Comment Re:Will this result in lower prices? (Score 1) 242
Authors are likely getting the same cut (or less). So that mostly leaves lining the pockets of Amazon.
If you put aside the top publishing companies, as well as the top bestselling authors, many/most authors are getting a better deal with ebooks than with print books. What's happening is that since the distribution/production costs have gone down, Amazon is offering authors a higher percentage than they normally get from a traditional publisher. I suspect some publishers are doing likewise to prevent authors from ditching them and selling directly on Amazon.
In any case, we're straying away from the point. If you want to know why the big publishers are charging as much, I suggest you read these articles. In a nutshell, the big publishers did not anticipate the change occurring as rapidly as it did, and had made several long term (e.g. 20+ years) financial commitments (norm for that and other industries) back in the early 2000's. They can't dump a lot of their facilities as a cost saving measure as they've committed to paying for them for the long term.
Amazon came and messed it up for them (and I'm not sympathetic to the publishers). But the point is a lot of other forces come into play in determining the final cost. Had the ebook revolution not occurred, they would have lost had they not made such investments. It was a gamble they were used to making, and they played the wrong hand.