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With my present system, I am author of the books, and designer/producer of their packaging (covers). I also act as publisher, choosing the e-book's formats, and designing/producing the advertising medium (the website). My site is the sole source for my books, so I act as distributor also.
I use PayPal to arrange payment with customers, a fairly automatic and simple process (provided the customer has a credit card, or a PayPal account). A third-party script (a one-time expense) allows the system to automatically send the e-book to the customer once it's purchased, within seconds of the purchase. Altogether, it's a very simple, compact and effective system for a one-person operation.
My only overhead costs here are the costs of my domain and web site. The rest of my costs are "cost of living," which is satisfied by my day job. The only adjustment I'd like to make to this system would be to be able to apply funds to direct advertising of my product, but I do not have dedicated advertising funds available to me yet.
I see the possibility of being "supported" by corporate funds, in exchange for reciprocal advertising on my website or within my e-books, and would be willing to discuss the possibility with any interested corporation. These funds could either directly support me as an author (allowing me to leave my day job), or provide the funds for advertising that I need to spread the word about my product. (As yet, I have not approached any corporations with this in mind.)
And that's my system, and my most immediate goals. As you can see, I've already boiled down the process into its essential components, and only lack financial resources to push it to the next level. In that vein, I continue to promote my e-books through indirect exposure (in websites like MobileRead) and word-of-mouth from satisfied customers, in the hopes of making enough from sales (or some other resource) to apply back into advertising.
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