Coming *really* late to the discussion here, but I just discovered NoMediaKings through today's (11/25/05) writeup in BoingBoing.net.

Jeffrey Yamaguchi is not alone in claiming that the money authors spend to buy copies of their own book disappears into the void. But he's overlooking a basic economic fact: most of that money returns to the author (minus the POD printer's cut) along with the quarterly royalty check.

I am a full-time published freelance writer who gave up trying to interest publishers in my novel MSS and will be going the POD route. I've read just about everything on the subject that's out there, pro and con, and I haven't seen anyone -- critics, supporters, and people considering their options -- point out the above. But I think it's a critically important part of the argument in favor of POD.

My $0.02 (after printing costs),

Paul
http://patriot.net/~plagasse/