The POD Diary: The Kindle DTP Dilema

Like many of you, I’ve been patiently waiting to receive my March royalties I earned from Kindle sales.  March proved to be one of the biggest months for authors as far as earnings are concerned due to the release of the Kindle 2. For those who may have missed this bit of information from my previous posts and are wondering why I said March, Amazon.com pays you 60 days after the end of a month,which is why we are just now getting paid our March royalties.

In the past, Amazon has usually paid out around the 27th of the month and only once have they been any later (for me).  So, when June 1st came and I still had not been paid, I sent an email to DTP (Digital Text Platform) Support asking when I would get paid.  By the way, their email address is dtp-feedback@amazon.com but don’t expect an immediate response as it appears only one person is running the show.  After sending the email, I also looked for information on the Community Forums and started participating in this discussion concerning the delay of payment and the fact that June sales had not started showing up on the sales report screen. As usual, threats of civil lawsuits and breech of contract bantar ensued (Amazon terms state they pay out in approximately 60 days). DTPAdmin finally replied to the discussion on June 4th with this…

Hello,

The problem with the the sales report for June has been fixed and you should be able to view them in your account.

Further, payments for the month of the March, 2009 have been processed this week. Please note, it can take up to five business days for the funds to appear in the available balance of your bank account. It will be paid by bank transfer directly into your bank account. Please allow until after that time before reporting your Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) payment as late or missing.

If you have not received payment for the months prior to March, please write to us at dtp-feedback@amazon.com so that we can research further. Please make sure to write to us from the e-mail address associated with the DTP account.

Thanks!

Also, on June 4th I received a similar reply to my email stating the same thing.  As of today, June 6th, I still have not received payment. Luckily, unlike some authors, I have always been paid on time in the past when my sales equaled at least $25.00 for the month.  Many authors report in the forums that they haven’t seen payment in over 90 days, but I have a feeling some of these didn’t reach the $25.00 benchmark and may not be aware of it.

Late royalty payments definitely make for some grumpy authors, and lots of b*tching in the forums.  Unfortunately, the forums are pretty much like a lonely ship on an angry sea with no captain.  There are more soap boxes than there are stars to flag what may be useful to you.  Also note that even when you sign into the archaic DTP Admin screen to check your sales, it still says “beta” at the top left and has for over a year now.  Even notifications of follow-ups to forum posts are emailed to you from Jive Adminstrator (null@amazon.com).  I can’t help but wonder, just how jive is he?  And yes, administrator is misspelled in the email.

This also puts a big damper on Amazon’s integrity, if they have any left.  In the forums, authors are already saying they are pulling the plug on their books on the Kindle.  Overall, it’s just another way of Amazon saying they can do what they want and when they want it because of how big they are.  The approximately in their 60 day payment terms pretty much leaves us at their mercy no matter how much of a bad taste it leaves in our mouths.  And yes, authors, it is just one more way that Amazon has “failed” you.  Just search “#amazonfail” on Twitter to learn more.

For me personally, yes, I am a bit disgruntled over the situation mainly because my own Kindle sales averaged $248.50 for the month of March, my biggest royalty yet.  (Hey, maybe Amazon is waiting for their own deposit to clear so they can pay all of us?) I could definitely put that money to good use.  I could also update my POD Diary budget for you before the diary comes to an end in just two more days.

So, with that said, let’s update the figures anyway just to show you where I am.  My last budget post was dated April 28th and reported the following…

Total money invested on this project to date (after book sales only): $62.69 (debt)

Profit made to date on this project after all sales and services: $503.68

As you can see, the March Kindle royalties will finally bring me out of the red! Once I receive that deposit, my self-publishing debt on this project will be erased, and it only took a year to do it!

My total profit after book sales only: $185.81

My total profit to date after all sales and services: $752.18

Now that book sales number is nothing to frown at.  I was never in this for the money, so I am not disappointed in the least.  Remember, I turned around and invested most of my earnings over time in more author copies, marketing materials, and the like.  I gave away free E-book downloads to gain more reviews at Amazon.  I invested in a fancy book cover software program in the beginning to improve my book cover.  I used the program to help other authors for a tiny fee, but the software was soon paid for. I also intentionally kept my Lulu royalty low to make the book affordable.

Check back on June 8th for my final POD Diary post.  My book was published one year ago on June 8th, so I think that is a good place to end the diary even though my journey as an author is far from over.

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