Who wants yesterday's papers?
E-tail giant Amazon has announced new, more generous terms, for periodicals publishers selling their content through its Kindle e-reader.
From 1 December every newspaper or magazine sold via the Kindle Store will earn the publisher 70 percent of the retail price, net of delivery costs (I thought the whole point is that there aren't any delivery costs - Ed).
Some reports imply Amazon previously used to grab 70 percent of the price for itself, as well as keeping the names of subscribers to itself, so this is quite a turnaround. What's brought it on? Good old competition, of course. The past year has seen not only the introduction of the Apple iPad, but the birth of the Android tablet and a maturation of the e-reader market. Amazon just can't get away with charging over the odds anymore.
Amazon has also announced the beta release of the Kindle Publishing for Periodicals tool. This is designed to make it easier to publish periodicals on Kindle.
"We are constantly working at improving the Kindle magazine and newspaper experience for both customers and publishers," said Peter Larsen, director of Kindle Periodicals. "Building on the recent introduction of Wi-Fi-enabled Kindles and the upcoming availability of newspapers and magazines on Kindle Apps, we're pleased to add an increased revenue share and a great new tool for making Kindle better and easier than ever for publishers."
