Publishers to Get More Revenue Share From Amazon's Kindle

Amazon will give magazine and newspaper publishers more of the revenue that it collects from the periodicals sold via the Kindle Store.

Amazon will increase the royalties to 70 percent beginning Dec. 1. Publishers previously received about 30 percent, though royalties varied by publisher. By making the royalty rate more attractive to publishers, Amazon is trying to encourage them to sell digital versions of their periodicals in the Kindle Store, perhaps at prices that are more attractive to readers. Amazon is betting that in the competition with other e-readers and e-book stores, the available reading materials rather than the devices themselves, will be most important to consumers. Readers of Kindle books -- and, soon, magazines and newspapers -- do not actually need to buy a Kindle to have access to the store's products. They can download free Kindle reading apps on their iPads, iPhones, Windows phones, Android phones, BlackBerrys or Windows or Mac computers. But, in exchange for being able to buy a publication once and read it anywhere, they must buy their reading material from Amazon. To qualify for the 70 percent royalty rate, publishers must agree to offer their periodicals on all Kindle devices and applications, and in all geographical areas where the publisher has rights.