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I'm willing to pay for a good book. The entertainment value I've gotten from some novels is much more than $50, so I've found it worthwhile to purchase even hardcover volumes. I get much the same entertainment value out of an eBook, and I'm willing to pay more than a dollar or two for an eBook. So I'm not arguing that eBooks should cost next to nothing.
All I'm saying is, eBooks in general should cost less than their pBook versions, since production, distribution, and storage costs are lower (not nonexistent, lower). And if a retailer can mark down a new paperback to below wholesale to clear out inventory or introduce customers to a new author or even to grab market share/new customers, then retailers should be able to mark down new eBooks for similar reasons.
Stop telling retailers how much they have to charge for your books. Abandon the agency model and return to the wholesale-retail model. Let the market set the price; I imagine pulp fiction will drop down to next to nothing (there's so much competition), while great writers (and writers with great publicity) will command a premium.
And by the way, my displeasuer at eBooks that cost more than pBooks doesn't stop me from paying the higher price when I want that book on my Kindle. It is, however, creating a market opportunity...
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