Cover Story - Outlook 2010: The Future of the Industry
Despite these efforts to "take a stand" against deeply discounted prices for e-books, "Market forces will ultimately determine the price, based upon the devices and the consumers," Norris says.
According to Rubin, at stake in these battles over distribution and pricing is nothing less than the publisher's role in a digital future. "Traditionally," he says, "it was, 'We give you our brand, we give you our marketing power, we promote you, we set up these tours, we get you on these talk shows.' But these days, that's not so important. These days, even writers who are working with [major publishers] have to set up Facebook accounts, they have to go on Twitter, they have to set up a blog. At the end of the day, [the publishers] are taking their typical cut … and the writers are saying, 'What's in it for me?'"