The author is only going to make more money if they're actually competent at their job.
Basically, taking out editors and marketers is like taking the autotune out of the music scene. If we actually knew what pop-singers sounded like, people wouldn't be shilling out even $0.99 for a single.
The publishing industry has notably made authors question their actual ability to write. Stephen King IIRC thought that his books were basically being rubber-stamped solely because of his name (just like many Hollywood movies can get green-lit solely because they've got a bankable actor in lead) and submitted works for review under pseudonyms to see if agents and publishers actually saw merit in the work.
Kindle is allowing people to make it by themselves, and solely by themselves, which is awesome. However, I think book publishers are still going to be around in a similar role for a long, long time mainly because they don't have an authoritative hold on their market so they willingly adapt. I don't see my legal right to sell a DVD/Blu-ray or CD/MP3 enshrined in the case, but look in any book and the 2nd or 3rd page generally informs you of your legal right to resell, lend or trade the book in a decent condition (AKA no pages missing, front cover intact).
Book Publishers have survived the "piracy" of book trading for years, but you see Hollywood, the recording industry and even video game makers trying to block peoples right to resell or trade what they purchased, because the only media we actually own now are books.
When this becomes more popular and every publisher moves online, editors and marketers will be in in demand, because it will be difficult to get anyone to download/read your stuff without a marketing campaign behind it. The digital market is still in its infancy.
"Book Publishers have survived the "piracy" of book trading for years"
They've survived traditional trading, because it's not much of a threat, and it's physically limited. Anything digital can and is being pirated and as it becomes easier and easier to get things for free, markets will suffer.
Newspapers have been the first real casualty and books will probably be next.
Basically, taking out editors and marketers is like taking the autotune out of the music scene. If we actually knew what pop-singers sounded like, people wouldn't be shilling out even $0.99 for a single.
The publishing industry has notably made authors question their actual ability to write. Stephen King IIRC thought that his books were basically being rubber-stamped solely because of his name (just like many Hollywood movies can get green-lit solely because they've got a bankable actor in lead) and submitted works for review under pseudonyms to see if agents and publishers actually saw merit in the work.
Kindle is allowing people to make it by themselves, and solely by themselves, which is awesome. However, I think book publishers are still going to be around in a similar role for a long, long time mainly because they don't have an authoritative hold on their market so they willingly adapt. I don't see my legal right to sell a DVD/Blu-ray or CD/MP3 enshrined in the case, but look in any book and the 2nd or 3rd page generally informs you of your legal right to resell, lend or trade the book in a decent condition (AKA no pages missing, front cover intact).
Book Publishers have survived the "piracy" of book trading for years, but you see Hollywood, the recording industry and even video game makers trying to block peoples right to resell or trade what they purchased, because the only media we actually own now are books.