Quote:
Originally Posted by neilmarr
Hya SensualPoet: Don't be too mislead by Amazon's 'generosity'. That 30% sales commission applies only in the US, UK and Eire and last week extended to Canada. There's a whole wide world out there placing sales on which Amazon/Kindle still takes 65%.
That is much, much more than an author, artist, designer, technician and publisher will ever see from the sale of their title -- and, unlike the others -- pure profit.
I hope you don't seriously suggest that a desktop shopkeeper who privides nothing more than a tiny slot in a virtual library of shelves is worth a higher take than all a book's creators combined.
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What fraction of English language book sales are in US, UK, Eire, and Canada combined? My guess is more than 80% (perhaps even 90%). Also, Amazon seems to be increasing their 70% to author zone over time.
The Agency publishers seem to agree that 30% to the retailer is a reasonable fee. I do think that the 70% to the retailer option favors Amazon, but this is only 70% if Amazon sells at the list price. What Amazon seems to be saying with this price structure is that they actually prefer the 30% of sale price (with control of the sale price and other conditions) option.
Direct selling of ebooks is a new model for authors. It is much more risk for them up front (no advance, fixed costs for editing, cover image, etcetera) but with a greater potential return. I think it is a no brainer for established authors with a backlist that is out of print, and it might be best in the long term for newish authors who can afford to wait several years before making significant sales (i.e. can still produce new books without much money coming in initially from the existing ebooks).