After the recent announcement that Kindle Direct Publishing has launched in India, yesterday there was even more good news for Indian Ebook publishers! Amazon has included Indian Ebook sales in the list of markets that qualify for 70% royalty, subject to some extra requirements.
If you’re familiar with selling on Amazon Kindle, you will already know that there are two levels of royalty depending on the circumstances of the sale. In simple terms: books priced below $2.99 will earn you 35% royalty. Books priced higher than that AND sold in a select number of countries could earn you 70% royalty.
The countries that qualify for this used to be only :
• Andorra
• Austria
• Belgium
• Canada
• France
• Great Britain
• Guernsey
• Germany
• Italy
• Isle of Man
• Jersey
• Lichtenstein
• Luxembourg
• Monaco
• San Marino
• Switzerland
• Spain
• United States
• Vatican City
But now India has been added to the list provided you have enrolled the book in KDP Select (meaning you’ve agreed to only sell your book via Amazon Kindle, and none of the other ebook marketplaces). Although this isn’t a perfect arrangement because not everyone wishes to opt for KDP Select, it is still a step up from how the situation used to be. Add that to the recent launch of KDP India (meaning you can set pricing as well as receive royalty payments in INR if you wish), it is a promising move in the right direction.
Ebooks are becoming bigger business all the time and it is very encouraging to see Amazon take the lead in recognising India as an emerging market when most other Ebook platforms don’t acknowledge it at all.
