"I think this will be solved by authors going after very specific niches---the long tail... This is unchartered [sic] publishing territory because previously pu

"I think this will be solved by authors going after very specific niches---the long tail... This is unchartered [sic] publishing territory because previously publishers would never take on a niche subject because it wouldn't make economic sales to pass it through their pipeline." Publishers have been doing this for a very long time. A lot of sales to publishers are built on the idea of having a built-in niche--even if it's not a smash hit, 'people who like x won't be able to pass this up because it's all about x.' Might sound crazy to the HN crowd, but this is still how the industry functions--baseball books might be a good example, though I'm not sure it's niche enough for you, they represent almost a guaranteed amount of copies sold to certain (acquiring) editors.