Amazon Kindle Sign Up for Non-US Self-Publishers

417XQ0XwQuL._SL300_

I have had quite a number of authors ask me about publishing their books using the Amazon Kindle digital platform. For US authors, it is a great option, but many authors outside the US are confused as to whether they can use it. For a time, I was also convinced that non-US citizens could not use it because they could not provide a US bank account and tax number.
Well, you can publish through Kindle from anywhere as long as you have an Amazon account. Go here, sign in, and then create a Kindle Direct Publishing account. When you come to the section about your address, fill it in manually, rather then using the auto prompts, and the sign up process will bypass the section for providing US tax information. You will then be assigned a publisher code and taken to the content upload section.  
Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta
Authors

5 Comments

  1. Malignant Carp said:

    The one caveat to being a non-US resident is the IRS policy on royalties, namely that they withhold 30% of all royalties to non-resident aliens until they can prove their alien status. Personally, I think that Amazon needs to call itself a distributer to get around this nonsense.

    To gain tax exemption, you need to fill out form W7 and submit it along with a notarized copy of your passport or other accepted identification and a signed document on the publisher’s letterhead explaining why an ITIN is necessary. That is to say that you need to get Amazon to send you such a document. I’ve heard from a few people who said it’s hard to get them to do so. Smashwords, on the other hand, offers it freely once you’ve made $10 worth of royalties.

    Once you’ve secured an ITIN, you can submit form W-8BEN to be given the tax exemption. Smashword’s royalty FAQ covers tax withholding quite well.

    Reply
  5. Elle said:

    Thanks for the info. Does anyone know where I can find a blank form w 8ben to fill out?

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Editor Cancel reply

*

Top