I remember way back when - when Amazon began to allow readers to sell their used copies of books on Amazon - and the furious outcry from publishers & authors - about loss of revenue, doom, disaster, etc. And yes - a lot of brick & mortar stores went under, esp. used book stores, but the big publishers seem to somehow have survived. Even though this selling model gives absolutely no revenue to publishers & authors.
Now - with ebooks - the furor over loss of revenue and the collapse of the sales of pbooks seems merely recycled from before - IN SPITE OF the fact that ebook sales don't remove revenue from publishers/authors as did the sales of used books on Amazon (and other websites). Just look at the "Used Like New" listings on Amazon for hardcover editions the week after a major author (such as Cornwall, Patterson, Crichton, King, etc.) releases a new book (esp. one in a series that has committed readers). These sales revenue go to Amazon and the seller ONLY. Whereas ebook sales (at whatever price or release date) DO go to the publishers/authors.
It's unbelievably short-sighted of publishers NOT to realize that delaying ebook release dates can fuel the used book sales figures if disgruntled readers decide not to wait for the ebook, but refuse to pay full price for a pbook, lowering their sales revenue even further, not to mention angry readers who decide to either use a library copy or skip the book altogether. They've already lost out on any revenue from the thriving used book sales, and now seem committed to further lowering their revenue by not selling ebooks in a timely fashion. Didn't the ebook sales figures for The Lost Symbol register anywhere?
