I think it's a combination of factors, most of which have been mentioned, but Robert came close with another aspect that I think needs to be understood.
Quote:
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Publishers are a very conservative lot.
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Part of the issue (in addition to piracy concerns, etc.) is that only physical books count as units sold in the sense of determining if a book is successful or not. E-books aren't tracked on the NYT bestseller lists, or Publishers Weekly, or USA Today, so far as I know, and until they are, they won't be considered "real" books by the industry. (I may be wrong but I don't recall anyone referencing such a list.)
When publishers want to buy a book from an author, they check their numbers with a book tracking service. I doubt very much if e-books are counted, hence they don't
count, if you get what I mean.
