eBooks, Kindles, and the Digitization of the Industry

Jane Friedman, Publisher and Editorial Director of WD, Ryan Chapman, Internet Marketing Coordinator at MacMillan, Kirk Biglione, digital media consultant and publisher at Quartet Press, and Richard Curtis, a leading New York literary agent and founder of E-Reads discuss new digital opportunities.

If you sell your book to a traditional publisher, should you reserve your ebook rights?
Curtis: It's all but impossible to keep your ebook rights if you sign a traditional book deal. Not even nonexclusive rights. This isn't likely to change.

Issues with Amazon:

• Amazon has a huge backlog of titles to go on Kindle.
• Amazon isn't giving up sales numbers (so comparisons with print editions are difficult).
• The ranking system can be a subjective.

What kind of royalty can you expect with an ebook?
Curtis: The industry standard is about 25%. This isn't set in stone.
Chapman: Some genre publishers, like romance, may be higher—up to about 35%.

POSTED BY MELISSA HILL