MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
January 28 – February 4, 2010 Edition Big-name Authors Ink Attractive Deals With Amazon
NEW YORK, NY/AUTHORLINK NEWS/January 28, 2010A steady stream of big-name authors are signing exclusive deals with Amazon.coms Kindle. The latest author (and first from the UK) to sign with Amazon is Booker Prize Winner Ian McEwan, according to The Bookseller. The deal, which reportedly will double McEwans royalties to 50% for five backlist titles, was secured through e-book publisher, Rosetta Books. Stephen Covey and Paulo Coelhoe also have signed similar deals at Amazon.
Amazon reportedly is promising 70% royalties to many authors who price their books at under $10 and guarantee that no other retail outlet will sell the title for less. Free-Kindle.com, a blog featuring fee Kindle eBooks, reviews and other information, makes the process appear simple, despite the technological hurdles of e-book conversion. Free-Kindle claims the author simply creates an e-book version, uploads it to Amazon, and the giant retailer does the rest– including marketing and much of the accounting. Self-published authors may also earn 70% if they guarantee no other outlet will sell for less, the blog declares.
The blog states that authors no longer need publishers and distributors because of Amazons and Apples dominance in the market. Amazon reportedly has more than 60% of the eReader market and as much as 90% of the e-books market.
Meanwhile, the Society of Authors, representing about 8,500 British authors, is lobbying for authors to receive as much as 75% in royalties from e-book sales from all retailers. One British publisher estimates that half of all book sales will come from e-books by the year 2020.
