In the I-want-it-now, fast paced environment brought about by the advent of digital publishing, one of the major frustrations that authors still face is the lag time involved in the traditional publishing industry. Slow-to-market publication dates and quarterly holds on royalty payments are just a couple of the reasons that even seasoned traditionally published authors are taking a closer look at their options.
Today, Amazon Publishing, the more traditional arm that oversees seven different genre-specific imprints, announced in a letter to literary agents that it would no longer force its authors to wait up to three months to receive royalty payments on a quarterly basis. By switching to a monthly payment schedule just like the one that self-published authors enjoy through Amazon’s own Kindle Direct Publishing, its authors will no longer feel the delay that the publisher seems to feel is artificial in the digital book era.
In the letter, Jeff Belle, Vice President of Amazon Publishing, explained:
“We’re particularly excited to tell you about upcoming changes to the way we pay royalties. In this digital age, we don’t see why authors should have to wait six months to be paid. Beginning with our March payment cycle, we will move to paying our authors on a monthly basis. More specifically: each month’s royalties will be released within 60 days of the end of that month, every month. For example, royalties for sales in January will be released by March 31, royalties for sales in February will be released by April 30, etc.”
The letter went on to discuss some other interesting news for 2013, mostly pertaining to the translated-works imprint Amazon Crossing and to Kindle Serials, the newly developed ongoing platform that allows authors and readers to interact with a story while it is still in the process of being published.
Mercy Pilkington is a Senior Editor for Good e-Reader. She is also the CEO and founder of a hybrid publishing and consulting company.