Amazon Publishing Prime

Amazon Publishing Prime Review: A Painful Scam for Aspiring Authors

If you're an aspiring author, especially one driven by passion and creativity, beware of Amazon Publishing Prime and similar companies falsely claiming affiliation with Amazon. These entities are not part of Amazon or Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), and their practices have been widely flagged as fraudulent, coercive, and exploitative 1 2.

What Makes It a Scam? False Branding: They use Amazons name, logo, and colors to appear legitimate, but they are not affiliated with Amazon in any way 1 3. Aggressive Upselling: After initial engagement, they continuously push paid serviceswebsites, marketing packages, SEO, social media blitzesnone of which are necessary for publishing on KDP 1 4. Pressure Tactics: Authors report being bullied and manipulated into buying services they didnt ask for, often under the threat of delays or cancellation 5.

Poor Deliverables: Many users received low-quality content, missed deadlines, and unprofessional communication 6. No Transparency: Contracts are vague or never returned, and customer service is evasive or non-existent 5. Impact on Authors

Its heartbreaking to see young creatives and passionate writers being fleeced. What should be a joyful journey of publishing becomes a nightmare of financial loss and emotional distress.

Some authors have lost thousands of dollars, had their books mishandled, or even had their royalties withheld 7. Amazons Official Position

Amazon has explicitly warned against these impersonators. Publishing with KDP is free, and Amazon does not offer paid publishing services 8 9. If a company asks for money upfront and claims to be Amazon, its a scam.

--- Final Verdict: Stay Away

Amazon Publishing Prime is not Amazon.

Its a predatory operation that exploits authors dreams for profit. If youre considering publishing, use KDP directly via kdp.amazon.com and avoid third-party services unless thoroughly vetted.

This started in late November when I was getting ready to publish my last novel on Amazon. The last two I published with them some years ago were getting really bad in their proofs so I was prepared for more decline.

I went to Amazon/Books/Printing and clicked on. Immediately there was a response from a Texas phone number. Callers were fast talkers, and I figured Amazon had hit rock bottom when they wanted money up front. At the beginning of December I finally gave them half ($350) for a complete book printed for review before Christmas.

Christmas came and went. The calls started wanting the other half. I repeated that I was supposed to have a complete book before Christmas. Then they wanted to do a website, which was part of my long range plan.

I gave them half (175) in mid January. I got a cute thing of banners and guys working on cars, which I duly noted was all wrong. They said this is what we'll put stuff on as soon as you pay the other half.

At the end of January with a dozen childish attempts at giving me a proof, and no intelligent conversation about a site, I said I'm done. And all this time, adding to the intrigue, conversations were run through something called Basecamp.

I have been cheated and am disappointed.

I have been an Amazon customer for more than 30 years.

I cancelled a PBS video subscription a few weeks ago and was notified that my subscription would end on 4/23/25.

I have placed three calls to support.

The issue is that I was watching a series, with only the last episode to go. During the early evening of the 22nd, my subscription ended early, and I was not able to watch the final episode.

The agent on my first call on the 23rd said she would open a ticket for me.

The second agent on the 24th put me on hold for 41 minutes while she checked on it. Then the line dropped.

The third agent on the 24th said there was nothing she could do. I would need to have a subscription to watch this, and there was nothing she could do.

I was cheated.