Amazon Increases Kindle Revenue For Publishers

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As e-reader competition intensifies, Amazon is sweetening the deal for newspaper and magazine publishers to offer their content through the online retailer's Kindle digital reader.

Starting Dec. 1, publishers will take 70% of the revenue, minus delivery costs. Amazon did not say how much publishers make now, but the new terms represent a "larger share of revenue."

To qualify, publishers must agree to make their content available on all Kindle e-readers and software running on other devices, such as smartphones and tablets. Amazon offers its Kindle app for Apple's iPhone and iPad, Research In Motion's BlackBerry and smartphones running Google's Android operating system.

Amazon said the new terms do not apply to bloggers, because "existing terms are generally more advantageous for them."

In addition, Amazon on Monday made it easier to publish magazines and newspapers onto the Kindle. The retailer has introduced in beta software tools that will let publishers create an account, add content and preview Kindle formatting before making their titles available.

Amazon is seeking to boost its library of newspapers and magazines, as competition heats up heading into the holiday shopping season. Amazon's major competitors among e-reader makers include Barnes & Noble and Sony. In addition, e-reader manufacturers are feeling the pressure from makers of tablet-style computers, such as Samsung and Apple.

While magazines and newspapers are an important draw for e-readers, the bigger prize is digital books. Publishers will sell $966 million in e-books to consumers this year, nearly tripling, to almost $3 billion, by 2015, according to Forrester Research.

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