Quote:
Originally Posted by koland
Amazon DTP is the publisher, Amazon.com is the retailer. It does seem that they are the same, but they are not. These are publishing contracts with individual authors, not with publishing houses (which they also do and authors end up getting 5-15%, depending on their pull with the publisher). The very low rates paid by most publishers is one reason that RosettaBooks formed, to publish only ebooks and well published authors with a backlist. Other than Smashwords (which gets you into the Kindle store with a 42.5% rate, as well as into the Sony and B&N and Kobo stores, although most authors say they aren't selling many thru them, yet), Rosetta is probably the one one paying higher than Amazon DTP. Publishing on your own will get you a higher cut (100%), but not the exposure or sales (since Amazon at this point is accounting for 90% of all ebook sales).
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As an author myself, I can tell you that Amazon 'exposure' counts for absolutely nothing in the sales department. Their contract is terrible regardless of whether what services they provide or whether they can be considered an 'e-publisher'. 65% of the cover price is almost in the area of print on demand, not bloody
ebooks.
At the end of the day, sales through Amazon don't count as extra sales that you wouldn't have had otherwise. They're sales to people who already know about your product and want it, going through Amazon for convenience's sake. Simply listing on Amazon is not some magical font of sales like people believe. This is a rip-off, and you shouldn't be defending Amazon when you don't know how it works.
Regards,
Ryan