Back in the days of yore when books began, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…" getting your literary masterpiece published was ten fold more complicated then today when all you need is an internet connection and some time on your hands. Enter Amazon and eventually The Kindle. They didn't just kick open the doors they tore them off. If you write it you can publish it. If you publish it others can read it. Welcome to the 21st Century! Everyone stand up and celebrate. All 7 Billion of you.
Yes, there are a lot of people currently on this planet. The good news is many of them like to read. We'll call them the "Audience." The bad news? Many of them like to write. We'll call them the "Competition." So how do you beat back one to win the other? You work and work and work at it. You jump into Social Media and go on book tours. You hire PR firms and publicists. You fire them and hire better ones. You seek out bloggers and interviews and reviews. You spend time and money and sweat and tears all so you can sell your prose on Kindle for $0.99 and keep a whole 35% of the profit! Wait. What? To be fair you can sell it for $2.99 and keep 70% which definitely sounds better. But will the "Audience" amidst all the other "Competition" pay $2.99? It's absurd but it's something Amazon forces you to decide.
And by the way - why are they even keeping 30%? They have a service. You need that service. But they also need you. And the people selling coffee and vacuum cleaners and Grandma's old collectible Barbie set. Retailers have been taking percentages for years. It's how it's done. If a Bookstore carried your book they took a cut. Possibly even 30%. And yes, there was "Competition" but it was by a virtual handful as compared to what is offered on Amazon and it was from OTHER BOOKS! Not to mention you probably had a publisher behind you. The business has changed and opened up and with that comes great opportunity but also a lot of noise that you have to wade through. Amazon should make money for the service they are offering. But should that amount be between 30-65%? Authors not only have to write but also do their own marketing which can mean a fair bit of money out of pocket. If they're successful so to is Amazon. Maybe they could just let the one doing all the work keep a little more of the profit.
I agree 100%. Those doing the work do deserve a bigger cut, but with all the glut of books on the market it’s difficult for authors to even get the attention their work deserves. What’s your solution to stop us from spinning our wheels in a fruitless attempt to sell books? Most "authors" can't support themselves by writing, so what are our options? How can RHOVIT get us attention?
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