AuthorAZ

Fake publisher offer

Publishing packages sold under Amazon's name

A company with "Amazon", "KDP" or "Kindle" in its name, or an Amazon-like logo, sells a paid package to publish your book on Amazon. Amazon's own publishing service is free and sells no packages, so whoever is charging you is not Amazon.

Verdict

Impersonation pattern

Reviewed 1 October 2026

Why it works

Most first-time authors know two things about self-publishing: that Amazon is where the readers are, and that publishing is complicated. A company that seems to be Amazon, and offers to handle the complicated part, answers both at once.

The branding does most of the work. Nobody has to claim outright to be Amazon if the name says "KDP" and the logo looks right. Sponsored search results do the rest: an author who searches for how to publish on Amazon can find one of these companies listed above Amazon's own page.

The one fact that defeats it

Amazon's self-publishing service is free. In Amazon's own words, KDP offers no fee-based services such as editing or book design.

So the test does not depend on spotting a bad logo or a strange domain. If you are being asked to pay to be published on Amazon, you are not dealing with Amazon. Everything else — the name, the testimonials, the urgency — stops mattering once that question is answered.

Amazon has taken this to court. In October 2023 it sued around twenty defendants it alleged were impersonating Amazon Publishing and KDP to take payment for services they did not deliver.

Paying for help is not the problem

Plenty of authors pay independent editors, cover designers and formatters, and should. The difference is that a legitimate provider sells under their own name, quotes for specific work, and leaves you to upload the finished book to KDP in your own account. What you are avoiding is someone who borrows Amazon's name to sell you access to a free service.

Red flags

  • The company name includes Amazon, KDP, Kindle or "Amazon Publishing", or the logo borrows Amazon's smile or colours.
  • It found you — by email, phone or a message saying it "discovered" your manuscript or book — or it appeared as a sponsored result above Amazon's own pages when you searched for how to publish on Amazon.
  • You are asked to pay to be published on Amazon. The starting price is modest; further fees follow for copyright registration, ISBNs, marketing, printing or a "premium" tier.
  • The same website appears under several different company names, often with identical testimonials.
  • Reviews on third-party review sites are uniformly five stars and read alike.
  • A deadline or a limited number of places is used to hurry the payment.

How to verify it yourself

  • Ask the single question that settles it — am I being asked to pay Amazon to publish? If yes, it is not Amazon.
  • Type kdp.amazon.com into the browser yourself rather than following a sponsored search result or a link in a message.
  • Compare the sender's domain with amazon.com. Anything else — an added word, a different ending, a hyphenated name — is not Amazon.
  • Search the company name alongside "Writer Beware" or "scam", and try each alias on the site.
  • If you are unsure, ask KDP through the Contact Us form inside your own account, which reaches a real KDP representative.

What legitimate outreach usually looks like

  • Amazon's self-publishing service is Kindle Direct Publishing, at kdp.amazon.com. It is free, and you upload the book yourself.
  • KDP does not sell editing, design or marketing packages. Independent editors and designers do, under their own names, and none of them is Amazon.
  • Amazon's traditional imprints work through literary agents and pay the author. They do not invoice authors.

What not to send or pay

  • Any payment for being published on Amazon, however it is described.
  • Your KDP or Amazon password, or access to your account.
  • Your manuscript, before you have confirmed who you are dealing with.
  • Card or full bank details by email or phone.

If you already replied

  • Stop further payments, including instalments already scheduled.
  • Contact your card issuer or bank about disputing the charges, and do it quickly — dispute windows are limited.
  • If you shared your Amazon or KDP login, change the password now and turn on two-step verification.
  • Check your KDP account for books or changes you did not make.
  • Keep every email, invoice and contract. Report the company to Amazon and, in the US, to the Federal Trade Commission.

Sources

Every factual claim above is drawn from these documents.

  1. Official help centre

    Account security and avoiding scams

    Amazon KDP

    Accessed 1 October 2026

    Amazon's own statement that KDP is free and offers no fee-based services such as editing or book design, and the list of genuine KDP domains.

  2. Secondary source

    Amazon Sues Scammers Targeting Authors

    Publishers Weekly

    Accessed 1 October 2026

    Reports Amazon's October 2023 lawsuit in the Northern District of California against around twenty defendants it alleges impersonated Amazon Publishing and KDP. An allegation in a filed suit, not a court finding.

  3. Secondary source

    How Scammers Are Using Amazon and Amazon Trademarks to Rip Writers Off

    Writer Beware

    Accessed 1 October 2026

    Victoria Strauss, 7 July 2023. Describes the outreach routes, the Amazon-lookalike branding, the escalating fees and the shared websites across aliases.

Related

Publishing Database

This page describes a pattern, not a party. It is not a legal finding about any individual sender or company, and a message resembling this pattern is not by itself proof of anything about whoever sent it. If you are unsure about a specific approach, verify it through the steps above rather than by replying.

All patterns