Scammers are increasingly exploiting Amazon's platform and trademarks, posing significant risks to writers and publishers. At the Bureau of Publishing Protection Department, we're dedicated to safeguarding your rights and ensuring a fair marketplace.
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Report a scamIn the past year or so, I’ve noticed an upsurge in scams that employ the Amazon name, or the names of Amazon trademarks, to try and trick hopeful writers into believing they are working with a company affiliated with Amazon, or even with Amazon itself.
As is common with scams these days, many of these questions come from writers who’ve been solicited via email or phone (you can see one such story here)–but also from writers looking to self-publish, who googled “self publishing” or “Amazon self-publishing” or “KDP publishing” or a similar search term.
Right at the top of such searches are sponsored links purchased by Amazon fakers. For example, here’s what came up for a search on “Amazon Kindle publishing”:
All four sponsored links are scams (see the list at the bottom of this post). The real Amazon KDP is down there at #5.
Some Amazon fakers use Amazon-ish logos, the better to further the illusion.
Others simply rely on the power of including “Amazon” or “KDP” in their names. Some include disclaimers indicating that they’re not actually affiliated with Amazon–but many don’t, and for those that do, it’s down at the bottom of their sites where it is easy to miss.
Although the proliferation of Amazon-named scams is relatively new, the type of operation they represent has been around for some time: these are all ghostwriting scams, similar to those I discuss in detail here. Ghostwriting scams sell ghostwriting services, but also editing, formatting, publishing, marketing, design, and more, and aggressively market themselves to writers who are looking to self-publish or searching for services associated with self-publishing.
Another hallmark of ghostwriting scams: doing business under multiple names. For example, Amazon Digital Publications also does business as Pioneer Book Writers (their websites are identical).
Amazon Publishing Partners and Amazon Publishing Forum also have identical websites. Ditto for Amazon Global Publishing and Amazon Publication House. Amazon Publishing Associate, Worldwide Book Publishing, and Book Publishing Services share web content and formatting. And Amazon Publishing Pros shares text and “portfolio” items with Kindle Publishers Inc., Savvy Book Marketing, and Infinix Digital…ghostwriting scams all.
Another hallmark of ghostwriting scams: doing business under multiple names. For example, Amazon Digital Publications also does business as Pioneer Book Writers (their websites are identical).
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