E-royalties 'not remotely fair'

Authors have been encouraged to push for higher royalties for e-book publishing than the standard 25 per cent rate, as deals that lock writers in are 'not remotely fair'.

Tom Holland, chair of the Society of Authors, made the comment at the Romantic Novelists' Association's annual conference last week.

He said that the market for ebooks is 'growing fast' and because of the low production and distribution costs, royalties should eventually be divided 50/50.

The Guardian cited him as saying: 'Most publishers are insisting they should control ebook rights and this will be written into standard contracts. I think it's an entirely reasonable position to take, so long as the royalties and returns on ebooks are fair and proper and reasonable.

'If they are not, I suspect we may well find very big-name authors, such as JK Rowling or Dan Brown, will go their own way.'

Mr Holland warned that the situation is a 'danger' that publishers and writers should recognise because if popular authors depart, there is less money for their publishers to invest in new authors.