Generally I think of Kindle Nation citizens as being reasonably well-informed about what is going on in the world of ebooks, and all the more so when they are also authors. So I was a little taken aback when I received this email today from Kindle Nation citizen and author Tom:

Steve,
       This article is interesting.  The best thing for us small fry authors would be if Amazon would relent on their 65% take of sales and fall in line with the reported 30% take that Apple plans.  Do you know if Amazon has any plans to reduce its commission?

Thanks,

Tom

Well, not to put to fine a point on this, Tom, but someone hasn’t been paying attention!

Actually, I think it is pretty easy to lose the thread of what’s been going on, especially when the mainstream news media often seems to display the attention span of an heavily caffeinated third-grader in its coverage of these issues.

Actually, Amazon announced back on January 20, before there was any public coverage or attention paid to the Apple’s royalty plans, that it would soon begin paying a direct 70 percent royalty to “us small fry authors.” The story and its implications for authors, publishers, and readers was covered in detail in these two Kindle Nation Daily posts from January 20:

• Amazon Announces New 70% Royalty Option for Kindle Authors

•  With Kindle royalties about to be set at 70%, is it time to revisit bestselling novelist Anne Rice’s post: “Should major authors think about making Kindle (if possible) their primary publisher?”

 And here are a few more recent posts on this business, for those who want to follow along at home:

• About eBook Prices and Author Royalties: Price Elasticity and the Demand for Books

• The Ebook Revolution and the Indie Publishing Revolution: Readers and Writers Locking Arms with Comrade Bezos

• Amazon Builds Kindle Revolution with Guerilla Tactics vs. Conventional Warfare by Publishers and Competitors