It's worked for musical artists. Make an exclusive deal with a large retail chain or music download service and count the money as the units move.
Book publishers have worried with the advent of electronic publishing and the rise of high-volume outlets that popular authors might cut them out and sign deals directly with the likes of Amazon.com.
Well, as a New York Times report points out, the day publishers has feared appears to have arrived with a best-selling business author, Stephen Covey, giving Amazon the exclusive e-book rights to two of his most popular titles, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and Principle-Centered Leadership. Mr. Covey chose to move the e-book rights for the titles from Simon & Schuster.
Mr. Covey's decision to go with Amazon was made easier by a royalty rate about double what he would normally receive if going through a publisher.
"This is the first time these books have been available in a digital format, and I'm happy to be able to offer them exclusively on Kindle," said Mr. Covey in a release put out by Amazon. "With so many readers using Kindle, this is a very effective way to reach people who want to easily download the books and begin reading them instantly."
According to a release, "Kindle customers can expect to see more books by Covey available for download exclusively in the Kindle Store in the future, including the soon-to-be-released Great Work, Great Career."
Discussion Questions: What does Amazon.com's deal with Stephen Covey mean for the future of book retailing? Has the balance of power shifted between publishers and retailers as it has in so many other product categories?