Written by Keri-Rae Barnum

Threatening emails from Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) have the author community abuzz with talk of how Walmart pricing is ruining indie authors. But, is it really?

Lately, New Shelves is getting questions and notes like this every week.

“Walmart discount pricing is killing me.”

“How can I possibly control what other people are selling my book for?”

“Do I have to choose between Amazon and Ingram Spark?”

While many authors have received these emails from KDP within the last 3-4 weeks, this isn’t a new issue.  In fact, I’ve been seeing these emails for months and they always seem to go out in clusters. (I would guess we have Amazon bots to thank for that.) A rash of emails go out and suddenly writing communities are flooded with panicked authors who think they need to raise their price on Ingram Spark or, even worse, remove their books from Ingram Spark all together. After all, wholesale opportunities are great, but the average indie author makes the majority of their sales on Amazon.com via KDP.

If you receive an email from KDP questioning your distribution through other channels, don’t panic.

Below is an email received by a New Shelves Client in January 2019. The email specifies that the author’s book was being offered for a lower price through a third-party distributor – specifically Walmart.

The immediate fear, of course, is that KDP is going to pull your book from distribution on Amazon. However, if you take a closer look at the wording of the letter, nowhere does it actually say that. They do say, “Our Member Agreement requires the Amazon list price to be equal to or less than prices provided to other distributors.”

The question authors need to ask themselves if they receive this letter is, “Is my book set at the same retail price across the board?”

For example, if your retail price on Ingram Spark is set at $14.99 with a 55% discount but you sell your book on Amazon for $16.99, you are in violation of the KDP Member Agreement. However, if your retail price is $14.99 on Ingram Spark and KDP you aren’t violating the terms of your agreement.

So, what gives? Why is KDP sending these emails out and why does Walmart always seem to be the third-party causing problems?

Any store or retailer can choose to discount your book at their own discretion.

For example, it’s common for a book on Amazon to be offered for slightly less than the retail price. Generally, this is made known with the price being marked through and the sale price being shown in red.

Walmart, on the other hand, does things differently. Rather than showing the retail and sale price, Walmart only shows the sale price of the book.

Can you do anything to avoid this issue? Not really. After hours spent on the phone with Walmart customer service and multiple email request, I can confidently say they have no plans to change the way they present pricing on their website. To call this an inconvenience for authors is an understatement but, unfortunately, it’s an inconvenience we’re going to have to live with.

Could KDP cease distribution of your book? Yes. Although, technically speaking and according to their terms of service, KDP is “entitled to terminate” your agreement and access to your KDP account at any time. They also reserve the right to “suspend your Program account at any time with or without notice to you, for any reason” in their discretion.

Will KDP cease distribution of your account? Probably not. As one author aptly noted, “They [KDP] would be cutting off their nose to spite their face.”

What should you do if you receive a compliance email from KDP? Fred Stuvek, the author in my example who received an email in January 2019, chose to respond with a snapshot of his retail price on Ingram and a letter stating that he was in compliance with the KDP terms of agreement to the best of his knowledge and ability. His KDP account was not suspended and his book, It Starts With You, is still being distributed to Amazon by KDP.

If you received a similar email, I would encourage you to take Fred’s lead.

• Ensure you have set the retail price of your book(s) the same for every distributor.
• Send a nice note back to KDP confirming that you are following their terms of service.
• Go about your merry way.

Don’t let these emails keep you up at night and don’t be bullied into removing distribution via Ingram Spark. As the British would say, “Keep calm and carry on.”