[hkmurakami]

AAPL makes $3~4.

Publishers are who "make" the writers in the first place (unfortunately) by shouldering the distribution, marketing, etc. Without them (or without the author being e-famous(tm) already), an author can't hope to sustain himself through writing.

Maybe things would change if we were more willing to "pay" for discovering content creators through our own time investment, but this is doubtful.

[robotresearcher]

eBook distribution is now handled by Amazon, BN and Apple. No reason to pay the old publishers for that.

[objclxt]

Amazon, BN, and Apple don't pay advances (...to the vast majority of authors. Maybe a few exceptions for big name exclusives).

Many authors write books, send them to their agent to sell, and then get paid up-front by a publisher, followed by an agreed royalty should the book sell more than a certain amount. This offers a certain amount of security, more so than self-publishing.

The more important point is that for many authors, the international markets are a big source of revenue. Self publishing in English is one thing - sorting out the translation is quite another.

I think it's important to not tar all publishers with the same brush. There are actually a growing number of independent publishers dedicated to the indie/digital space.

[valleyer]

Old habits (and legacy establishments) die hard.