I'm pretty sure authors would get a better deal if they cut off these middlemen. I always buy directly from the author if I can. Not only is it cheaper when tha

I'm pretty sure authors would get a better deal if they cut off these middlemen. I always buy directly from the author if I can. Not only is it cheaper when that option is available, but the authors often take a pro-reader stance - like no DRM. There are a few small scale publishers like leanpub that do something similar. The exploitative practices in the publishing can stop if both authors and readers take a proactive stance in it.