WSJ looks at the e-book pricing model set by Apple for their upcoming Tablet device and compares it with the Kindle.
Apple is asking publishers to set two e-book price points for hardcover best sellers: $12.99 and $14.99, with fewer titles offered at $9.99. In setting their own e-book prices, publishers would avoid the threat of heavy discounting. Apple would take a 30% cut of the book price, with publishers receiving the remaining 70%.
Amazon typically pays publishers about half of the cover price of a new hardcover book for e-book best sellers. For example, Sarah Palin’s recent memoir, “Going Rogue,” has a hardcover price of $28.99, which means the publisher likely received about $14.50 for the e-book edition. link.