Amazon is introducing a new payment system that will see some authors being paid based on how many pages a customer has read.
Normally an author gets paid based on how many books have been sold, but as of July 1 Amazon is trying out a more granular system.
Amazon’s idea is that authors will be paid according to the number of pages a customer reads. However, the scope of this new system will be quite limited to start with.
Initially, the pay-per-page system will only apply to some authors whose work is available through the Amazon Lending Library and Kindle Unlimited subscription-based services.
Even then, it seems only authors enrolled in the Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing Select programme will be hit with the new system – not those belonging to major publishers.
The aforementioned Lending Library and Kindle Unlimited services divide a pool of subscription cash between KDP authors on a monthly basis. Now those payments will be based on how many pages of an author’s books have been read rather than how many books have been bought or borrowed.
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We know what you’re thinking. This will lead to cunning authors bumping up the font size and increasing the margins, right? Amazon is way ahead of you (and them).
The Kindle Edition Normalized Page Count is a new standard template that defines just what constitutes a page in this new payment system. The system also takes into account how long a person lingers on the page, with quick flicks not counting.
However, it’s worth noting that images, charts, and graphs will count here, so we might see the number of illustrations creeping up.