HarperCollins is empowering their cadre of authors to sell eBooks directly with the advent of a new eCommerce platform. They can add a HarperCollins “buy” button to their site, which will take consumers to www.hc.com to complete their purchase, or they can integrate the HarperCollins shopping cart directly into their website. Additionally, authors can use social media to direct consumers to purchase their products from HarperCollins.
HC is adding mad incentives to authors participating in this program. They will earn an additional 10% net royalty on print, e-book, and physical audio products sold. As an example, authors earning a 25% net royalty will now receive a 35% net royalty on e-books sold through the HarperCollins platform.
“While our first priority is to sell books through as many different retail channels as possible, we are pleased to provide this platform for our authors who want to sell directly. Our authors can also be certain that their books will always be available to consumers through HarperCollins, even if they are difficult to find or experiencing shipping delays elsewhere,” said Brian Murray, President and CEO of HarperCollins Publishers. “Since we view this program as both a service to our authors and a partnership with them, those who participate will receive additional earnings.”
The e-commerce program will start in the U.S. and roll out to other HarperCollins divisions over the coming months. Royalties will be paid through the royalty system and will appear on an author’s royalty statement.
It will be interesting to see how other publishing companies gives incentives to their authors to sell eBooks directly on their own websites. Lots of self-publishing services like Smashwords and LULU all give authors a higher royalty rate when eBooks are sold on their site, as opposed to being distributed.
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.