September 2026, and I am Still Waiting

Dear my WA family (WAmily)!

Welcome to September 2026. As you might know, I'm in a dilemma with my Amazon KDP account. The account has been set to automatically be terminated/suspended permanently by the 5th of September. I tried all I can to write back after the 5-day period the KDP Support asked me to wait for from the 23rd of August through 29th August 2026.

That date came and went. I wrote back on the 31st of August 2026 (same message to Andy), asking if there is any other alternative to verify my account, or if I can assign/hand over my account to a friend. The last option here is only possible when the worse comes to worst, and ONLY if KDP allows it legally in a written form. I am also aware a friend will have to use their ID and face, and bank account must match those details. This means the royalties will be paid to them.

But...if this could save my 14+ years of hard work, that'd be better than losing all 155 books already published. It'll be good because people will still find the books, and my friend could receive the author royalties. Imagine when the books are deleted from Amazon. Think of broken links everywhere: email, social media posts, website pages, blog posts, and many other places where the links were shared.

By the 2nd of September, just yesterday, I got an update from yet another person from the KDP Support, asking for yet three more days to investigate the country dropdown menu issue. Are you sure someone worked on it and still need more time?

I don't have 3 more days. I have 2 days left before the system terminates/suspends my account, and I might not be able to log in anymore to start a new support ticket.

But I have also been busy and trying to get things done regardless of the pain this event is causing. One of these things is writing new articles on my website. I also tried to update my only one book on Draft2Digital/Smashwords. I'm also following up with South African Qualifications Authority on the certification of my bachelor's degree in theology.

I have seen traffic rise and fall, from the Google Site Kit side of things. I have also fixed the XML Sitemap setting issue what was breaking my links during a live class with Jay. This is work while waiting. Oh yes, my life can't wait for Amazon, can it?

I'm also working on my latest book, planning to print some copies locally/nationally in Nairobi, and joining national bookfairs to market it in person. This is a new adventure for me. But my ISBN hasn't arrived in over 2 days now as I write this. I ordered it online from Kenya National Library Service, KNLS. It seems someone has to manually process the order, and this might take a few days. I need this ISBN/barcode to print copies. I will then be the publisher, not Amazon.

While I wait, I must work.

As usual, I'm writing this to tell you that there are challenges in life and in business.

I'm aware you might not want to share your own current challenges here for several reasons. But I chose to share mine as it's part of my healing. I also believe sharing it can sometimes inspire you to try more than one option. And if you ever got into trouble, whether you blame yourself for it or not (if you're the cause), you should know you are not alone. People have different troubles to tackle.

If you are still with me, please share your thoughts, encouragements, and experiences/challenges in the comments below.

Love.

Share.

Learn.

Earn.

John