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I'm sorry that you're taken in by Amazon, Koland. It is not by any stretch of the imagination a 'publisher'. It provides a retail platform only and offers zero editorial, design or promotional input in its GIGO (garbage in, garbage out) system.
It is merely cashing in on the self-publishing boom in the same way it did when it bought BookSurge to produce PoD paperbacks a couple of years ago and withdrew books by independent authors and many publishers who used outside printers like Lightning Source.
No way in a million years does a company offering a mere upload service to authors or small publishers merit a penal 65% of the cover price.
You mention Smashwords. They take only 18% ... and that's after converting books to all digital formats. Of course, retail commission to outside retailers is also taken into account. But my ten-year experience with online stores (including Amazon) is that we can keep commissions on paperback and ebook around the 25% mark.
Just for interest, my own small independent house -- which often has a book in professional edit for a full year, contracts pro cover artists and designers and proof readers, and which handles all costs, legal and administrative, library placement, and goes all out on promotion and marketing gives authors a royalty of 45% on ebooks.
If the term 'publisher' must now be used so loosely as to include packagers and retailers, Koland, let me ask you this: If your local supermarket sells you a can of carrots from its shelves with its own logo on the wrapper does that make the shop a farm and the manager a farmer?
Neil
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