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Computerworld - Business author Stephen Covey's decision to make Amazon.com the exclusive seller of several of his e-books for at least a year could well be the start of a trend by other popular authors.

Amazon on Monday announced that Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and Principle-Centered Leadership were available exclusively at the Amazon Kindle Store for $7.99 each. A spokeswoman for FranklinCovey Co., representing Covey, today said the exclusive e-book arrangement with Amazon is for one year, but could be extended.

"I'm sure we'll be successful [with Amazon], and could continue" beyond a year, the spokeswoman said. Today, Great Work, Great Career, a book published by FranklinCovey and co-authored by Covey, will also be offered exclusively as an e-book through Amazon, she added, (although the Amazon.com site indicated it was still on pre-order until Thursday.)

It is the first time the "7 Habits" and Principle-centered Leadership titles are available as e-books. Covey has worked with Simon & Schuster as the publisher of the titles in both paperback and hardcover. "7 Habits" first appeared in 1989 and continues to sell steadily, and Simon & Schuster will continue to offer Covey's titles in paper and hardcover.

Analysts have been watching to see whether popular authors would seek out e-book deals, partly because doing so would require an author to forgo the advance payment usually offered in the mainstream publishing world. Authors can be held back from third-party e-book deals due to contractual agreements with traditional publishers.

But Covey will be taking in more than half of the net proceeds on e-book sales through Amazon.com for "7 Habits" as well as "Principle-Centered Leadership" and other books he has written, according to an official at RosettaBooks, the e-book publisher working with Covey on the Amazon deal, who was quoted in the New York Times.

Getting more than half the proceeds would be a feather in Covey's cap, since royalties ordinarily are 25% of net revenues in mainstream publishing, analysts said.

The financial incentive Covey won with Amazon will certainly attract other well-known authors to consider e-book deals, and probably exclusive e-book deals, said Mike Shatzkin, CEO of Idea Logical Co., a consulting firm on digital publishing for book and journal publishers.

"A lot more authors will do this, yes," Shatzkin said in an interview today. "You can expect Covey's move to be imitated."

Covey's move will tempt other authors, although some who are not as well off will still want a book advance, Shatzkin said. "Stephen Covey is a rich man and probably doesn't need the advance," he added.

While many companies are offering e-readers and e-books in various formats, Amazon is probably garnering 80% of the e-book market so far, Shatzkin estimated. As such, it made sense for Covey to work with the online retailer exclusively. "By going exclusive with Amazon, he's not giving up much with the other 20%."