As I pointed out in another thread, I am worried about digital theft, and would never for one moment defend the thieves. But I do think the book industry is in danger of following the well-worn path of the music and film industries by hanging on to well-worn business models for too long. You may not agree, but I think you said it all when you pointed out that, for your books, "the original ebook price will be based on the hardback cost, and will fall when the paperback comes out". In other words, the perceived value of an ebook is purely a function of the current printed edition. That's patently nonsense (to the ebook buyer) and reveals that the industry has not even begun to change.

Also, I become uneasy when people justify the price of ebooks by using the (perfectly valid) facts about cost (printing/distribution is only 15 percent of the cost of a printed book, ebooks attract VAT etc). As we all know, the price of any product is not a function of the cost of production, it's what the market will bear. Likewise, a customer's perception of value is not related to production cost but to a wealth of other factors. Authors say, with some validity, that buyers pay for the content, not the form. But anecdotal evidence, and plenty of conversations with printed book buyers, suggests that, to many ebook buyers, the fact that you receive no physical product, cannot easily share ebooks, and the fact that the ebook is subject to digital rights management (DRM), reduce the ebook's perceived value. Ultimately the price of ebooks will have to reflect this.

Which brings me to my final point. I have a Kindle, and love it. But I don't buy ebooks. I just use the Kindle to carry personal documents. I just won't buy digital products subject to DRM. DRM punishes the lawful and makes no difference to the thief. Likewise I own more than 1,000 CDs and almost as many DVDs but will not buy e-music or download films that are subject to DRM. I know countless people feel the same way. It's another bullet the publishers will have to bite before the mass audience will buy the e-product.