Amazon Offers Kindle Authors Whopping 70% Royalty

In a bid to boost its ebook business, Amazon is now offering authors and publishers 70% of every sale of a title for the Kindle. The move more than quadruples the standard royalty of 15% or less, to put more in writers' pockets even as the price of their books drops. Amazon’s deal only applies to ebooks listed for $9.99 or less, offered at or below the price of offerings on other e-readers, and at least 20% below that of any physical copy.

Amazon estimates that the writer of an $8.99 book would make $6.25 compared to $3.15. Henry Blodget calls the move brilliant, using writers to pressure publishers to accept the new format and the lower prices. Any ebook under the deal must also be available in all markets where the author or publisher has rights, he notes in Business Insider, an end-run around regional haggling common in the publishing industry. (More Amazon.com stories.)