What Hugh Howey Won't Talk About (but Should). And Amazon is Not a Publisher! (Part I of Several Parts). A Quick Update
Hugh Howey has just posted up another stemwinder on his blog and some of it leaves you scratching your head.
He makes several points in favor of Amazon, but I'm afraid two of them are off the charts wrong. Here's the first.
+++ * Amazon pays roughly six times the royalty rate that Hachette pays. +++
As I've just pointed out, Amazon doesn't pay you a dime (or anyone else) in royalties. Amazon extracts margins from you in return for access to its electronic shelf.
+++ *Amazon allows me to retain ownership of my work, which means I can leave if conditions become unfavorable. Hachette is making it more difficult to reclaim the rights to one’s work. +++
This is off the point. Amazon never was a publisher and ownership of your book was never an issue. If you were published by Random House, because B&N sold your book didn't give them ownership of your book rights. That's something you fight out with publishers.
That's enough for now. Have a great weekend if you've read this.
He makes several points in favor of Amazon, but I'm afraid two of them are off the charts wrong. Here's the first.
+++ * Amazon pays roughly six times the royalty rate that Hachette pays. +++
As I've just pointed out, Amazon doesn't pay you a dime (or anyone else) in royalties. Amazon extracts margins from you in return for access to its electronic shelf.
+++ *Amazon allows me to retain ownership of my work, which means I can leave if conditions become unfavorable. Hachette is making it more difficult to reclaim the rights to one’s work. +++
This is off the point. Amazon never was a publisher and ownership of your book was never an issue. If you were published by Random House, because B&N sold your book didn't give them ownership of your book rights. That's something you fight out with publishers.
That's enough for now. Have a great weekend if you've read this.
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