There was a long article by Jimmy Lee Shreeve in the Independent recently about whether Ebooks (downloadable to your computer or a special reader) were about to kill off the traditional book. Not yet, and maybe never, but there's one paragraph that I found especially interesting in terms of its implications for writers. Jimmy Lee Shreeve writes:
"My first book came out in 2000 under the pen name Doktor Snake. It was published by St Martins Press in the US and fast became a cult classic. After that, I wrote as Jimmy Lee Shreeve. But reader reviews on Amazon.com were saying: "Write more Doktor Snake." So I did – but as 20,000-word ebooks, which I sold from my website at $7.77 each. To date, I've sold about 5,000, more or less by word of mouth. Not only are readers happy, but I get all the proceeds from sales rather than the 10 per cent I normally receive from my publishers."
Obviously it was a traditionally published book that gave him the cult following but what he's done since is quite encouraging and, I think, I sign of things to come--and probably rather nervous-making for publishers...