[Richard Herley]

The crux of the matter is this -- what does the publisher actually do for his money? Whether he's selling a pbook or an ebook, he has to invest in the following:

1. Sourcing the "manuscript"
2. Editing it
3. Converting it into some form which can be mass produced
4. Selling it to middlemen
5. Distribution to middlemen
6. Promotion

Stages 1, 2, 4 and 6 probably require the much same sort of investment whether or not the finished product is electronic.

Stages 3 and 5 will of course be much cheaper with ebooks.

Now, as to Stage 1, most publishers these days get their scripts straight from literary agents. They won't even read a submission from an author. Nearly all the cost of finding new talent is borne by agents.

Stage 2. Some authors need a lot of help with editing; others need very little, and indeed find the editing process largely a waste of time. Those authors who need help can hire a freelance editor. Since no middleman (i.e. the publishing company) is involved in such a relationship between the author and editor, the cost is inherently much less.

Stages 4 and 5. Buying ebooks from middlemen makes no sense at all. Middlemen (i.e. bookstores) only make sense in the case of pbooks.

Stage 6. Unless an author is already famous, publishers are reluctant to spend money on a promotion campaign. They know that word-of-mouth is what makes a new author sell. The big budgets are reserved for promoting the work of celebrity authors, politicians, and the like, all of whom are guaranteed mainstream media exposure. These days this is, of course, nuts. All the celebrity author needs is to put the word out himself, and to have a website where fans can get the latest news.

Back to Stage 1. It is extremely hard for a newbie author to find an agent. If he/she finds one at all, there is no guarantee that the agent will be any good. Many are worse than useless, and can kill a promising talent stone dead.

I would suggest that, for ebooks, the whole model of present-day publishing is redundant. All an ebook author really needs is a blog. If he needs or wants to be paid, a PayPal button is the answer; and if a blog isn't adequate, a modest website can be knocked up using free tools, then hosted for a few dollars a month.

By cutting out the agent, publisher, and bookstore, the price of an ebook can be slashed to a couple of dollars or less -- and the author will not only be making as much as he would if he were published in the traditional way, but he will be paid instantly, without having to wait six months or more for an opaque royalty statement and a remittance from which his agent has deducted 15%.

I'm not saying that agents are redundant: they still have a role in selling subsidiary rights. But there is no need for them when it comes to ebooks.

Authors have been ripped off ever since the printing-press was invented. Ebooks can change all that. Mr Justus is obviously stuck in an antiquated mindset. My best advice to him would be to look around for another line of work.