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No one ever said or even implied that books were incomparable. Of course books are comparable, but they are not interchangable. A fungible commodity is one in which is interchangble for any other. A bushel of corn is interchangable for any other. A bottle of wine is not interchangable with any other wine. If someone can't get the wine they want, they will seek out another bottle of similar quality wine. They won't likely be selecting a bottle of Mad Dog 20-20 if they can't get the vintage they were looking for. Just as some wines are of higher quality than others, some books are of higher quality than others. If someone cannot obtain a public domain classic, they will search for a new book of similar quality. They will not be seeking a marginal beginning author.
With a Star Wars of James Bond novel, you know what you're getting. You have an idea of the quality to expect. Analog is a well-known brand, people have good reason to expect a certain level of quality from Analog. When people look at an anthology, they tend to look at the names. If the authors are authors they know and enjoy reading, they are much more likely to buy it than if the authors are unknown to them.
If someone is looking for a classic, they will not be satisfied with just any book. Jane Austen wrote romances, but they aren't interchangable with any random romance novel written today. Someone might be in the mood for a romance book, but that doesn't mean that just any romance book will do. They are comparable, but not interchangable. Some books are higher quality than others. People aren't reading the classics just because they are free. There are tens of thousands of books that are in the public domain, but only a small percentage of them still have any significant readership. The public domain is simply not competition for the struggling new author. It is highly unlikely that a struggling new author is putting out books that rival the best books ever written.
People generally prefer new books over older books. English teachers would love it if people were moving to the classics in droves, but it just isn't happening. Free or cheap new books are not dominating the market, far from it. If people had to pay for public domain books, this would not improve the lot of the struggling new writer on bit.
Any book that does sell well can demand a higher price. I don't think Twilight is a great book, but people are buying it, so she must be doing something right. People are paying $8.99 for it when they could choose from many hundreds of other vampire books for free or 99 cents. Clearly, the free or 99 cent book has not hindered the ability of authors to charge more. If there is a demand for the book, people will pay. If your position were correct, this wouldn't be happening. This means we must discard the idea that free and cheap books are crowding out authors. Simply write better books.
A price floor would hurt struggling new authors, not help them. Authors can use pricing to get people to try their books. If authors were forced to charge a minimum price for books (good luck with that holding up in court!) they would have more difficult time establishing a readership.
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