In what's being interpreted as a preemptive strike against Apple's tablet device, Amazon is offering a new royalty option for its Kindle platform under which authors and publishers can receive
70% of list price net of delivery costs. The goal, according to ZDNet's "Between the Lines blog, "is Amazon is getting a jump on any looming Kindle threat from Apple and a bevy of other companies
entering the e-reader race."
Amazon said that the 70% royalty option is in addition to an existing program for the Kindle Digital Text Platform, and will be available by the end of June.
If all goes according to plan, the royalty could placate publishers and authors who are worried about their revenue stream in the age of e-books. Still, as Between the Lines notes, the move could
raise concerns about Amazon getting too much control over the pricing of written works.