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I think the basic 70/30 model is fair. Amazon apparently does as well. I think MacMillan are fools if they believe $15 is the optimum price. I think they'll lose more sales than they'll make up for with the increased margin. Maybe the absolute best selling authors might get more this way but I'm betting the vast majority of titles will do far worse. Amazon picked the $9.99 price for a good reason. They didn't pick it out of thin air.
A reasonable ebook price will capture a lot more sales. The margin will be lower than hardbacks but better than paperbacks. Books I would have put off buying until paperback, I buy now at $9.99. The price difference isn't big enough for me to wait. Plus, I didn't end up buying many of the books I put off in the past. I'd tell myself I'd look for it later and then I'd forget. The longer people wait after release, the less likely they'll buy. The marketing wears off. They move on to other things or they get the book somewhere else. Maybe piracy, or maybe the library, a used book shop or a friend. All ways they get no money.
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