Why your EPUB works on Kindle but gets rejected by Google Play Books or Apple (Atticus Glitch)

Authors are experiencing increased rejections from Google Play Books and Apple Books, even when the same EPUB file is accepted by Amazon KDP. Formatting software, such as Atticus or Vellum, can be a significant cause, especially when using repeating headers. This software may generate identical Header IDs in the backend HTML, which Amazon KDP ignores. Google Play and Apple Books, operating on strict W3C standards, reject files with duplicate IDs, assuming a corrupted navigational map. The recommendation is to use EpubCheck to identify duplicate IDs and manually rename them in a code editor before uploading to other platforms. Validating files locally is crucial because KDP’s acceptance doesn’t guarantee clean code compliant with other retailers.

Authors getting their books rejected by Google Play and Apple Books, even though the exact same file sailed through Amazon KDP without any warning
When you export that file, the software often generates identical Header IDs in the backend HTML.
If their scanners see two identical IDs in your document, they assume the file’s navigational map is corrupted and will instantly reject the upload

📚 BookAddict’s Take: If you use Atticus or Vellum, be extra careful with repeating headers and always validate your EPUB files with EpubCheck before uploading to multiple platforms.

Source: Reddit r/selfpublish |
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