A Smashwords blog post reports Amazon slashing author payouts as Kindle Unlimited fails to impress India readers with the $9.99 monthly eBook subscription. The online retail giant is dropping the fee to $3 and taking the difference out of authors’ pockets.
With Amazon changing the deal again so soon after its summertime switch to pay-by-the-page, it looks like industry insiders were right about the Netflix for eBooks business model being a no-win scenario that only works if authors are kept in the poorhouse.
Will exclusive “select” Indies continue to underwrite the Kindle-maker’s global ambitions by taking a smaller “share,” or will they head for the nearest door?
Last I heard, there is still a professional eBook market out there that actually pays royalties to independent authors for each title sold.
