Many years ago when I visited Rome for the first time, a few of my fellow travellers complained about the standard of hotel rooms there - the fact that they were small, had no air-conditioning and tiny, badly designed bathrooms. One particular guy (you know the kind...the one who should have just stayed home because he hates everything about travelling) made the statement that the Italians should lift their accommodation standards. Our tour leader just laughed and said, 'Rome is an amazing, historical city that people want to visit. They're going to come anyway - whether or not the rooms are large and luxurious. Why would you need to change when you've already got a massive tourism industry?'
I was reminded of this during a recent conversation about Amazon (.com that is - not the river) and their payment system (in particular the Kindle payment system). For those of us who live outside the USA/UK/Europe, there are some challenges involved in getting paid. If you don't have a UK/US bank account (and how many of us do??) you have to rely on the old fashioned cheque system. In addition you have to wait to accrue at least $100 in royalty payments and then a further 60 days until the cheque is mailed. So as awesome as the might of Amazon is in getting your book a global audience, it's not something that is going to make you rich in a hurry!
While my friend had quite a rant (on my behalf) about the inadequacy of the Amazon payment system, I used the same logic my tour guide in Rome had used. Amazon is so huge that everybody wants their book on there. So, put simply, they don't need to have a state of the art payment system that has your money hitting your account in a speedy fashion. They know writers and publishers will continue to list their books with them anyway. It's a great gig if you can get it.
Meanwhile I'll wait for my cheques and then a further 30 days while they clear.....and just be happy that I'm part of the Amazon phenomenon. They've completely revolutionalised the way we buy and read books and as a writer that can only be an advantage.
While my friend had quite a rant (on my behalf) about the inadequacy of the Amazon payment system, I used the same logic my tour guide in Rome had used. Amazon is so huge that everybody wants their book on there. So, put simply, they don't need to have a state of the art payment system that has your money hitting your account in a speedy fashion. They know writers and publishers will continue to list their books with them anyway. It's a great gig if you can get it.
Meanwhile I'll wait for my cheques and then a further 30 days while they clear.....and just be happy that I'm part of the Amazon phenomenon. They've completely revolutionalised the way we buy and read books and as a writer that can only be an advantage.
