Mega-Internet retailer Amazon.com is making an offer to authors that could either destroy or severely handicap book publishing houses as we have known since Johannes Gutenberg created the printing press.

Amazon is offering authors 70% (with several conditions) for the e-book rights of authors.  E-books sold more copies this past Christmas than the ‘dead-tree’ versions for the first time ever, a trend that is only going to increase.

“Today, authors often receive royalties in the range of 7% to 15% of the list price that publishers set for their physical books,” Russ Grandinetti, Amazon’s vice president of Kindle content, said in a statement.

“We’re excited that the new 70% royalty option for the Kindle Digital Text Platform will help us pay authors higher royalties when readers choose their books.”

Most E-books on Amazon sell for between $2.99 and $9.99.  Digital books can be downloaded in less than 60 seconds from almost anywhere in the world.  Most books can be previewed before buying and many older books from authors can be downloaded for free.

Amazon’s Kindle reading device is by far the most popular digitial book reader on the market. But competition is expected next week when Apple will release their own tablet version.

Order Amazon’s Kindle (E-Book Reader)