4 ms·

Am I the only one who read this and though, well that's sad for the author, but isn't Amazon asking for too much in general? I mean, we're talking about e-books

by jxcole 15y ago

Am I the only one who read this and though, well that's sad for the author, but isn't Amazon asking for too much in general? I mean, we're talking about e-books. I imagine I could probably make an online bookstore that sells ebooks and gives the author 75% of the selling price. Amazon is taking $5.99 and offering him 35 or 70 cents. I fail to see how it could remain in business with the relative ease with which you could make a competitor.

dminor 15y ago
They're offering 35% or 70%, not 35 or 70 cents.
- jobu 15y ago
  35% is a terrible rate for an ebook. You can only get %70 if you charge more than $2.99 and opt-in to Kindle Lending. Does that mean that authors don't get anything for books read through Kindle Lending? That seems terrible if true. Kindle Lending is the reason I finally signed up for Amazon Prime, and I would expect authors to get a cut of that revenue.
  - SoftwareMaven 15y ago
    Authors get nothing for books lent through the library and people have been OK with that for a long time. A book still has to be purchased.
    - alttag 15y ago
      Libraries purchase physical copies of books (often at higher prices to get a sturdier binding). For popular books, libraries purchase multiple copies, some of which get lost or damaged, and must be replaced. In other words,authors still see some income from libraries. With Kindle Lending, there is no substantive gain for authors.
      - Natsu 15y ago
        > With Kindle Lending, there is no substantive gain for authors. They gain access to readers who won't put up with being forbidden to lend someone a book.
      - dminor 15y ago
        Presumably one must buy the book before it can be lent. People may ascribe a higher value to a lendable book, or be more likely to purchase in the first place.
        alttag 15y ago
        Not as part of the Kindle Lending library available to Prime users, no.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
3am 15y ago
That's incredible, is that really what the revenue split with Amazon looks like? I'm familiar with Lulu.com, and their standard ebook split gives 80% after the first $0.99 to the author. They even have a special going on right now giving 90%. (http://www.lulu.com/publish/ebooks/?cid=nav_ebks http://www.lulu.com/publish/ebooks/?cid=nav_ebks) Granted you could argue that getting distribution on Amazon and all the Kindle owners is worth the difference. That's what makes it difficult to build a competitor. You could easily make an auction site, but the network effect of eBay is what sets it apart, not the features or pricing.

by jxcole 15y ago

dminor 15y ago

They're offering 35% or 70%, not 35 or 70 cents.

jobu 15y ago
35% is a terrible rate for an ebook. You can only get %70 if you charge more than $2.99 and opt-in to Kindle Lending. Does that mean that authors don't get anything for books read through Kindle Lending? That seems terrible if true. Kindle Lending is the reason I finally signed up for Amazon Prime, and I would expect authors to get a cut of that revenue.
- SoftwareMaven 15y ago
  Authors get nothing for books lent through the library and people have been OK with that for a long time. A book still has to be purchased.
  - alttag 15y ago
    Libraries purchase physical copies of books (often at higher prices to get a sturdier binding). For popular books, libraries purchase multiple copies, some of which get lost or damaged, and must be replaced. In other words,authors still see some income from libraries. With Kindle Lending, there is no substantive gain for authors.
    - Natsu 15y ago
      > With Kindle Lending, there is no substantive gain for authors. They gain access to readers who won't put up with being forbidden to lend someone a book.
    - dminor 15y ago
      Presumably one must buy the book before it can be lent. People may ascribe a higher value to a lendable book, or be more likely to purchase in the first place.
      - alttag 15y ago
        Not as part of the Kindle Lending library available to Prime users, no.

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

3am 15y ago

That's incredible, is that really what the revenue split with Amazon looks like? I'm familiar with Lulu.com, and their standard ebook split gives 80% after the first $0.99 to the author. They even have a special going on right now giving 90%. (http://www.lulu.com/publish/ebooks/?cid=nav_ebks http://www.lulu.com/publish/ebooks/?cid=nav_ebks) Granted you could argue that getting distribution on Amazon and all the Kindle owners is worth the difference. That's what makes it difficult to build a competitor. You could easily make an auction site, but the network effect of eBay is what sets it apart, not the features or pricing.