On the subject of small publisher vs. big publisher - the short answer is that each have advantages the other does not, and disadvantages as well.
My earlier post on the subject addressed some of the disadvantages small publishers have. Later posts by Ramirez and kmtolan (Kerry) mentioned some of the advantages which small publishers may have, such as a closer relationship between the publisher and the author.
Notice that qualifier MAY have. It depends on the publisher.
Below are two parts of a multi-part series by Kristine Kathryn Rusch which deal with the qualities of big and small publishers. She points out that publishers may be very different from each other, and that generalizations about them must not be trusted too far.
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Books (and magazines) have a physical and a non-physical part. Marshall McCluhan called them the medium and the message.
Much confusion and misunderstanding comes from confusing the two. We may say Pride and Prejudice and refer to a physical volume. Other times we'll mean the novel which has been reprinted millions of times in many "pbook" forms - and now in ebooks.
One example of many ways this dichotomy between physical and non-physical books must be kept clear is exemplified by the following. (This is merely the nearest example in this thread to this post. I'm not picking on you Kat.)
It does not look like e-books are going to be one format only.
Physically, very true. In fact, the physical formats are likely to multiply greatly. In the poorer parts of the world we may soon see the equivalent of the tiny open-air autos you see in the millions in India and Africa. These might be $20 eInk readers in a flimsy case which is charged via a micro-USB wire at public kiosks. No 4G for these readers!
There are over a dozen software display formats, but they are converging on one standard. The introduction of the iPad earlier this year made it seem as if it would be
ePub, an industry non-proprietary standard that was not making much headway until Apple championed it. Only Amazon did not support it, though Amazon soon introduced an app which allowed Kindles to read it. Today Google announced an even more comprehensive standard which it claims
will make all ereaders interoperable.
Another non-physical part of an ebook is some form of DRM, a software analog of the hasp-and-lock arrangement you sometimes see on old books the Church deemed must be available only to special privileged individuals - or in fantasy books or movies about wizard's grimoires! How long DRM lasts and in what form we can only guess. There is the possibility that DRM will eventually become as obsolete as the physical DRM.
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