That's the failed promise of Amazon Unlimited though, isn't it? Authors get some sliver of the monthly $10 in exchange for having their books on the service, ac

That's the failed promise of Amazon Unlimited though, isn't it? Authors get some sliver of the monthly $10 in exchange for having their books on the service, according to how much they're read. If it cost readers $1,000/month and had enough customers then author's could collect real amounts of money and live off that. Unfortunately, the number of people who can even afford an extra $1,000/mo is small, never mind be willing to pay that. The other problem is a bit harder to solve though. Authors don't get paid by how much they're read, but by how many books people buy. There's a subtle difference between the two, and as the story about a large number of record owners not owning record players suggests, I might read book one of a series, get really excited about the rest of the series and buy them all. And then not read them. Maybe it balances out with readers passing one copy of a book around, but I doubt that. That might just have to be something author would have to face if Expensive Kindle Unlimited ever became a thing.