How I Spent Months Trying to Remove My Own Book After My Publishing Contract Expired!
Introduction
When I signed my publishing
agreement more than seven years ago with an Italian Publisher in Rome, I believed I understood how the process worked.
A publisher publishes a book.
The contract eventually expires.
The rights return to the author.
The book is removed from sale.
Simple.
At least, that is what I believed.
What followed instead was months of
emails, contradictory explanations, executive customer service teams, technical
investigations, unanswered questions, and one simple problem that nobody seemed
willing-or able-to solve.
Who is actually responsible for
removing a book after a publishing agreement has expired?
This article is not written out of
anger.
It is written because I believe
authors deserve transparency, and because I hope my experience may help others
avoid finding themselves in a similar situation.
Chapter 1
Seven
Years Later
My book Destinazione LibertĂ
was published by Armando Editore in Italy.
After more than seven years, the
publishing agreement expired in November 2025.
As the author, I expected the
process to be straightforward.
The contract had reached its end.
The rights reverted to me.
I naturally assumed that the
publisher would withdraw the book from distribution and that the various Amazon
marketplaces would update accordingly.
That did not happen.
Months later, my book was still
available for purchase.
Chapter 2
The
Beginning of a Very Long Conversation
My first emails were polite.
I contacted the publisher.
I contacted Amazon.
Initially, each side appeared to
point me toward the other.
Amazon repeatedly described the
matter as a dispute between author and publisher.
The publisher indicated that Amazon
was responsible for removing the listing.
Meanwhile, my book remained
available for purchase.
Chapter 3
Contradictory
Answers
Over the following weeks, I received
responses from multiple Amazon departments.
Some stated that the listing would
not be removed.
One email even informed me that the
book would no longer be made available for sale—only for Amazon to later
apologise and explain that the message had been sent in error.
Eventually my correspondence reached
Amazon Executive Customer Relations.
For the first time I received
replies from named representatives rather than anonymous template responses.
That was progress.
Unfortunately, the answers
themselves remained inconsistent.
Chapter 4
The
Publisher Responds
At the same time, Armando Editore
began responding more actively.
The publisher:
- confirmed that the publishing agreement had expired,
- provided royalty statements,
- transferred the outstanding royalties,
- repeatedly contacted Amazon regarding the listing,
- forwarded Amazon's replies to me.
One of those replies from Amazon
Advantage stated that my book had been removed from Amazon's system and that no
further new orders would be processed.
Yet when I checked Amazon.com.be...
The book was still there.
Still in stock.
Still sold directly by Amazon.
Still available to purchase.
Chapter 5
Amazon's
Final Position
Eventually, Amazon Executive Customer
Relations provided what appeared to be their final position.
According to Amazon:
The publisher is responsible for
initiating and completing the removal of the listing.
That statement seemed clear.
But it immediately raised another
question.
If the publisher had already
contacted Amazon, and Amazon itself had confirmed the withdrawal, why did the
listing remain active?
Even Amazon's own Seller Support
later explained that the matter had been escalated to a specialised technical
team.
At that point, the issue no longer
appeared to be a disagreement between author and publisher.
It appeared to have become a
technical problem inside Amazon's own catalogue systems.
Chapter 6
What
I Learned
This experience taught me several
lessons that I wish I had known years earlier.
Publishing
contracts do not always end cleanly.
The legal end of a contract does not
necessarily mean the practical end of distribution.
Keep
every email.
Every reply became part of an
important paper trail.
Document
everything.
Dates.
Screenshots.
Marketplace listings.
Promises.
Payments.
Without documentation, it becomes
almost impossible to reconstruct what happened.
Stay
professional.
There were moments when frustration
could easily have taken over.
Looking back, I am grateful that I
continued writing calmly and factually.
The documents speak much louder than
emotional language ever could.
Chapter 7
Why
I Am Sharing This Story
This article is not intended to
attack any individual or organisation.
Publishing is complex.
Large online marketplaces are
complex.
Technical systems are complex.
But authors deserve transparency.
When a publishing agreement expires,
there should be a clear and understandable process that protects both
publishers and authors.
My hope is that sharing this
experience encourages discussion about authors' rights, publishing
transparency, and the practical challenges that can arise long after a contract
has ended.
If my story helps even one author
navigate a similar situation more confidently, then sharing it will have been
worthwhile.
Status at the Time of Publication
Publishing agreement expired: November 2025
Outstanding royalties: Paid
Publisher: Confirmed repeated requests to Amazon to remove the
listing.
Amazon Executive Customer Relations: Confirmed that the publisher controls the listing.
Amazon Seller Support: Confirmed that the matter had been escalated to a
specialised technical team.
Current status: My copyrighted work is still ONLINE without my approval!
Final
Thoughts
This story is still being written.
If the listing is eventually
removed, I will gladly update this article to reflect that outcome.
Because the purpose of this article
is not to win an argument.
It is to document a journey.
A journey that began with one simple
expectation:
When a contract ends, a book should
no longer be sold under that contract.
Sometimes, however, reality proves
to be far more complicated.
