Authors and publishers of 'bargain' books available for viewing on Amazon's Kindle e-reader are to get a greater share of the royalties from each sale.

The new agreement, which will be effective from June 30, will reward the author and publisher of every book contained in the e-retailer’s discount books programme with 70 per cent of each book’s list price, net of delivery costs.

The reward structure will apply to books retailing for between US$2.99 and US$9.99 (GBP1.83-6.13) on the starting date. The higher royalty rate will only be paid on sales of ‘virtual’ books whose list price is at least 20 per cent less than the lowest listed price for the paper version of the same book.

The Amazon Kindle e-reader has been a big best-seller for the e-retailer, and was one of the most popular gifts of Christmas 2009 in the US. However, it faces tough competition from similar devices being marketed by Sony and US trade bookseller Barnes & Noble.

Authors typically get between seven and 15 per cent of the list price for their physical books, or 25 per cent of the net proceeds publishers get from retailers for their digital books, Russ Grandinetti, vice president of Kindle Content, said.

The statement did not specify what the current royalty rates are for books targeted by Amazon’s new programme.

But technology and telecoms experts at ITProPortal said the deal could have wider, worldwide consequences for the book trade, in potentially heralding the end of staggered release dates for books in different countries. “Publishers will have to make the books available worldwide or face being kicked out (of the Kindle programme)”, said Desire Athow, a T&T specialist for the website.

It is also believed that only books currently sold in the UK, still in copyright and out of the public domain will be covered. Publishers wishing to take part in the programme are also expected to have to ensure that they support Kindle-only features, such as text to speech functionality.