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Just to throw another opinion in on the 30 percent Amazon takes...I have to say they are probably worth it. The value add is the eyeballs. Right now they (and Apple) have a huge number of eyeballs and search engines and tools (such as the those who bought this also bought.)
I don't think any other retailer competes with that. Now, I'd like to say they don't deserve it, but before they came along with their offer of 35 percent--there was NO competition for publishers. There was NO efficient way for an author to offer her backlist. NONE. And if the author wanted to go to the trouble of reprinting it herself, the upfront costs had to be made back. If the author found a publisher to reprint, that author wasn't going to get 1. eyeballs easily and 2. even 35 percent.
That is not to say I think Amazon rules all and is the wonder of the ages. Right now they are in a VERY lucrative position that is a positive for authors. Several other retailers decided that 70 percent was TOO MUCH to give to authors--and they offer 60 or 60...or even 50 percent. None of those sites get the traffic of Amazon at this point. Will that change? Sure. But right now, that 70 percent happens to be the most generous in the industry--for the most bang for the author's effort.
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