Smashwords just went Agency – signed new deal with Sony, B&N, Kobo - Indie authors rejoice

Smashwords just went Agency – signed new deal with Sony, B&N, Kobo:

"While much of this might taste of inconsequential inside baseball to those outside the book publishing industry, I think our news today is important to the emerging indie author movement. Indie ebook authors and small publishers now have the ability to outcompete the big NY publishers on a new level playing field we’re helping to create. In fact, in the ebook space, we’re moving to a world where the playing field is tilting to the indie author’s favor. Indies aren’t hamstrung by the high expense structures and slow publishing cycles of the big NY publishers. In the future, the success of books won’t be determined by big marketing budgets – they’ll be determined by the viral word of mouth of readers, catalyzed and amplified by social media. If a book resonates with readers, it spreads. If it doesn’t resonate, it becomes invisible. Readers decide what’s worth reading, not publishers."

Agency model is fine if the author is setting the price of his "product". Agency model pricing employed by publishing houses is more about setting prices to keep publishers relevant and profitable. This does not translate as greater profit for the author. When the big publishing houses set e-book prices above the paperback version then the Agency model is being abused.