[Fabe]

I am trying to select an Apple iBookstore Aggregator for my ebooks. Currently my books are on Amazon, but I would also like to have them available in Apple's iBookstore.

A $500 minimum monthly remittance threshold appears common among the aggregators. While I wish my books sold that much per month, they do not. E-books, which sell for much less, generate less monthly income. Amazon's threshold is $20 per month.

Why can Amazon do this for $20 and long established book distributors cannot? I attribute this to old vs. new accounting procedures. Amazon is a highly computerized company creating transactions for the electronic age. The old book distributors are mentally still in the typewriter/mail era, despite their investment in computers.

The old book distributors policy of remittance 75 days after the last day of the month in which the purchase takes place, harkens back to the stagecoach era. Imagine this: you sell an e-book on January 1. Your remittance will be mailed to you on April 15. If your January total was less than $500, there will be no check at all.

Why put up with this hassle at all? Why not just stay with Amazon? Two reasons: first, Amazon pays 35% & Apple pays 60%; second, the Apple iBookstore will generate a large and loyal user base because of the iPad. I want my work easily available to that group.

Do you think the book distributor industry will change for the sake of the writing public? What experiences have you had along these lines?

I shall continue looking into my options. - Fabe