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The Horror of another Stephen King

Acclaimed author accuses Amazon of deceptively marketing the books of "some other" Stephen King as his own.

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The Horror of another Stephen King

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Will the real Stephen King please stand up?

In a post on his website this week, acclaimed horror writer Stephen King accuses Amazon of deceptively marketing the books of “some other” Stephen King as his own work for several years. The “Carrie” author points to eight titles listed on Amazon as authored by “Stephen King” and encourages fans (whom he refers to as Constant Readers) to demand a refund from Amazon if they purchased one of the books thinking it was written by him.

“As Amazon has failed to resolve this with only our requests, please drop them a line and let them know how you feel about their marketing of these books to you Constant Readers,” King writes.

The titles of the “other” Stephen King books that Amazon is selling include “Awaken,” “Grave Decisions,” and “Descendants.” About halfway down the Amazon listing for “Descendants” is a note that reads:

If you are looking for books by Stephen King, bestselling author of Doctor Sleep and The Shining, please visit his Author Page.

That author page ranks the acclaimed Stephen King third among horror authors in Kindle eBooks and sixteenth among all authors. In contrast, the only ranking for the lesser known Stephen King, who just also happens to write horror fiction, is 63rd in the genre in Kindle eBooks.

One tip for telling the two apart: The acclaimed Stephen King’s middle initial is E for Edwin; The other Stephen King’s middle initial is L for … something that begins with L.

Amazon did not respond to TINA.org’s request for comment.

UPDATE 10/17/16: In an update to the original post on his website, King says Amazon will be adding the lesser known Stephen King’s middle initial to all of his books going forward.

Find more of our coverage on Amazon here.


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