Particularly for those who have a large number of short stories stocked up on the hard drive waiting to see the light of day and can therefore afford to lose the rights to one for six months or a year. But when it comes to longer books, representing hundreds or thousands of hours of labor, writers need to carefully examine what they are getting in return for presenting an e-book publishing site with this free bonanza. The only parallel to the current practice of most e-book publishers that I'm aware of is that of unpaid internships. However, unlike the unpaid internship which often carries the implied promise of a paid job offer on completion, or at least provides resume experience in some tough to break into field, the publication of e-books on many sites returns nothing to the writer. The book may still be given some professional editing or formatting, and will only be accepted for publication based on editorial review or some sort of peer review mechanism.
Royalties are possible, if it sells.
The first category is of little interest here, since all major publishers have locked authors into this option by contract for at least the past ten years. The second category, in which the E-publisher basically follows the procedures of a traditional publisher, is the most attractive option for writers. What many writers fail to realize is that the hated proposal phase does more to protect them than it does the publisher. Publishers like proposals for non-fiction books, even if they are completed, because the author is required to present a brief market analysis. Many authors may trip over this assignment, primarily due to unfamiliarity with the business or marketing worlds, but there are several excellent books on proposal writing, such as those by Jeff Herman.