Giant online retailer Amazon. com has announced a new royalty plan which offers authors and publishers more financial incentive, a move which looks to keep e-book prices under a controlled low, while allowing those who use the company's Kindle electronic reader platform to earn more for each book sold.

All authors and publishers who meet some previously set criteria will be entitled, under the new plan, to receive 70% of the work's list price as royalty, net of delivery costs, which comes to about an average of 6 cents per book. As per an example shared by Amazon itself, author of an $8.99 book, who meets the criteria of the new plan, would be entitled to receive $6.25, as opposed to the earlier royalty of $3.15 which would be received under the old plan.

All authors and publishers who wish to become a part of the new plan must have books that are priced between $2.99 and $9.99, and the list price must be at least 20% below the "lowest physical list price for the book". Also, the book must be put up for sale across all locations that the author or publisher holds right to and the work will be a part of a set of Kindle's many features.

"Today, authors often receive royalties in the range of 7 to 15 percent of the list price that publishers set for their physical books, or 25 percent of the net that publishers receive from retailers for their digital books", Russ Grandinetti, Vice President of Kindle Content, said.