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Micah, I won't discuss your priorities in detail again. I know what you mean, I respect your goals and I really appreciate your openness.
Just one comment about BFR in comparison with its competition: There are basically two different kinds there - apps with a clear, strong commercial background (which isn't negative at all) like BFR or MegaReader and hobbyist apps that are developed by individual developers or (very) small teams. (Marvin is of the latter type. Single developer, hobbyist.)
(iBooks is an entirely different matter again; its primarily a means to sell eBooks for Apple.)
Of course, both types of apps (usually) have vastly different priorities and challenges. BFR is undoubtedly the most successful of the commercial category. As you stated, just getting/keeping tons of users can't be your primary business model or you'd be out of business faster than it takes me to write this post. ;-)
The second kind of app (free or paid) simply doesn't have any real business model. Their developers usually have a regular full-time job and don't depend on AppStore income (this is the case for e. g. Marvin and, AFAIK, eBookMobi). This kind of app survives due to the individual developer's enthusiasm and his enjoyment of user reactions. If such an app doesn't appeal to a lot of people, it is highly likely to perish sooner or later (cf. eBookMobi's update frequency in the AppStore).
Personally, I much prefer to support the "lonesome hero" type of developer for both ideological reasons as well as the simple fact that they - metaphorically speaking - scratch their own and their users' itches much more directly. They don't have to take into account booksellers, publishers, investors, their rent or their responsibility for their employees.
I admit, my disappointment with BFR does in part stem from mistaking it for a hobbyist app early on. Only recently did I realise it's a solid commercial app with - consequentially - very different priorities from my personal ones.
Nevertheless, I wish you, Micah, the best of luck with BFR - and maybe, if my beloved hobbyist apps are gone, I'll re-visit BFR myself.
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