With the much-hyped Apple tablet looming on the horizon, Amazon.com is offering better terms to authors and publishers on Kindle book sales. The online retailer today said those who publish through its Kindle Digital Text Program can receive 70 percent of list price on electronic books minus "delivery costs." The new program kicks in June 30.

Amazon's move to sweeten Kindle terms comes amid growing buzz about Apple's rumored tablet computer, which is expected to be unveiled at a company event on Jan. 27. Apple is reported to be in talks with a number of publishers, including HarperCollins, about making electronic books available on its tablet.

According to Amazon, the 70 percent royalty option for Kindle is an improvement over the current standard royalties 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."

Amazon's new terms, however, don't address one of the major gripes of the publishing industry, namely that by selling electronic books at a discounted $9.99 or lower, Amazon is devaluing the price of books in the minds of consumers. Amazon said its new Kindle royalty offer only applies to e-books with a list price of $2.99 to $9.99.

Publisher HarperCollins, which is part of News Corp., is reportedly looking at making e-books available on Apple's tablet at the same time they're released in hardcover. The e-books would have some kind of enhanced features, and HarperCollins would set the e-book price. HarperCollins and other key publishers currently delay the release of e-books for weeks or months after the titles come out in hardcover, fearing that the Amazon standard of $9.99 or lower for e-books will eat into hardcover sales.

One key goal of Amazon's announcement today may be to get more authors to self-publish on the Kindle Digital Text Program. As the New York Times Media Decoder notes, "Amazon’s move is also a clear bid to woo authors away from traditional publishing houses."

Here's more on the new 70 percent Kindle royalty option. Amazon says that the new option "is for in-copyright works and is unavailable for works published before 1923 (a.k.a. public domain books)," adding, "At launch, the 70 percent royalty option will only be available for books sold in the United States"

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