Cory Doctorow focuses on author Andrew Hyde, who recently “wrote and self-published a great-looking travel book†via the usual ebook retail channels but later experienced “sticker-shock†after learning that Amazon was charging huge fees to deliver the ebook to customers.
Amazon’s total fees ate away almost a third of Hyde’s royalty: The book retails on Amazon for $9.99, and under the 70% percent royalty plan Hyde imagined he would get $7. But Amazon charges $2.58 per download to deliver the ebook, with the author’s royalty being calculated on what’s left after the delivery fee is deducted.
