When they weren't established authors, they signed deals for the next X books to be with said publisher. Another is that an established author may sell X copies at 15.00/copy, or Y copies at 25.00/copy (but only take 7.00 of the 25). If I'm an author, and my passion is writing, not marketing, if X15 < y7, or even anywhere close to equal, then it makes sense to go with the publisher, so you can spend more time writing
Exactly. I work in publishing and I often wondered why established authors don't just self publish. The answer: not all authors are Tim Ferris. They love having a staff cater to them, market their books, and editorial help. They are not really entrepreneurs like Ferris. They don't want to do too much more than write or whatever else they do (many authors are celebrities in other fields and are busy doing that, like most chefs on the food network).
