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IMHO some publishers seem to be going about this in entirely the wrong way. Clearly, production and marketing of p-books is different from the production and marketing of e-books. Printing, warehousing and distribution of p-books has little to do with e-books. Of course, there are similarities, such as both require authors, proof-reading, marketing and so on, but otherwise for the most part the production, distribution and the specialised marketing requirements for e-books are quite different. Arguing about the minutiae of p-book publishing seems silly.
Trying to apply old p-book based policies to something that involves entirely different technology also seems silly. Arguing about the relative profits connected with hardback and paperback books seems even more silly, when the core issue is e-books. E-book consumers have different requirements from p-book consumers. So, selling e-books is a different kind of business that requires fresh thinking. Publishers would be better off if they considered it to be entirely different kind of business, instead of trying to tack it onto their existing business model.
The longer p-book publishers resist change, then the more authors will seek to do it themselves, or seek companies that can better fulfil their needs, to aid with production, proof-reading, marketing and distribution. The e-book business appears to be growing; it seems very unlikely to go away any time soon. Publishers that choose to ignore the needs of, or alienate, their e-book customers will surely be less successful than ones that choose to move with the times. I don't believe that publishers can afford to ignore e-book business, nor do I believe that their e-book customers don't matter to them, rather I think that e-book consumers will matter a lot to those publishers who are willing to face up to the challenges ahead. Good luck to them.
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