The last time I saw this discussion go around the SF blogosphere, people close to the industry said that very little of the cost of a book is actually tied up i

The last time I saw this discussion go around the SF blogosphere, people close to the industry said that very little of the cost of a book is actually tied up in the marginal cost of paper and shipping; most of it is overhead associated with running a publishing company that can’t be economized away by switching to e-books. On the other hand, Kristine Kathryn Rusch said that one reason the overhead is so high is that publishers locked themselves into long-term contracts for things like Manhattan editorial offices and printers’ services, so they can’t reduce their overheads until those contracts expire.