Orson Scott Card Finds Kindle's Royalties Laughable But Not Funny

"So where, Amazon, is the incentive for authors to allow their books to be sold for the Kindle? The economics need to change, and soon."

That's the bottom line of Orson Scott Card's take on Amazon's royalty structure for Kindle sales. In a blog on Rhinotimes.com, Card casts a jaundiced eye on the imbalance between Amazon's profit per sale and the author's take-home pay.

Though traditional print publisher pay authors a modest royalty, Card is okay with it because the costs of printing, distributing and retailing hard copies is so high. "But with the Kindle and other electronic book systems" he points out, "nobody has to pay for unsold copies because none are ever printed. Nor does Amazon have to pay for rent or utilities for bookstores all over the country. They have exactly one bookstore, which is online, so when a book is "displayed" on the website, it is there on display for people all over the world to see it and buy it."

"I don't begrudge them their share," he says. "I begrudge them the obscene percentage they keep and the laughable share they give to the author."

(As a matter of disclosure, E-Reads pays a royalty of 50% of net receipts on e-book sales.)

Read Card's complete blog here.

RC