Amazon Advantage is the company's inventory consignment program for small and midsize publishers.
With Advantage, publishers ship books to Amazon, which warehouses them and lists them for sale on the Web site. Amazon handles the orders, customer service, and shipping. Advantage members pay an annual fee of $29.99 and provide a 55 percent wholesale discount. In other words, if the full retail price of your book is $20, you'll receive $9 for each copy sold. For your previous month's sales, Amazon will deposit money into your checking account via electronic funds transfer.
Advantage has two major incentives for publishers:
It provides your book with the same exposure as titles from other publishers having wide distribution and big marketing budgets.
Amazon shows your title as available for "one-day shipping," which boosts sales.
You can apply online for the Advantage Program and submit your title for consideration. If approved, you'll list your book in Amazon's catalog, provide descriptive content, and ship books to an Amazon warehouse. When customers purchase your title, Amazon processes the order within 24 hours. Amazon tracks your inventory and sends e-mail requests for more copies according to customer demand.
If your title is enrolled in Advantage, it will also appear for sale on other Web sites such as Borders.com, Target.com, VirginMega.com and Waldenbooks.com.
Publishers must retain North American distribution rights to participate in Advantage, and your book must have a scannable barcode and valid ISBN.