Authors have always paid for publishing services.
Traditionally, by surrendering 85% of the book's revenue.
Here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/book...nal-publishers
More recently, *some* authors have been hiring professional editors and artists, etc, for onetime fees and keeping the bulk of the revenues from their efforts.
Others choose to sign up with one of the several subsidiaries of Random Penguin Solutions (Hydra, etc) and surrender control of their copyright for a century plus. (On top of paying in cash and other ways.)
Once upon a time, the BPHs and their brethen were the ony way to get books published and distributed. Those days are over. Authors now have choices; some good, some bad, some awful.
Among those choices, they have the choice that any boss has of accepting an empolyee's reccomendation totally or in part, or ignoring it. Some may think it foolish but it is their prerrogative for paying the bills. And, in the end it is their vision, their talent, their name and their brand that is on the line. Their product, its success or failure, will depend on their choices, not somebody else's.
It's their choice, now; nobody puts a gun to their heads.
Some welcome the new freedom to choose; others are terrified.
Whatever.
That djinn is out of the bottle.