Before I get to the money talk, I’ve updated the post on Creating NCX Table of Contents because in Amazon’s acceptable eBook files to upload, they now say that only MOBI files generated using their own software will be accepted. This is just as easy to do now – easier in fact, so I’ve changed the instructions, and will change the screenshots as quickly as I can.
Yesterday saw Amazon announce that the Kindle Scout programme will be available to writers worldwide and not only in the US. This means that anyone can now submit a previously unpublished novel for voting on by readers for a chance at a $1 500 advance and a fifty percent royalty rate, with a five year publishing contract and Amazon advertising. With readers voting rather than trying to storm the mostly unread traditional slush piles, this is a great way for Indies to spread their publishing wings.
Now to the cash problem. Only authors in the United States and certain other countries are eligible for royalty payments by electronic funds transfer. This means that those not eligible get their royalties in the form of paper cheques every time they have one hundred dollars in their Amazon accounts. Bank charges on cashing these are high, and they take ages to clear. Rather than getting paid that way, why not get yourself a Payoneer account instead? It’s very easy to do.
Go to the Payoneer site and register. They then post you a pay as you go credit card. Once you get this card in the mail, you activate it online following their step by step instructions. You will be issued with your own US cheque account details. Next, you click on the button to request that you be allowed to receive payments in the US. Payoneer will request that you upload your identification. Load up a PDF copy of your passport or identity document, and after a short wait you’ll be approved.
Log on to your Amazon account and select EFT as the method for you to receive your royalties. Fill in the exact details that you have for your US account and click save. Within a few days you’ll start getting emails from Amazon letting you know that payment has been made, and Payoneer email you too when the funds arrive.
To draw your cash just use the card at any ATM in your country, or use it the same as you would any other credit card online or in stores – as long as you have money in it that is. Payoneer charges are just under thirty dollars a year, although once your balance reaches a hundred dollars they gift you with twenty five dollars, so your first year comes cheap. The cash withdrawal fee is three dollars, but these charges are still way below what the bank will take converting the paper cheque.
Any other US companies that pay by EFT can pay you this way too. So if you sell art or anything else online in America your earnings are easy and convenient to get to like this.
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