I would sincerely doubt any reduction in author's royalty at Amazon. The author's royalty is a set percentage of the cover price, by contract with the publisher, is it not? Until a book goes Out of Print and is remaindered, at least. The retailer's markup is a healthy one, and I bet that Amazon purchases directly from the publisher, so there's no middleman (jobber, wholesaler) to pay, either, and I would bet that is what permits Amazon to offer a discount, to start with. At 01:19 AM 6/29/2006, A.S. Zanoni wrote: >This is the first I've heard of this. I know of authors who feel >understandably uncomfortable with Amazon's policy of advertising >cheaper, used copies of a book on the same page as new copies, and >I've heard from other authors that books sold through Amazon get >marked up substantially; but I've never heard any suggestion that >author's royalties get marked down. SF author Jerry Pournelle's >booklist links to Amazon >(http://www.jerrypournelle.com/reviews/books.htm), and one of his >major foreign correspondents (Francis Hamit) writes occasionally about >his experiences selling Amazon shorts, and neither has ever mentioned >that an Amazon sale pays any less than any other chain. If true, it >would be a bit alarming to those of us who are interested in making >sure the bard gets paid. > >-Max Wilson > >------------------------------ > >By all means, make sure the bard gets paid, I pray you. It's much >appreciated. > >Ghost-written works are never the same. Unless there's a new rule >for ghost-possessed keyboards.... maybe there is. Ahem. > >In all seriousness, if anyone does find out about royalty markdown, >please post it. I never heard of it either - but assuredly, what I >have not heard of varies from what others have not heard of. > >Thanks. > >*--- > >--- >A.S. Zanoni >Personal Assistant to Steven Brust > >Steven's Travel & Event Schedule: >http://www.angelfire.com/fang/dreamcafe_chica -- Regards, Pete pgranzeau at cox.net