Google Play Books is changing their commission structure for publishers and self-published authors. The ebook revenue split has been increased to 70% in 60+ countries. For many publishers, this new revenue split has already gone into effect. Publishers that did not accept our updated Terms of Service (ToS) from June 2019 will need to log into their Partner Account and accept the updated ToS. If these publishers do not log in to their Partner Account and accept the new ToS, their revenue split will not increase to 70%.
Previously, publishers who priced their books within certain price bands (ex. $2.99-$9.99 USD) in the US, Canada, and Australia could earn 70% of the list price on ebooks sold in those three countries. Publishers would earn 52% of the list price on ebooks sold in all other countries. Google has basically removed the list price requirement and expanded the 70% revenue split.
A few years ago Google shut down their publishing center, due to rampant piracy. They only manually accepted publishing companies and this dissuaded pirates, that would simply retitle a book, and sell it below the list price. This happened to major titles, like Harry Potter, 50 Shades of Grey and the Hunger Games. Google was able to curb piracy and is now accepting new signups.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.