1. You say most publishers lose money because they spend “7 figures” on advances. No. Most publishers spend very low five-figures on the majority of books they buy. Ask most authors below the Stephen King range how much they’re paid. The myth of the expensive author overload at publishing houses is just that, a myth. And yes, I am a 25 year vet of NY and small press publishing; I’ve paid my bills as an author and publisher during that entire period; I have made 5-figure, 6-figure and 7-figure advances, also 3-figure and 4-figure; I’ve had one NYT bestseller; and yet, like most in the business, I still find it hard to sustain a dependable income. Yeah, I do know what I’m talking about, and from multiple perspectives.

2. Call me a liar if you’re that ignorant, but I repeat: the overhead to produce an ebook is THE SAME as the overhead to produce a print book minus the small amount devoted to printing costs, which averages 1-3 bucks a book. Advertising isn’t free; editing isn’t free, distribution isn’t free, office supplies and insurance and ET CETERA are not free.

3. So . . . even though distributors get 50 percent or more of the retail price of the ebook . . . uh, what? You have no point, here. It’s a mystery to me what your argument is.

4. Name one publisher or author who is dancing in the street praising ebooks??? you’re kidding me, right? are you so out of touch you haven’t noticed more than a decade of dedicated small press ebook publishers and a growing army of authors who make their living writing ebook only? Did you miss the part where I publish every book at my press in ebook as well as print? I was one of the first authors published in ebook by Warner Books more than six years ago. Yes, Virginia, there is a large and growing and enthusiastic ebook community out there among publishers and authors, and they are eager to make a go of it. Despite folks like yourself, who demand that they give books away dirt cheap and thus, go broke.

5. “Readers simply want to pay a fair price.” Well, duh. Yep. Who says otherwise? I’d like to pay 10,0000 bucks max for a brand-new car, please. To me that’s a fair price. Doesn’t mean it’s a sustainable price for manufacturers, though.

6. “Readers aren’t concerned with paying writer’s bills.” Okay, using your logic, then readers don’t care if books exist. They don’t care if there’s another Asimov or Stephanie Meyers or J.K. Rowling or NAME YOUR FAVE AUTHOR HERE. They want free books, by god, or 99 cent books, and thus they will get . . . books that aren’t worth more than 99 cents. You get what you pay for.

7. “greedy pricing policies.” So . . . if anyone charges anything for any product, that greedy manufacturer is just beggin’ people to steal it? Cause, like, if you ask people to pay for stuff that’s wrong, and they are thus spared the title of “thief” when they take your stuff? Boy howdy, using that philosophy, let’s all go to the local convenience store and grab some beer without paying. Cause, you know, the store asked for trouble when they put a price tag on the Budweiser. Sheesh.