferred to the new one.
If you want to merge the account with your own, here’s what to do:
- Log into the deceased person’s KDP account.
- Cancel any active Amazon Ads.
- Update bank account information if needed.
- Contact KDP (from the deceased person’s account) with the title and ISBN/ASIN of one book and request a merge.
We hope this helps anyone who finds themselves in similar circumstances, and we wish Khalid and his sister well as they honor their mother’s legacy.
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