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Originally Posted by markbot
I would think the publishers should be more gungho on ebooks since they effectively limit the secondary market....
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IMO that's a minor concern. Sellers get peanuts for used books, so there isn't much incentive to sell, except maybe in higher ed.
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Originally Posted by markbot
At the end of the day, I think they might even make more money on the $9.99 ebook version.
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Maybe, but not necessarily. They are charging the same wholesale prices for ebooks as the paper equivalent, but it is likely that won't last. It is unclear if consumers will keep their book expenditures constant -- e.g. you currently spend $20/month on paper books, and would also spend $20/month on ebooks -- or if they would just buy the same number of books, and spend their money elsewhere. Plus, it erodes the perceived value of their products.
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Originally Posted by markbot
My feeling is that the real reason why the publishers are hesitant about ebooks is that they lose control of the medium. Fastward 10 years when ebooks are mainstream....does a Dan Brown need a publisher as much?
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Probably. Writers do not necessarily excel at editing, accounting, business management, marketing, typography, graphic design, illustration, data management, cover design, legal oversight, fact checking, international rights management, negotiations with retailers etc. There are a
lot of non-writing skills that go into a successful book.