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Originally Posted by rlauzon
Today publishers have value in that they created the infrastructure that allows pBooks to be sold cheaply to the masses.
That infrastructure is not needed in the eBook world.
Publishers bring no value to the eBook market. A booming eBook market will mean that most publishers will die, so the last thing they want is to make eBooks popular.
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Sigh...
Publishers most certainly
do bring value to the eBook market! You are, of course, correct that much of the infrastructure they have created for paper books is not needed in the eBook world. But they still proved a tremendously valuable editorial service. That's not primarily "editorial" in the sense of "helping the author modify their book into a better book" -- although they perform this service too -- but rather in the sense of "choosing books that are 'good enough' (along some particular axes of measurement) to be published as a Baen/Tor/Signet/Ace/HBJ/Whomever book." It's called selection, filtering, and branding.
You don't realize how valuable that service is until you've plumbed the depths of the slush pile. Really! The average submission induces a massive need for mental floss. The
really bad ones make you want to pound your head against the wall until it goes away
Really, the publishers still provide value. Not in distribution/printing/etc., perhaps, but important value nonetheless. And don't forget about marketing...
Xenophon