e-books and profitability– What we’ve always said and publishers have always denied | AARdvark

We have all heard the additional argument: that for a very large percentage of authors this is irrelevant since their advances don't earn out - effectively raising their per unit royalty. That may be true, but it logically leads to what seems to me the most unfair aspect of all: That, therefore, the only authors that are financially punished by this system are the ones whose books perform very well. The ones whose books earn out. The big name authors and the celebrities whose books don't perform to expectation are untouched; the author who gets a reasonable advance and whose book sells much better than expected are the ones who suffer the greatest loss.