You can't really compare a self published ebook with a commercial book that appears in print, large print and ebook forms, through negotiated contracts based on per sale royalties. I'm happy to put up my back list myself and the odd short story because frankly there's no great market for them in commercial publishing. But the idea many people can make a living out of self publishing to ebook form is a pipe dream frankly. If I tried that I'd lose all my print sales (which are bigger than ebooks), library sales, PLR income, and probably sufficient presence in the marketplace to generate audio and TV sales. Nor would the public be well served either.

It's ridiculous focusing on price frankly. I don't know why people keep going on about 'high prices'. As I've proved repeatedly here books are at a historical low (I know, as does every author, because our income per sale has fallen 30-40% in recent years as those retails prices have come down). A commercial paperback now costs less than a pint of beer in the West End of London if you shop around. Five years ago it would have cost you £6.99, for which you could probably have got three beers. How cheap are books supposed to be? My mainstream new books take a year to write and involve a month of research in Italy. If they sold for 99p I couldn't possibly be viable as a writer.