@ David: Hi David! Re: Boob Tube, at this point I’m not interested to sign with a traditional p-publisher. The advance and commitment to print run and marketing would need to be pretty high to compensate for the downsides:

1. I’d need to wait another 12 months for publishing
2. The book, like nearly all p-books, would be given only a few weeks to sell through before book stores returned it to the publisher for full refund. Do I want the success or failure of 5 years of work to come down to two weeks of judgment? No! Like many authors, when we first set out to write Boob Tube we dreamed of landing on the front table at Barnes & Noble. But even if we did, at what price would come that fleeting celebration? I want the book “in print” forever.
3. Most first time authors receive dinky print runs and no promotional support.
4. It pains me to think the digital version of Boob Tube might be DRMed, or not available everywhere in the world.
5. I don’t like the thought of losing control over how my book is marketed, sampled, priced and sold.
6. Most authors never earn more than their advance.

I think in the not-to-distant future, authors will re-evaluate their ambitions for their written works. A new indie spirit will arise where many authors, even those previously successful in the p-world, will start to take back more and more control over their books, and I think this inevitability will be driven by the favorable economics of e-publshing, increased consumer demand for digital books, advances in POD, and the maturation of solid digital self-publishing platforms that help indie authors become more successful than they could have otherwise become in the conventional print world.

We’re seeing signs of the same already in the music industry. Books are just a few years behind. Unlike the music biz where physical CDs are going the way of the dinosaur, however, I don’t think p-books will ever go away completely because the p-format offers such a great reading experience. The future ideal is where a customer can purchase and consume their book in whatever form suits their fancy. If they want a p-book or e-book in 20 pt. purple Palatino, they should be able to buy it that way. I’m sure such a book would offend the senses of all good book designers and typographers everywhere. In this business, the customer should get their book their way, otherwise they’ve got one billion + other alternative options for their entertainment and information consumption needs.